Design

Overall Design

Nomadic’s design was a very simple one – but was quite a departure for a tender vessel. Up until now, tenders had been very basic ‘people carriers’ with next to no facilities. But with the incredible expansion of the passenger shipping trade with ever more luxurious ships, a ‘people carrier’ was no longer acceptable in the modern world. Hence Nomadic was very much a ship in her own right.

Her design was centred around one main purpose – that of transporting up to 980 or so passengers and their luggage (total capacity including crew was 1,000). For the passengers, the White Star experience would have started as soon as they set foot on the gangway to the tender. Unlike today’s ‘tenders’ such as the bus to the aircraft steps, Nomadic was designed to be as luxurious as could be for such a short journey. Although the journey to the awaiting liner may have only taken 30 minutes, passengers would have loaded up to an hour or even two hours earlier. The loading of luggage and other items would have taken some time and with passengers arriving at the dock throughout the day, Nomadic needed to be more than just a mere short haul transport ship.

Powered by two compound steam engines and two single ended boilers, Nomadic had a working speed of 12 knots which was ideal for the environment she worked in. Being twin screw, this would have aided in manoeuvrability a little but at some point in her early life by the looks of it, an extension was fitted to her rudder. Open to debate of course, but given the fact that Titanic’s rudder was the cause of her slow turn away from the approaching iceberg, maybe this extension was a direct result of Titanic’s sinking.

She was fitted with a rubbing strake on each side, just below the line of the main deck and a form of wraparound fender was attached to both bow and stern. Two lifeboats, each with a capacity of around 30 people each were placed amidships, but it is likely that she only carried two due to her working proximity to land.

There were 2 main luggage holds, with all luggage being lowered through the foredeck hatch. The ship’s crew quarters were forward of the main deck luggage hold and were accessed through an opening on the foredeck. The Captain and Superintendent had quarters on the bridge deck, either side of the 1st class staircase. To keep the crew fed during long stays on board, Nomadic was fitted with a small galley, which also provided hot and cold snacks for the 1st class passengers.

Design by Class

1st class passengers would not be happy having to stand around and so Nomadic had to have the sort of facilities to keep them satisfied. This included a buffet bar for hot and cold snacks from the galley on the bridge deck above – and of course all manner of drinks, including champagne no doubt. A separate ladies lounge and toilet area, gentleman’s toilets, water fountains and comfortable seating (the benches were cushioned) finished off the 1st class area in style. Ornate tables bolted to the deck were placed throughout the area and naturally, there was plenty of open deck space.

The decor was in keeping with the class – a mixture of oak, mahogany and beach panelling and seating, with floral garlands and ‘Corinthic’ style patterning in jesso plasterwork throughout. Some of the panelling and plasterwork was the same as on Olympic and Titanic. Plants adorned the entrance to the staircase leading to the lower deck and intricate linoleum floor tiling covered the steel decks. Overhead, the deck head and frames were covered in, what we believe to be, an early form of plywood. Attached to the deck head panels were porcelain ceiling roses from which lightbulbs illuminated the interior. Entrance to the ship was via two entrance vestibules with doors of solid oak and iron grill work, each vestibule having two doors separated by a Georgian style window and being being partially panelled.

Small selection of the items from First Class area that were recovered:

2nd class passengers were not as fussy as their counterparts in 1st, but they were still treated to decent facilities despite it being a slightly smaller area overall. However, with the exception of the buffet bar and ladies lounge, they had the same as 1st class.

Decor here was not as lavish as that of 1st class with the panelling mainly in mahogany and of a more understated design, with deck head and beams left bare but painted. Stairways, lighting and flooring remained as per 1st class as did the entrance vestibules but with the exception of the door grill work being in a fleur-de-lis pattern.

3rd class was a much smaller area than either of the other two, occupying one deck only and at the stern of the ship. Facilities were more basic with bare wooden seats and tables, a water fountain and a single toilet for each sex. However, they were able to use the stern deck for fresh air and recreation which was accessed up the main 3rd class stairway.

Decor was simple and plain. No panelling, just white paint and plain linoleum flooring and standard lighting. 3rd class on Nomadic was only really used as an overflow if the Traffic was full. But it probably wasn’t used that much once the USA reduced their immigrant quotas in the early 1920’s.

SS Nomadic – Specifications

The following specifications of Nomadic are taken from the French classification society, Bureau Veritas. This incredible document was discovered by our European Co-ordinator, Phillipe Delaunoy. To keep authenticity, we have reproduced the specification sheet exactly as it appears in the document.

Source : Bureau Veritas (France)

Nomadic : Tender
Signal letters : KLDC
Captain’s name by 05/1911 : Patrix
Electric lights : yes
Diameter of chain cables : 24/16
Navigation code : P (near harbours)

Dimensions
Length : 67.23 m (220-7)
Breadth : 11.3 m (37-1)
Depth : 3.80 m (12-6)
Free Board : 1680
Tonnage : Gross (1260), Net (800), Under deck (806)
Material : Iron
Propellers : 2
Watertight compartments : 8
Decks : 2 P (full-deck)
Repairs : caréné or painted 09/1911
Survey : Cherbourg 09/1911

Engines
2 compounds, date of certificate 05/1911
Cylinders : 4
Cylinders diameter : 34-69 cm (13.5-27)
Stroke : 46 cm (18)
Horse power : 550 (nominal)
Engine survey : Cherbourg 09/1911
Builder : H&W

Boilers
2 cylindric boilers
diameter : 3.42 meters (11-3)
length : 3.35 meters (11-0)
furnace : 4
grate surface : 5.86 meters (63)
heating surface : 234 m² (2520)
pressure : 7 kg (100psi)
builder : H&W
survey : Liverpool 05/1911

The boilers were never converted to oil burning

Electricity
2 Dynamos 24,5 KiloWatts (total)

Crew
engine-room : 7
deck : 7