12 of the world's most exciting shipwrecks

James Wood picks his favourite wrecks, from warships and ill-fated expeditions to Bronze Age cargo vessels and Spanish treasure troves

The discoveries of Shackleton's T Endurance and, even more recently, HMS Gloucester are a reminder of the rich history and folklore that lurks beneath our keels.

Indeed, according to history.co.uk, there are over 40,000 wrecks in British waters alone, each with its own unique story of the time it sailed in, those who sailed her and the way she met her end. But let's not limit ourselves to our small corner of the globe; here's our pick of the world's most interesting wrecks. What are their stories, and what makes them so interesting? Moreover, what can the wrecks tell us about the mariners of the day who sailed aboard them.

1 Mary Rose, sunk 1545, Hampshire, UK

Why so Interesting? Probably the most extensively excavated marine archaeology project of all time, the wreck of the Mary Rose has yielded over 26,000 artefacts. Each is a unique insight into life aboard a Man'o'War nearly 500 years ago.

History: One of the great ships-of-the-line commissioned by Henry VIII after coming to the throne in 1510, she was also regarded as his favourite. She sunk in 1545 after sailing out of Portsmouth to tackle a French fleet under Admiral Claude d'Annebault. Heavily burdened with extra cannon, she fired a broadside at the French before turning and dipping her open starboard cannon ports below the waterline. The Mary Rose sank with the loss of over 450 lives.

Unsuccessful recovery attempts were made in 1836, but the 1982 project met with greater success, and the Mary Rose was raised. The ship has become a huge time capsule, with the recovered artefacts offering unique insights into the life of regular seamen in the 16th century, and the belongings of the crew themselves describing the make-up of a Tudor ship's crew in incredible detail, from the tools of the ship's carpenter, to the contents of the doctor's medicine chest.