William the Conqueror’s flagship on the voyage to England was called Mora.
Mora was presented to William by his wife, Matilda of Flanders, and built at Barfleur in Normandy for the 1066 invasion. Medieval descriptions portray it as one of the fleet’s largest and fastest vessels. William’s position aboard the flagship gave the ship symbolic importance as well as a practical role in leading the crossing.
According to accounts by William of Poitiers and Orderic Vitalis, Mora sailed at the front of the fleet. It carried a lantern high on its mast so the other ships could follow and used a horn as a signal. At one point, its speed carried it ahead of the rest of the fleet, leaving William temporarily alone in the Channel until the other ships caught up.
Mora’s figurehead reportedly showed a gilded child pointing toward England, with an ivory trumpet in its mouth. Its name has several proposed origins, but no explanation is certain. The ship reached Pevensey with the Norman forces in September 1066.