Historians and archaeologists have tentatively identified the location of one of medieval England’s greatest ships.

Detailed archival and aerial photographic research carried out by British maritime historian, Ian Friel, has pinpointed a 30 metre stretch of the River Hamble near Southampton as the final resting place of one of Henry V’s largest warships – the Holigost (in modern English, the Holy Ghost).

The vessel is entombed in deep mud under the bed of the river.

The government’s historic environment agency, Historic England, is now planning to carry out a detailed survey of the ship. They intend to use sonar-based sub-bottom profiling equipment to ‘x-ray’ through the deep mud to create a computerized image of the vessel.

The project is of particular importance – because Henry was arguably the first English king who tried to create an embryonic ‘Royal Navy’.

“This short lived fleet was conceivably the most effective navy that England had before the Elizabethan Age, 150 years later,” said Dr. Friel who has just published a book on the subject – Henry V’s Navy, The Sea-Road to Agincourt and Conquest, 1413-1422.

In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Ancient forest, discovered in February 2014 Ancient forest revealed by storms. The recent huge storms and gale force winds that have battered the coast of West Wales have stripped away much of the sand from stretches of the beach between Borth and Ynyslas. The disappearing sands have revealed ancients forests, with the remains of oak trees dating back to the Bronze Age, 6,000 years ago. The ancient remains are said by some to be the origins of the legend of ‚Cantre‚r Gwealod‚ , a mythical kingdom now submerged under the waters pif Cardigan Bay In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Medieval royal palaces, discovered in November 2014 Archaeologists in southern England have discovered what may be one of the largest medieval royal palaces ever found – buried under the ground inside a vast prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum. The probable 12th century palace was discovered by archaeologists, using geophysical ground-penetrating ‘x-ray’ technology to map a long-vanished medieval city which has lain under grass on the site for more than 700 years In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered ca. 1950 The Dead Sea Scrolls are almost 1,000 biblical manuscripts discovered in the decade after the Second World War in what is now the West Bank. The texts, mostly written on parchment but also on papyrus and bronze, are the earliest surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents known to be in existence, dating over a 700-year period around the birth of Jesus. The ancient Jewish sect the Essenes is supposed to have authored the scrolls, written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, although no conclusive proof has been found to this effect In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Diamond, discovered in March 2014 This rare diamond that survived a trip from deep within the Earth's interior confirmed that there is an ocean’s worth of water beneath the planet’s crust In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Whale skeletons, discovered in February 2014 Chilean and Smithsonian paleontologists study several fossil whale skeletons at Cerro Ballena, next to the Pan-American Highway in the Atacama Region of Chile In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Complete mammoth skeleton, discovered in November 2012 The first complete mammoth skeleton to be found in France for more than a century was uncovered in a gravel pit on the banks of the Marne, 30 miles north-east of Paris. Picture shows experts at work making a silicon cast of the mammoth's tusk In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Million-year-old human footprints, discovered in February 2014 Photograph of the footprint hollows in situ on the beach as Happisburgh, Norfolk In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Terracotta warrior, discovered in June 2010 Chinese archaeologists unearthed around 120 more clay figures in June 2010 excavations at the terracotta army site that surrounds the tomb of the nation's first emperor in the northwestern Shaanxi Province © Jason Lee / Reuters In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Neolithic 'lost avenue' - prehistoric stone circle, discovered in September 1999 The discovery of a Neolithic 'lost avenue' was described as one of the most important finds of the last century. Since the 1700s, archeologists and historians have argued over the existence of the huge sarsen stones, which were unearthed at the site of the world's biggest prehistoric stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Byzantine mosaic, discovered in February 2007 Plans for a walkway at the centre of the furious dispute over Jerusalem's holiest site were delayed by the discovery of a Byzantine mosaic In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Ancient gold, discovered in March 2014 Gold fitting for a dagger sheath (around 1900 BC.) found near Stonehenge In pictures: 12 amazing archaeological discoveries Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 The Rosetta Stone is a basalt slab inscribed with a decree of pharaoh Ptolemy Epiphanes (205-180 BC) in three languages, Greek, Hieroglyphic and Demotic script. Discovered near Rosetta in Egypt

Henry put England’s navy on an entirely new footing – with 25 salaried ship masters (captains), regular maritime patrols, new cutting-edge technology and even an attempt to combat the piracy that was endemic in the English Channel.

Dr. Friel first began to think that he had found the wreck of Henry V’s Holy Ghost back in the 1980s – but has only carried out additional confirmatory archival research on the subject over the past year. His full findings are likely to be published academically next year. The Holy Ghost was the third biggest ship in Henry’s navy. It was capable of carrying around 750 tonnes of weapons, equipment, men and cargo, had up to 200 crew and spent much of its time at sea – probably exclusively in the English Channel. Her exact dimensions are not yet known – but it is likely that she was between 30 and 40 metres long. It is hoped that the sub-bottom profiling survey will provide sufficient data to answer that and other questions.

As a warship, she was damaged in two great sea battles with the French – the maritime Battle of Harfleur in 1416 and the Battle of Chef de Caux (near the mouth of the River Seine) in 1417.

At Harfleur, it had been the flagship of the king’s brother and right hand man, the Duke of Bedford – the English royal who years later would be responsible for burning Joan of Arc. Indeed a letter from the Duke, written on-board the Holy Ghost in 1416, now in a local English county archive, is one of the earliest known surviving letters ever written on-board an English ship.

The vessel was also the earliest English ship known to have had repairs carried out by a diver – a Welshman called Davy Owen. Additionally, the ship is interesting for the number of significant named individuals associated with it - including the vessel’s builder (the early 15th century Southampton merchant and MP, William Soper); the vessel’s master (captain), Jordan Brownyng; and one of Henry’s top military commanders, Sir Thomas Carew.

The Holy Ghost was also important for the way it would have symbolized Henry’s personal political and religious beliefs. Historical research over recent years has revealed that the ship bore one of his personal royal mottos – ‘Une sanz pluis’ (borrowed from a French version of the Iliad) – meaning literally ‘one and no more’, expressing the king’s ultra-autocratic political belief that he alone, by divine right, was absolute master of England.

The sea battle illumination shows a naval engagement in the 15th century - between English and enemy ships (British Library)

Quite apart from its importance in English naval history, the Holy Ghost – in a previous incarnation – had also played a part in Spanish history. The vessel had been rebuilt from the timbers of a captured Castilian ship the Santa Clara, which was said to have been associated with the Queen of Spain – almost certainly Catharine of Lancaster, the English-born widow of the Castilian king, Enrique III. After 1406 she had been the co-regent of Spain during the minority of their son, until her own death in 1418.

The Santa Clara had been captured by English pirates, associated with Southampton MP, William Soper, in the winter of 1413/1414 (a time when England and Castile were technically at peace with each other). The ship was then taken to Southampton and, on King Henry’s orders, was rebuilt there by Soper as the Holy Ghost at the extraordinary cost to the royal exchequer, in modern equivalent cash terms, of up to £10 million.

Depiction of the royal fleet of King Edward I of England. From Jean de Wavrin's 'Chronicles of England', Bruges, c.1470-80 (British Library)

The wreck has been tentatively located just 50 metres away from the wreck site of Henry V’s largest ship, the Gracedieu. That vessel, which now has protected status, was in Henry’s day the largest ship in Europe (some 66 metres long) – and was not surpassed in size in England’s navy until the 16th century.

Archaeologists believe that the wreck of the Holy Ghost – is likely to be better preserved than that of the Gracedieu.

The Holy Ghost was a vessel that had seen action in the years immediately after Henry V defeated France at Agincourt. But in the end it was laid up in Henry’s main naval anchorage – the River Hamble – where it was ultimately abandoned and forgotten for almost 600 years.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England believes that the wreck of the Holy Ghost “holds the possibility of fascinating revelations in the months and years to come.”

“Historic England is committed to realizing the full potential of the find,” he said.