The Battle of the Solent

Prelude to the battle

At this point in history, England was involved in the Italian War (1542–1546). Henry VIII aligned himself with Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire against King Francis I of France.

In 1544, Henry VIII launched a military campaign in France, capturing Boulogne. This action further escalated tensions between England and France. In response, the French sought to strike back at England by planning an invasion, hoping to divert English military resources away from their campaigns in France and possibly even force Henry VIII to make peace on unfavourable terms. They chose to attack the coastal town of Portsmouth, where Henry’s navy was based.

Invasion!

After a rocky start, when the flagship of Admiral Claude d’Annebault was destroyed in a fire while anchored on the Seine, then his replacement ran aground outside Le Havre and started to leak, the French finally launched their invasion in 1545, arriving off the coast of the Isle of Wight on 18th July.

They had superior numbers – over 200 ships carrying 30,000 soldiers, much larger than the later Spanish Armada, compared to the 80 ships of the English fleet.

Leading that fleet was John Dudley, Viscount Lisle and Lord Admiral of the the king’s fleet, who had also been Governor of Boulogne after it’s capture. He lead from his flagship the Henry Grace à Dieu, on which Henry VIII dined the night before battle began. It was during this dinner that Henry gave command of the Mary Rose to Vice Admiral George Carew.

The battle

Little damage was done in the early stages of the Battle of the Solent, the calm weather meant that the English were unable to come out of the shelter of the Solent, and the French were unable to navigate the shallow waters. Galleys, long low row-able vessels with forward-mounted guns were able to get close and harass the immobile English, but there’s no mention of them causing much damage. Even a French eyewitness who claims one holed the Mary Rose seems to have no confirmation, from other eyewitnesses or from the hull of the Mary Rose itself.

It was late afternoon when the wind picked up, and the English ships were finally able to make their move. The Mary Rose was apparently the first to make her move, firing guns on one side before turning to fire those on the other side. It was during this manoeuvre that whatever went wrong happened, and the Mary Rose heeled over, taking her crew to the seabed

The invasion of the Isle of Wight

The invasion of the Isle of Wight didn’t seem to be going well either. While the attacking troops had been deployed at several points along the coast to divide the defending forces, they didn’t, for some reason, venture inland or regroup.  While they did gain some ground, especially around Bonchurch, the assaults elsewhere went less well. The troops who landed at Sandown decided to attack a newly built fort, which resulted in a hasty retreat after the death of the French commanders, while at Bembridge the assault had been badly organised, and an ambush by the defending English had caused panic amongst the French troops.

The attack on Bonchurch went pretty much unopposed, but the invaders encountered English forces as they moved inland. The island’s defenders gave stiff resistance, but were eventually forced to retreat and regroup.

It’s claimed that during this retreat, one of the defenders, Captain Robert Fischer, a portly gentleman struggling to escape up the steep hills surrounding the town, cried out “£100 for a horse!”, which according to legend may have been his last words. Obviously when Shakespeare later used this as the inspiration for the (almost) last words of Richard III, inflation had turned £100 into a kingdom.