SS Nomadic (1911)

For the 1891 ship of the same name, see SS Nomadic (1891).

SS Nomadic as she appeared in 2000, docked on the Seine in Paris.
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	SS Nomadic
Owner:
Operator:	White Star Line
Port of registry:	Southampton, UK
Builder:	Harland and Wolff Belfast, Northern Ireland
Laid down:	22 December 1910
Launched:	25 April 1911
Acquired:	27 May 1911
Maiden voyage:	31 May 1911
Notes:	Sea trials 16 May 1911
Career (France)
Name:	SS Nomadic
Operator:	Compagnie Cherbourgeoise de Transbordement
Port of registry:	Cherbourg, France
Acquired:	1927
Out of service:	1969
Renamed:	Ingenieur Minard
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	SS Nomadic
Operator:	SS Nomadic Charitable Trust Ltd.
Port of registry:	Cherbourg, France
Acquired:	2006
In service:	2011 or 2012 - undecided
Status:	Museum ship, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Notes:	Restoration level to be a 'cosmetic overhaul' only by anniversary of RMS Titanic
General characteristics
Tonnage:	1273 GT (gross tonnage)
Length:	220 ft (67 m)
Beam:	37 ft (11 m)
Draught:	8 ft (2.4 m)
Decks:	5
Installed power:	2 single ended scotch marine boilers
Propulsion:	2 double expansion engines powering 2 triple blade propellers.
Speed:	12 knots
Capacity:	1,000 passengers
Crew:	14

SS Nomadic is a steamship of the White Star Line, launched on 25 April 1911 in Belfast. She was built as a tender to the liners RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, and is the last remaining vessel built for the White Star Line still afloat.

History

The keel of Nomadic was laid down in the Harland and Wolff shipyards, Belfast in 1910 (yard number 422). She was launched on 25 April 1911 and delivered to the White Star Line on the 27 May. The ship was 67 meters (220 ft) long and 11.3 meters (37 ft) wide, with a gross tonnage of 1,273 tons. She had two three-bladed screws, propelling her to a maximum speed of 12 knots. Nomadic had more luxuries than most tenders of her day, such as benches, tables, brass water foutains, gender-specific bathrooms and a cafe.

With her sister ship SS Traffic, Nomadic was used as a tender for Titanic and Olympic at Cherbourg in France. Nomadic was fitted with a luxurious interior and was hence used for the first and second class passengers, while Traffic served the third class travellers. However, there was a small space below deck for Traffic's overspill of third-class passengers. Nomadic's connection to the doomed White Star Liner secured her inclusion within James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster, where she is viewed alongside Titanic at Cherbourg, delivering a loud Margaret Brown; one of Titanic's and Nomadic's most famous and well loved passengers.

During World War I Nomadic saw service in carrying American troops at Brest (France).

In 1927, she was sold to the Compagnie Cherbourgeoise de Transbordement and then sold again to the Société Cherbourgeoise de Remorquage et de Sauvetage in 1934. Then under the name Ingenieur Minard, she again served as a troop ship in World War II.

After the war she continued tendering Cunard White Star (the two companies merged in 1934) ships until November 1968. She then served RMS Queen Elizabeth for the last time.

In 1974, Nomadic was bought by a private individual and converted into a restaurant on the Seine in Paris, where she remained docked and semi-derelict after the closure of the restaurant, until she was moved to the port of Le Havre in 2006.

Preservation of Nomadic

A public appeal for donations to return Nomadic to the Harland and Wolff shipyard for restoration was organised by Belfast Industrial Heritage (BIH), a non-profit organisation in Northern Ireland, in collaboration with John White and David Scott Beddard from White Star Memories. White and Beddard formed the SaveNomadic.com Appeal, which later with Philippe Delaunoy became the Nomadic Preservation Society.

On 26 January 2006, SS Nomadic was purchased at auction in Paris by the Department for Social Development, part of the Northern Ireland Office. She cost £171,320 (the reserve price being £165,000).

SS Nomadic left Le Havre to return to Belfast on 12 July, and arrived back close to where she was built on 18 July 2006. The vessel was welcomed back by the Social Development Minister David Hanson MP and the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Belfast, Councillor Ruth Patterson and a number of well wishers. The Nomadic arrived "piggy backed" on a marine transportation barge, which had been contracted from Anchor Marine Transportation Limited.

A study by Belfast City Council has estimated the cost of restoring Nomadic at £7 million. Belfast Harbour Commissioners have agreed to provide a temporary berth for the ship, and a charitable trust to co-ordinate fundraising for the restoration has been set up. Now that the vessel is on the United Kingdom's National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, the project should qualify for a National Lottery grant application, which should substantially enhance existing funds of £60,000 from a public appeal and £100,000 from Belfast City Council.

The Nomadic Appeal Public Website has now founded the Nomadic Preservation Society.

At the beginning of February, 2011, it was announced that a £2 million contract had been awarded to the original builders of Nomadic, Harland and Wolff, in order to restore her hull and reconstruct the vessel's superstructure. A further BBC article also states that there is hope that the vessel will be "totally refurbished in time for the centenary of the Titanic's sinking in 1912". Funding for the project has come from the EU Peace III Programme.

The current work is limited to restoring Nomadic's structural integrity and appearance. A further project of restoring the vessel's interior is to follow this phase.

Several of the Nomadic's original fittings and artefacts, such as her first-class buffet backdrop and wall clock, tables, steering wheel and original No. 2 lifeboat have been recovered and preserved. The lifeboat is the last White Star lifeboat left in existence.

The Nomadic Preservation Society plans to have these items reused on board the ship wherever possible. The No. 2 lifeboat, however, will be displayed in a maritime museum while two replica boats will be built to serve Nomadic.

On November 24, 2011, Nomadic was repainted in her original White Star Livery (on one side), and a great percentage of her new superstructure had been assembled on her. This work included coal shoots, superstructure supports, and the small iron doors through which people would board her. On December 15, 2011 her re-manufactured funnel was installed .

The Nomadic Preservation Society is looking to replace the Nomadic's engines, which were removed, scrapped and replaced by concrete when she became a floating restaurant. These engines are from the SS Nyanza, a 1907-built cargo ship whose dimensions and power plant are identical to those of Nomadic. However, the Nomadic Charitable Trust must raise £200,000 to buy the power plant, or it will be scrapped as well.

By early February 2012, Nomadic's superstructure was completely rebuilt (with the exception of lifeboats, davits, and the bridge) and painted in original White Star Line Livery and her port of registry was converted back to Cherbourg. The space where the bridge once stood is currently empty, meaning a new one may be built there in the near future.

Location

SS Nomadic welcomed back to Belfast.

On her return to Belfast, SS Nomadic was moored at Queen's Quay just outside the Odyssey Arena in Belfast and opened with a temporary exhibition. In late 2008 the ship was closed to the public and moved to Barnett's Dock for internal maintenance.

In January 2009, the company Frazer-Nash was appointed to manage the Conservation Management Plan, to decide the level of maintenance required.

In July 2009 auditors expressed concern that the £7m refit of the derelict SS Nomadic may not be completed for the centenary of her launch in Belfast.

In August 2009 Nomadic entered Hamilton Graving Dock for drydocking and complete restoration.

See also

• SS Pontic, another White Star Line tender.

Further reading

• Vanhoutte, Fabrice and Melia, Philippe (2004). Le S/S Nomadic: Petit frère du Titanic. Cherbourg: Editions Isoète. ISBN 2-913-920-39-X
• Pritchard, Mervyn (2008). The Belfast Child: S.S. Nomadic, Exploring the World's Last Great Link to R.M.S. Titanic. Belfast: Queen's Island Press. ISBN 0955931401

External links

• SS Nomadic History
• Nomadic Preservation Society
• Nomadic Charitable Trust
• Maritime Matters - Nomadic
• National Register of Historic Vessels
• BBC News - "Titanic link ship set for Belfast"