'Race against time' to save Mary Rose video archive

Divers explored the wreck of the Mary Rose in 1982

Students at the University of Portsmouth are digitising more than 600 tapes containing video footage of Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, which sank in the Solent.

Underwater footage captures the moments when historical items such as canons were discovered and filmed for the first time when the ship was salvaged in 1982.

The 40-year-old tapes have been deteriorating and there were fears that the video archive could be lost.

Some of the footage may not have been viewed since it was recorded.

Charlie Watts, works in the university's School of Film, Media, and Creative Technologies, described it as "a race against time".

"They have a very robust outer casing but inside the tape is very vulnerable. The oxide on the tape is dissolving as we speak," said Mr Watts.

"We have to do this now, otherwise it's gone completely."

Student Oliver Wibrew is digitising video tapes at the University of Portsmouth

Student Oliver Wibrew, who is also working on the project, said: "I'm only 18 so I've never used this kind of technology before.

"You have to put them into a player then it goes into the computer then you've got special software that can capture it and put it onto a drive."

Another student, James Watts, has been watching the footage.

"Seeing the Mary Rose from a diver's perspective, possibly for the first time in 40 years, that's something that not a lot of people get to experience," said Mr Watts.

The digitised footage will help to tell the the salvage story at the Mary Rose Museum.

A canon can be seen on the footage through the silt

"We have the incredible Tudor story of all the artefacts that were found underwater," said collections manager Alastair Miles.

"But then there's this modern story of the salvage, recovery and excavation and all of the people that were involved in that process.

"These tapes will allow us to add to that story with extra layers of information that we just didn't have access to before."

The Mary Rose Museum's chief executive, Dominic Jones, said more than 500 divers were involved in the salvage.

"What's fantastic is that we've now got 18-year-old students who are bringing that story to life," he said.

"It's not lost on us that they're the same age as the crew of the Mary Rose when the ship sank."