The SS Nomadic was constructed for use in Cherbourg because the Olympic class liners were too large to fit in the small port. Her keel was laid in December 1910 and she was given the yard number 422.

Nomadic was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, launched on the 25th April 1911 and delivered to the White Star Line on the 27th May 1911. She was 220ft long and 37ft wide with a gross tonnage of 1,273 tons. Nomadic had two three-bladed screws and could travel at a maximum speed of 12 knots.

Nomadic served as a tender for the first and second class passengers at Cherbourg in France.  Another tender, the SS Traffic, ferried the third class passengers. In 1934 Cunard and the White Star Line merged to form Cunard White Star.

Nomadic continued to serve as a tender up until 1968. In 1974 Nomadic was bought and converted into a restaurant and she remained docked on the river Seine in Paris until the closure of the restaurant.  In 2006 Nomadic was moved to Le Havre to be auctioned. When I visited Nomadic in France she was in a sorry state.

In January 2006 Nomadic was purchased by the Northern Ireland Department for Social Development and returned to Belfast. Nomadic has since been restored with the assistance of her original builders, Harland and Wolff. 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and Nomadic takes her rightful place in Belfast's new Titanic Quarter. She is the last remaining White Star Line ship afloat.