twelve gunners and a porter. The castle was well-armed, with seven brass artillery pieces - a culverin, demi-culverin, cannon and demi-cannon - and eight iron guns. The French invasion emerged in 1545, when Admiral Claude d'Annebault crossed the Channel and arrived off the Solent with 200 ships on 19 July, landing troops on the Isle of Wight. Henry's fleet made a brief sortie, resulting in the Battle of the Solent, in which the English flagship, the Mary Rose, was lost, before retreating safely behind the protective fortifications. Henry was present in Portsmouth at the time and the Cowdray engraving of the battle depicts him visiting Southsea Castle. The French expedition moved further on along the coast on 25 July, bringing an end to the immediate invasion threat, but Henry gave orders for additional improvements to the fortification to be made that summer, including the construction of stone flankers and timber caponiers, to guard against a potential infantry attack. Edward VI spent a night at the castle in 1552 while inspecting the defences of Portsmouth. 17th century In the early 1600s, England was at peace with France and Spain and as a result the coastal defences received little attention; a survey found Southsea Castle to be "verie ill prepared for defence", with no guns mounted along the walls or any stocks of powder. In March 1626, a serious fire broke out that destroyed the interior of the keep and generated panic among the ships moored nearby. The damage was not repaired until 1635, when 210 loads of timber was sent from the New Forest for use in the work. Another serious fire then broke out in 1640, causing damage to the lodgings and store rooms. At the start of the English Civil War in 1642, fighting broke out around Portsmouth between the Royalist forces, led by Colonel George Goring, and Parliamentarians under the command of Colonel Richard Norton. Southsea Castle was held by the Royalist Captain Challoner, supported by a small garrison of eleven men and 14 guns, and Norton decided to attack the fortification with 400 infantry and two troops of cavalry. The assault took place in the early hours of the morning on 5 September; the garrison had positioned their guns to point inland, so the attackers stormed the moat on the seaward side. They then demanded that the garrison surrender but Challoner, who had been drinking heavily with