The SS Nomadic was the tender ship that transported passengers from the docks to the Titanic, as the latter was too large to fit in the common docks.
It was launched on 25th April 1911, in Belfast Harbor and was one of the ships owned by the White Star Line.
Built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, the ship was 67 meters long and 11 meters wide. It had three-bladed propellers that propelled it to a top speed of 12 knots (about 22 km/h).
Like its sister ship, SS Traffic, the Nomadic was used as a tender, but the latter was furnished with luxurious interiors and was therefore used for first- and second-class passengers, while the Traffic served third-class passengers.
During the First World War, the Nomadic served to transport American troops to Brest, in northern France.
During World War II, she was requisitioned first by the French Navy and then by the British Royal Navy and used as a support vessel and for the evacuation of American troops.
In 1974, she was purchased by a private individual and converted into a restaurant along the Seine in Paris, where she remained docked and almost a wreck after the restaurant closed. In 2003, she was moved to the port of Le Havre.
After a public appeal for donations in Northern Ireland, the SS Nomadic was put up for auction on 26th January 2006, and subsequently purchased for nearly £172,000.
The SS Nomadic left Le Havre for Belfast on 12th July, arriving there on 18th July 2006.
Today, she remains a precious testament and is the only White Star Line vessel still in existence.
