Visitors to Nomadic will learn about the ship’s history before and after Titanic.

 

Nomadic was commissioned by the White Star Line in 1910, to tender for their new ocean liners RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, which were too large to dock in Cherbourg harbour. She ferried passengers, their baggage, mail and ship’s supplies to and from large ocean liners moored off-shore. Nomadic was commissioned to transfer 1st and 2nd class passengers while her sister ship SS Traffic was similarly commissioned to transfer 3rd class passengers.

The keel of Nomadic was laid down in the Harland and Wolff shipyards, Belfast in 1910 (yard number 422). She was built on slipway No1 alongside RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, which were constructed on slipways 2&3 respectively. She was launched on 25 April 1911 and delivered to the White Star Line on the 27 May, following sea trials.

The ship is 230 ft (67 metres) long overall and 37 ft (11.3 metres) wide, with a gross registered tonnage of 1,273 tons. She had two single ended coal fired boilers and two compound steam engines, each driving two three-bladed screws of 7 ft (2.13m) diameter, which could propel her to a maximum speed of 12 knots.

Nomadic is of steel construction, with steel frames, beams, bulkheads and riveted hull plating. She had four working decks with various hold spaces beneath. She could carry up to 1,000 passengers when fully loaded.

Passenger accommodation consisted of lower and upper deck passenger lounges and open deck areas on the bridge and flying bridge decks. The vessel was divided into first and second class passenger areas, with first class passengers enjoying the fore areas of the ship. A small area in the aft end of the lower deck was assigned for overspill of third-class passengers from SS Traffic.

Internally, Nomadic was fitted out to a similar standard as the liners she was built to serve – Olympic and Titanic. As such, she had more luxuries than most tenders of her day, with cushioned benches, tables, porcelain water fountains, gender-specific bathrooms and a buffet bar. She contained ornate decorative joinery and plasterwork, particularly in the first class lounges of the ship.

She was built in the United Kingdom but as she was operated in French coastal waters by a French crew, she had a number of peculiarities, such as imperial and metric draft marks on opposing sides of the hull.

Nomadic arrived in Cherbourg on 3 June 1911 to begin her tendering duties for the White Star Line. On 10 April, 1912 she transported 274 passengers to RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage, including Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife, couturière Lucy (Lady Duff-Gordon),Denver millionairess Margaret Brown and industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim.

During the First World War and until 1919, Nomadic was requisitioned by the French government and she saw service as an auxiliary minesweeper and patrol ship, also ferrying American troops to and from the harbour in Brest (France). After the war, she returned to her tendering duties, but in 1927 she was sold and continued to tender under the ownership of the Compagnie Cherbourgeoise de Transbordement.

Following the 1934 merger of White Star and Cunard Lines and the opening of the enlarged port at Cherbourg, Nomadic ceased her tendering duties. She was sold to the Société Cherbourgeoise de Sauvetage et de Remorquage (SCSR or Cherbourg Tow & Rescue Society) and re-named Ingenieur Minard.

During the Second World War, Nomadic again saw service; on 18 June 1940 she took part in the evacuation of Cherbourg. She was subsequently requisitioned by the Royal Navy and based in Portsmouth harbour, she operated as a troop ship, coastal patrol vessel and minelayer for the remainder of the war.

During the war, Cherbourg port was heavily damaged, so large ocean liners could no longer dock there. Nomadic was saved from scrap and again returned to tendering duties for the SCSR from Cherbourg. She served the great ocean liners of the day, such as Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. She finally retired from these duties on 4 November 1968.

 

SS Nomadic as she appeared in 2000, docked on the Seine in Paris, when my wife first saw her. I had originally seen her with the Farset group in the mid-eighties.

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 and function vessel and in October 1974 was relocated to the Seine near the Eifel Tower, Paris, France, saving her from scrap once again. 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.

By this time, Vincent’s business was in financial difficulties and Nomadic was seized by the Paris harbour authorities in 2002. The authorities removed some of Nomadic’s superstructure in order to tow her below the Seine’s bridges. On 1 April 2003 she was towed out of Paris to Le Havre.

Following Vincent’s death in March 2005, the authorities sought to dispose of the vessel and attempted to find a buyer for Nomadic, if no buyer was found, she risked being sold for scrap value. On learning of her fate, heritage and maritime enthusiasts (including the French Titanic Society, Belfast Industrial Heritage, Belfast Titanic Society and the Save Nomadic appeal) began campaigns to raise funds to buy the vessel. These campaigns were well supported by the public, particularly in Northern Ireland, but were unable to raise sufficient funds to meet Nomadic’s reserve price.

The campaigns however gained political and governmental support, and on 26 January 2006, the Northern Ireland government Department of Social Development bought the vessel at auction^[1] for €250,001 (the reserve price being €250,000).

SS Nomadic left Le Havre to return to Belfast on 12 July 2006, and arrived close to where she was built on 18 July 2006.

Nomadic returned to Belfast without a bridge deck or funnel in 2006.