All at sea: Mary Rose sank because foreign sailors couldn't understand their commander's orders

It has long been thought she went under while making a sharp turn, leaning over enough to submerge the open gun ports and flood the vessel.

But now researchers say she may have sunk in the Solent because two-thirds of the crew were foreigners who could not understand their commanders' orders to save the ship.

The Mary Rose: Why the 16th Century ship sank has long been an unsolved mystery

Forensic examinations of the crew's skulls show the majority were not British but southern European, most probably Spanish.

Researchers believe their inability to understand their officers' orders when the vessel began taking on water sealed its fate.

The theory also solves the riddle of the last words reputedly shouted by Admiral George Carew that his crew were 'knaves I cannot rule'.

It is believed the men were either mercenaries from the continent recruited by Henry VIII or Spanish soldiers shipwrecked in Britain and forced into military service.

Discovery: Dr Hugh Montgomery examines humans remains at the Mary Rose Trust, Portsmouth Harbour

The theory has been put forward by Professor Hugh Montgomery, a medical researcher at University College London.

He suggests the gun ports were left open only because the Spanish crewmen were too slow to understand the command to close them.

'In the chaos of battle, with all the shouting and guns going off, it would have taken a very clear chain of command and a very disciplined, well-rehearsed crew to close the gun port lids in time,' he said.

Final secrets: The Mary Rose

He and his team of forensic experts were allowed by the Mary Rose Trust, which preserves the surviving section of the wreck at Portsmouth, to examine the crew's remains.

To their amazement they discovered that about 60 per cent were of southern European origin.

Professor Montgomery said: 'Since diving on the wreck, I've been haunted by the fate of these men. The sight of those trapped skeletons left an enduring impression on me.

'The reason for this disaster had always puzzled me.'