Only Female Aboard Doomed Mary Rose Was Actually Male

Nearly 500 years ago Henry VIII's ill-fated flagship, the Mary Rose sunk killing the crew and Hatch, the ship's dog.

Hatch's remains were excavated from the Tudor ship after it was brought to the surface of the Solent in 1982 and went on display four years ago at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth. The scrappy sea dog was thought to be the only female aboard the ship but DNA testing of the crew has revealed the that Hatch was a actually a male.

Sally Tyrrell of the Mary Rose Museum said: "Study of the 179 crew recovered from the ship confirms that they were all male, suggesting the historic preference for an all-male crew on board an active warship can be taken back to the 16th century – including the ship's dog."

More: The Independent