Rebuilding historic ship, The Great Michael

It sounds like some kind of comic caper. In some ways it was - for their bold plan was to make Scotland's navy a world-beater with a monster vessel that would rip up great swathes of the nation's forest in its construction and leave 16th-century rulers across Europe consumed with bitter jealousy.

But before Scotland could become the envy of the maritime world and spark a desperate race among rivals to better her, they needed to find somewhere to build the thing.

Eventually King James IV and his loyal captain Andrew Wood's eyes rested on a small natural harbour, deep enough to take their planned super ship's mammoth bulk, free from sandbank obstacles to hinder her graceful slide into action.

The place they found became Newhaven. And the ship they'd build at this new yard was The Great Michael, a monster vessel that almost defied belief.

Scotland's role in shipbuilding has been brought into sharp focus this week as the fate of modern naval vessels being constructed at Rosyth and Govan shipyards has hung in the balance. But 500 years ago, King James IV had no qualms about throwing almost his entire annual income - around 30,000, worth millions by today's standards - into one of the most staggering shipbuilding projects of the time.

The Great Michael was eventually sold to the French - ironically she was used just once in anger in Scottish service. Her final resting place is, sadly, lost in the mists of time.

But now Scotland's greatest ever naval vessel will "sail" again - rebuilt by clever computer imagery to reveal how she probably looked for part of a new BBC One Scotland television series, Making Scotland's Landscape.

It recalls the fascinating story of how Scotland's navy became the envy of the world, while next month a two-part series on BBC Radio Scotland will explore further its impact on the country, the incredible challenge to build it and how it became a status symbol for the nation.

"James IV wanted a naval ship to impress the world and that's what he got," explains historian Louise Yeoman, who has produced the radio series. "He loved ships. He decided he wanted the biggest and the best. He was the last truly great medieval king - he drank with the people, he gave them money, he led them from the front. And they loved him."

The Great Michael would eventually weigh 1000 tons. She was 240ft long and 33 ft abeam and set sail equipped with 24 Flanders guns and around 40 smaller guns - Mons Meg is said by some to have been among her weaponry - manned by a crew of 300 sailors, 120 gunners and up to 1000 soldiers.

The King's plan was to make her a ship for hire to Scotland's allies as required. But before any of that could happen, he had to find somewhere suitable to build her.

"There is this wonderful accounts entry that shows how Captain Andrew Wood paid a man money to run him and the King up the Forth to seek the 'new haven'," adds Louise. "They were rowing back and forth, checking out the locations and asking each other where they should put it.

"Leith had a sandbar at its entrance so it couldn't be made there. So Newhaven was literally created to make this ship. Newhaven was Scotland's first world-beating shipyard."

The Great Michael not only impressed all who saw her with its scale, but the skill of its workmanship and its lavish fittings.

"She possibly took up to 72 acres of wood to create. The ammo guns on board would have been hugely expensive. She was carved, decorated and painted. The cloth used for just one of her Saltires measured 22 yards long. She would have been a remarkable work of art," adds Louise.

The radio series presenter, Evening News columnist and ship fanatic Susan Morrison, says she was a staggering piece of engineering which used all the new technologies of the day.

"The reason James IV wanted this ship was probably mainly to show off," she says. "It's possible she was built as a castle smasher - a kind of death star vessel to hire to kings who got themselves in all kinds of bother."

Her place in maritime history is unique, adds Louise.

"The Great Michael sparked an international arms race with the jealous monarchs of Europe. She was a revolutionary ship - building her was a massive international project like running a space project. The amazing thing was that it wasn't one of the European superpowers doing it - it was Scotland.

"Scotland's excellence in shipbuilding begins here on the Forth."

Making Scotland's Landscape, October 24 at 8pm on BBC One Scotland, and the two-part series The Great Michael will start on BBC Radio Scotland on November 29.

The facts

THE Great Michael was launched from the new dock at Newhaven in 1511, the largest warship in Europe.

After King James IV's death at Flodden, she was sold to France for a bargain sum and became the flagship of the Vice Admiral of Brittany.

She became a significant weapon in the war of the French fleet against the Spanish.

Her final resting place is unknown, however it's thought that in 1523 she may have returned to Scotland, carrying the regent of Scotland (the duke of Albany, regent for James V) from France.