We asked a local writer and journalist, Joanne Savage, to write an article on her first impressions of the ship. We are grateful for Joanne’s input and the article is below.

 

Looming against Barnett’s Quay, the SS Nomadic is much more than a rusting relic of Harland & Wolff’s industrial prowess. The 220ft-long tender ship is the last link to the Titanic, perhaps the most famed and mythologized vessel ever to have set sail across the Atlantic.

The universal appeal of the Titanic story is so obvious that Hollywood duly gave it the big-budget blockbuster treatment; behind the canoodling of Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the mawkish crooning of Celine Dion, the real drama is the fate of the Belfast-made opulent liner that sank despite its structural perfection. Indeed, it is not overstating the case to say that the Titanic is a classic archetype within a global cultural consciousness; like the Maire Celeste, killer sharks, swashbuckling pirates, innumerable creatures of the deep, or the theme tune to Jaws, when we think of the sea and its mysteries, dramas, and iconography, the Titanic is one of the most popular and recurrent associations. The pinnacle of Edwardian naval architecture and the largest liner of her day, the Titanic and her maiden odyssey have an epic glamour unequalled in maritime history and seafarers’ folklore.

Even better, the uber-opulent ship was the product of Belfast’s own shipbuilding expertise, and represents the unprecedented industrial ingenuity of a city often reductively defined by an international media as little more than the site of sectarian conflict. As we move towards a new, post-Troubles, vibrant Belfast, a rediscovery of local maritime history -and the Titanic legacy - will allow us to celebrate and redefine Belfast’s broader cultural identity.

Though we can’t recover the Titanic from the bottom of the North Atlantic, we can come close enough: the SS Nomadic, used to transport the glitterati and the well-heeled aboard the famed White Star Liner on her doomed voyage, has finally been returned to the city of her construction, and stands as the last remaining symbol of the salubrious Titanic brand. The same hands that made the luxuriant Titanic also produced the Nomadic, and as such, the tender ship displays grandeur of design reminiscent of the Titanic’s famously ornate Edwardian décor.

The hull is deep and roomy, and despite the mildew and mould of the ship’s ninety-six years, insignia of its former glory are still visible. Embossed portholes, intricate baroque panelling, artfully placed supporting columns between spacious decks, gilt pillars, and elaborately crafted stairwells: the Nomadic is both an antiquarian’s dream and a space ripe for restoration and investment.

Built by Harland & Wolff in 1911, the Nomadic has had a varied and eventful career. For many years after the tragedy of the Titanic, the ship continued to service other White Star Liners departing from the French port of Cherbourg. During the First and Second World War, the Nomadic was requisitioned as a troop carrier, ferrying soldiers to and from battle. Its last ferrying duties at Cherbourg were completed in 1968, before the ship was converted into a bespoke floating restaurant on the river Seine, allowing diners to take in the wonders of the Parisian skyline while enjoying quality cuisine.

Keen for Belfast to finally embrace its prestigious maritime and industrial legacy, Nomadic enthusiasts persuaded the Department for Social Development to ensure the Nomadic’s return to her birthplace in July 2006. Docked in the harbour and bristling with the memory of the Titanic, the ship will undergo extensive refurbishment to transform it into a polished symbol of Belfast’s industrial and maritime heritage.

Once the outmoded 60s carpets are rolled back, the decks revamped, the proud bow and stern slicked with new paint, the hull reinforced and the interior worked with a hybrid of Old World and art-deco chic, the Nomadic will be unveiled in time for her centenary as a quirky location like no other. With space for an upmarket restaurant to rival the Merchant, a unique exhibition studio or lavish concert venue, facilities for corporate and private functions, and a proposed interactive mini-museum devoted to the Titanic, local maritime history, and all things nautical, the Nomadic is certain to play a vital role in the multi-million pound rejuvenation of Belfast’s waterfront area. Already, there is huge excitement and global interest in the Nomadic restoration project, which will remobilise the Titanic brand and formally commemorate the remarkable expertise of Edwardian Belfast’s shipyards.

The Nomadic is certain to become a hugely popular tourist attraction, allowing visitors to re-discover Belfast as the birth-place of one of the most legendary liners ever made and the seat of much-lauded maritime memorabilia. Further, rejuvenation of the Nomadic - a ship built by dockers across the sectarian divide and a symbol of shared endeavour -, will provide us with a poignant emblem for today’s Belfast, a Belfast where we look towards a shared future, a shared culture, and a newfound, shared entrepreneurial optimism”.

Joanne Savage