Nail-and-rove fastenings strengthened clinker hulls

Northern French builders fastened overlapping planks by driving iron nails through them and hammering the projecting metal into diamond-shaped roves. The result acted like a pseudo-rivet and locked the clinker shell together quickly. This technique was especially valuable to William because it combined speed of construction with a strong hull by eleventh-century standards. That strength is relative to contemporary wooden shipbuilding and should not be compared with modern metal hulls.