Titanic Centennial Countdown: April 25, 1911:Tender Nomadic Launched

April 25, 1911.
The tender Nomadic is launched from the Harland & Wolff Shipyard's Hamilton Dock. She is one of two tenders built specifically to transfer passengers, cargo and mail to and from the Olympic-class liners from the port of Cherbourg, France.

Nomadic was the more luxurious of the ferries as she was designed to carry first and second class passengers to and from Olympic and Titanic while the Traffic would carry the third class passengers.

In World War I she was called to serve as a troop carrier. After the war she was sold to French interests. When World War II broke out she was once again converted to use as a troop carrier. Following the war she returned to her former life as a tender, serving Cunard liners until Nov. 1968, when she was retired.

Nomadic was purchased in 1974 and docked along the Seine in Paris, where she was converted into a restaurant. When that venture closed, the ship remained unoccupied until she was towed to Le Havre in 2006 and purchased, in January, by Northern Ireland's Department for Social Development.

Nomadic is now being restored to her original working condition in light of her special place in history as the last White Star liner still afloat. For more information, visit the Nomadic Preservation Society website.