All images (c) Nina Pope

This is Hatch. She was two years old when she died in 1545. Hatch died when the ship she was on, the Mary Rose, sank in the Channel. She is the world’s oldest lost sea dog.

The Mary Rose was King Henry VIII’s flagship, and the ship sank in the Solent on Thursday July 19th. Hatch’s skeleton was found near the sliding doorway of the carpenter’s cabin – she may have become trapped behind the door.

Hatch might have been the ship’s mascot or perhaps the carpenter’s dog. She would certainly have been a good ratter – although parts of rat skeletons have been found on the Mary Rose, no whole skeletons have been found.

Hatch’s bones showed that she had only had limited exercise. As John Lippiett, CEO of the Mary Rose Trust, said: “Her longest walks were along the quayside of her home town, Portsmouth”.

You can donate to The Mary Rose Trust if you would like to help it create a permanent home for the ship – and Hatch.

…..

Curiously enough, the commander of Mary Rose, Sir George Carew, had been drawn by Hans Holbein, two years prior to the sinking of the ship (above). Holbein’s pencil sketches were the subject of an earlier post on “How to be a Retronaut”.

“Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543) was a German artist and printmaker. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century.”

- Wikipedia