Titanic Cherbourg

When the RMS Titanic left Southampton starting her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, her next stop was Cherbourg, France.  Because the harbor was too small for the massive size of the Titanic, the White Star Line built two tenders called the SS Nomadic and SS Traffic to ferry passengers and mail from the harbor to the Titanic.  They were built around the same time as the Titanic and Olympic in Belfast, Ireland.  A total of 281 passengers boarded at Cherbourg.

This postcard features the SS Nomadic which was the largest of the two tenders.  The SS Nomadic was built for the 1st and 2nd class passengers and the interiors gave people a mere glimpse of the luxury of the Olympic Class.  Even after the Olympic was scrapped and the White Star Line merged with the Cunard Line, the SS Nomadic faithfully transported passengers to the greatest liners to ever cross the Atlantic including the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.  During WWII, she was used to transport soldiers across the English Channel.  Many famous people sailed on her including John Jacob Astor IV, the Unsinkable Molly Brown, Charlie Chaplin, Madame Marie Curie, and Elizabeth Taylor.  She was retired and turned into a restaurant for years before she was saved from the scrapyard and brought to Belfast, Ireland for restoration.  She still exists as a museum in Belfast and is the last surviving White Star Line ship in existence.

This postcard featuring the SS Traffic was a smaller tender meant for transporting 3rd class passengers, luggage, and mail.  Not as much is known about her except that during WWII, she was scuttled by the British during the Nazi invasion and the Nazis raised her and scrapped her.