White Ship - Shipwreck

Shipwreck

The White Ship was a newer vessel captained by Thomas FitzStephen, whose father Stephen FitzAirard had been captain of the ship Mora for William the Conqueror when he invaded England in 1066. He offered to let Henry I of England use it to return to England from Barfleur in Normandy. Henry had already made travelling arrangements, but allowed his sons William Adelin and Richard, as well as many other nobles, to travel on it instead. According to chronicler Orderic Vitalis, the crew asked William Adelin for drink and he supplied it to them in great abundance. By the time the ship was ready to leave there were about 300 people on board although some had disembarked before the ship sailed due to the excessive drinking.

The ship's captain, Thomas, was ordered by the revelers to overtake the king's ship which had already sailed. The ship was fast, of the best construction and had recently been fitted with new materials which made the captain and crew confident they could reach England first. But when the White Ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock and the ship quickly capsized. William Adelin had got into a small boat and could have escaped but turned back to try to rescue his half-sister, Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche, when he heard her cries for help. His boat was swamped by passengers trying to save themselves and William along with the others drowned. According to Orderic Vitalis only two survived by clinging to the rock all night; one was a butcher from Rouen, the second was Geoffrey de l'Aigle. The chronicler further claimed that when Thomas FitzStephen came to the surface after the sinking and learned that William Adelin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face the King.

The cause of the shipwreck remains uncertain and various stories surround its loss. The most frequently aired version of events is that of a drinking binge by the crew and passengers. When seabound the captain became reckless and dared to try to overtake the King's ship once outside the harbour walls. It is also told that priests were not allowed on board to bless the ship in the customary manner.