Today I attended, as High Sheriff of Belfast and a Board member of the Nomadic Charitable Trust, the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the centenary of the launch of SS Nomadic on board the vessel in Hamilton Dock in Belfast.
There was a short ceremony, followed by some light refreshments in the Pump House Café, Titanic Dock, NI Science Park, Queen’s Road, Belfast.
Attendees were limited to Nomadic Trust Board members, Project Board members and representatives from the various funding organizations supporting the restoration project.
The Nomadic was built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast (yard number 422). She was launched on 25 April 1911 and delivered to the White Star Line on 27 May. She is 233.6 ft long – 37.3 ft wide and had a speed of 12 knots. Her gross tonnage is 1273. Nomadic attended the departure of the Olympic for Liverpool on 31 May 1911, the same day as Titanic was launched.
The Nomadic and her little sister, the Traffic, were built to ferry passengers and freight to and from the White Star Liners calling at Cherbourg. The Traffic ferried the “not so famous” third class passengers, baggage and freight while Nomadic with, its plush interior, was given the job of bringing the rich and famous to Titanic and Olympic‘s gangway doors, including the “Unsinkable ” Molly Brown, who survived the disaster.
By 10 April 1912, the two tenders had met and served Olympic on each of her twelve subsequent Cherbourg visits. Now they were to serve another liner on the first day, and at the first stop, of her own maiden trip: RMS Titanic.
After the tragedy which befell Titanic, Nomadic continued to service Olympic and other White Star liners calling at Cherbourg. But these were troublesome times.
The Great War stopped the transatlantic traffic. The Nomadic left Cherbourg in 1917 and sailed to Brest from where she was used to ferry American soldiers around the coast of France.
In 1927 White Star Line sold the ship to the Compagnie Cherbourgeoise de Transborde-ment (CCT). The CCT sold her to the Société Cherbourgeoise de Remorquage et de Sauvetage in 1934. The Nomadic, by now called Ingenieur Minard, sailed under the French flag. In 1939 the Second World War broke out. Once again, the ship was used as a troopship and participated in the evacuation of British soldiers from Le Havre and from Brest. When Germany occupied France, Nomadic was returned to England where she served as a coastal patrol vessel and minelayer until returning to Cherbourg in 1945.
The ship continued to service luxury cruise liners until November 1968. She served the Queen Elizabeth, Cunard Line, for the last time in 1968 before being sent to the scrap yard.
A Mr. Spinnewyn saved the Nomadic from the scrap yard and it reverted to its original name. Mr. Spinnewyn wanted to convert it to a floating restaurant. Unfortunately the plan didn’t take off and the ship lay idle for five years. Mr. Yvon Vincent bought Nomadic off Mr. Spinnewyn and successfully turned it into a floating restaurant on the river Sienne, near the Eifel Tower, Paris, France and I saw her there for the first time.
On 2nd August 2001, I wrote to Marie-Therese McGivern, Director of the Development Committee of Belfast City Council on behalf of Monsieur Philippe Delaunoy of the CFE Group, who were lobbying for the vessel’s return to Belfast: “ I think that it would be of great benefit to Belfast if the Nomadic could be returned to her native city as a must see tourist attraction,as she could be converted into a Titanic museum, restaurant and conference centre. She is the last surviving ship of the White Star Line and a little sister ship of the Titanic,which she resembles,except,of course, she is much smaller and has only one funnel.”
Marie-Therese replied on 12th October 2001: “DCAL has decided not to fund the project as it has too many pressures and priorities to consider purchase or part purchase of the ship. Unfortunately, I feel that Belfast City Council is bound to come to the same decision.” …And so, in spite of my best efforts, it did.
But the campaign was continued by enthusiasts from Belfast and Europe to bring Nomadic back to Belfast where she belonged. Thankfully, that campaign was successful and the Department for Social Development purchased the Nomadic for Euro 250,001 at auction in Paris on 26th January 2006. Built by the same men who built the Titanic, and after a round trip of 95 years, Nomadic came home to Belfast, amid much publicity, in July of that year.
Ed: RMS Titanic was launched in Belfast on 31 May 1911. After her launch the vessel had to be fitted out and undertook numerous seatrials to equip her for her trade as an ocean-going passenger liner. This meant that for a short time Titanic became a familiar craft to observers on the shores of Belfast Lough (including the young C.S. Lewis and his family). Titanic began her maiden voyage from Southampton and sank in mid-Atlantic on 15 April, 1912.