Great Harry

The Henri Grâce à Dieu was an English warship. Contemporary with the Mary Rose the Great Harry was even larger. Constructed in the old carrack style with large fore and stern castles she was 165 feet long, weighing possibly 1000 tons and having a complement of 700-1000.

She was originally built at Woolwich from 1512 to 1514 and was one of the first vessels to feature gun-ports and had twenty of the new heavy bronze cannon, allowing for a broadside. She was substantially remodelled and rebuilt around the same time as the Mary Rose to increase the firepower and improve maneuverability.

'The tradition maintained by the Royal Navy of "showing the flag" at seaside towns to uphold the morale of the Navy is said to have its origins in a service held at the Bradstowe Chapel (Broadstairs, Kent) in 1514 with the crew of the Henry Grace a Dieu in attendance, whilst the largest and latest addition to the King's Fleet was moored nearby'.

The ship saw little action, she was present in the Solent when the Mary Rose sank but appears to have been more of a diplomatic vessel, sailing on occasion with sails of gold cloth. Her fate is uncertain, she may have been destroyed by fire at Woolwich in the 1530s or ended up as a discarded hulk.