One of the greatest warships of the Middle Ages has been found buried in a river – after being spotted in an aerial photograph.

The Holigost – or Holy Ghost – was the second of four 'great' ships built for Henry V's royal fleet.

The 600-year-old vessel, which helped Henry V wage war on France, was spotted in the mud of the River Hamble in Hampshire by historian Dr Ian Friel.

This is the original image which prompted the search for the Holigost after Dr Ian Friel spotted a U-shaped outline (circled blue) on the bank near to Henry's flagship The Grace Dieu (circled green). The photo is enhanced with false colour because of an archaeological recording technique used during the 1970s

One of the greatest warships of the Middle Ages - The Holigost - has been found in a river after being spotted in an aerial photograph. Pictured: A carrack from the 1400s as depicted in Jean de Wavrin's Chronicles of England

The wreck is in an area described as a medieval breaker’s yard, next to Henry’s flagship the Grace Dieu, which was identified in the 1930s.

Historic England is taking steps to protect and investigate the vessel, which Dr Friel identified when he was revisiting documentary evidence for his new book, Henry V’s Navy.

Archaeologists are likely to use sonar, remote sensing and drone technology to learn all they can about the vessel.

Future scientific research on the ship could reveal information about 15th century ship building and improve understanding of naval warfare of the time, dock building and docking practices.

Dr Friel said: 'I am utterly delighted that Historic England is assessing the site for protection and undertaking further study.

'In my opinion, further research leading to the rediscovery of the Holigost would be even more important than the identification of the Grace Dieu in the 1930s.

'The Holigost fought in two of the most significant naval battles of the Hundred Years War, battles that opened the way for the English conquest of northern France.'

The wreck was first spotted by Dr Ian Friel more than 30 years ago while he was studying grainy aerial photographs taken by English Heritage of the area where the Grace Dieu had been discovered.

The Holigost – or Holy Ghost – was the second of four 'great' ships built for Henry V's royal fleet

The Holigost, dimensions pictured (above), was a major part of Henry V's war machine as he sought to conquer France, in a conflict most famous for the Battle of Agincourt in 1415

There, close to the timbers of the famed English carrack, he spotted a U-shaped outline, barely visible beneath the surface at low tide, which he believed was another of Henry's ships.

A subsequent search through records from the time revealed the Holigost had been laid up at the site, at the stretch of the river at Bursledon.

The historian - who at the time was working at the Archaeological Research Centre at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich - then visited the site, where he and archaeologists discovered something hard beneath the surface.

But, despite being convinced that the wreck was there, there was never enough funding for a full investigation.

Dr Friel has now persuaded Historic England to investigate the shipwreck.

He spotted it while studying aerial pictures of a medieval breaker’s yard at next to Henry’s own flagship The Grace Dieu, which had been identified in the 1930s. The River Hamble is pictured above

The 600-year-old vessel was seen buried in the mud of the Hamble (shown on the map) in Hampshire by historian Dr Ian Friel

The Holigost was a major part of Henry V's war machine as he sought to conquer France, in a conflict most famous for the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

It had a crew of 200 sailors and carried large numbers of soldiers to war, took part in operations between 1416 and 1420, including two of the most significant naval battles of the Hundred Years War which broke the French naval power.

It was the flagship of the Duke of Bedford at the battle of Harfleur in 1416 and in the thick of the fighting off the Chef de Caux in 1417.

The ship - which was built using more than 3,700 trees - carried seven cannon, as well as bows and arrows, poleaxes and spears and 102 'gads', which are fearsome iron spears thrown from the topcastle to penetrate body armour.

The ship, whose name comes from Henry's personally devotion to the Holy Trinity, was originally rebuilt from a Spanish vessel called the Santa Clara that was captured in late 1413 or early 1414 and then acquired by the English Crown.

It was the flagship of the Duke of Bedford at the battle of Harfleur in 1416 and in the thick of the fighting off the Chef de Caux in 1417. Pictured: The royal fleet of King Edward I as depicted in Chronicles of England

Dr Friel identified the wreck when revisiting documentary evidence for his new book. Pictured: A carrack carrying John of Gaunt to Lisbon as seen in Chronicles of England (left) and an oil portrait of Henry V (right)

Like all the great ships, it was built to further Henry's war aims, but its decoration and flags also reflected both his personal religious devotion and his political ideas.

Unusually, this included a French motto Une sanz pluis - 'One and no more' - which meant that the king alone should be master.

The ship was a clinker-built - using overlapping planks of timber - of around 740-760 tons. Despite huge expenditure on maintenance work, the Holigost began to succumb to leaks and timber decay.

In 1423 a 'dyver' named Davy Owen, probably a Welshman, was employed to dive under the ship to stop up cracks, perhaps, the earliest-known instance in England of a diver being used in ship repair.

Duncan Wilson, Historic England chief executive, said: 'The Battle of Agincourt is one of those historic events that has acquired huge national significance.

'To investigate a ship from this period close to the six hundredth anniversary is immensely exciting.