Nomadic (II) Fact File

Nomadic and her sister ship Traffic (Yard No. 423) were designed as passenger and baggage tenders for operation at Cherbourg. The ‘Olympic’ class represents the first truly integrated travel system.

The design of vessels, yard to construct, ports to handle, docks to service and repair and the shoreside infrastructure such as passenger sheds and the hotels and railways needed to bring and accommodate passengers to and from the ports all had to be designed, planned and built from scratch. At Cherbourg the French port was not large enough to accommodate the ‘Olympic’ class so the Company needed tenders to bring passengers and their baggage to and from the liners waiting off the port. Other shipping lines used converted passenger ferries but White Star ordered new purpose built tenders. The result was Nomadic for 1st and 2nd Class passengers and Traffic for 3rd Class passengers, cargo and baggage with an added feature - baggage creepers - similar to those used today by the airlines, this equipment dramatically speeded up turn around times at the port. Innovation was key not only to maintaining White Star’s position as one of the world’s greatest shipping lines but also established Harland & Wolff as a world-class shipbuilder.

SS Nomadic is preserved on Queen’s Island, Belfast and open to visitors.