SS Nomadic & Hamilton dock development

Inside the SS Nomadic

Heritage Grants

Date awarded
Location
Sydenham
Local Authority
Belfast
Applicant
Maritime Belfast Trust
Award Given
£3250000
SS Nomadic, the tender vessel to the Titanic and the last remaining White Star Line ship in the world, was restored and opened as a visitor attraction in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.

Through a series of audio visual presentations, visitors can trace the history of the ship, meet different characters from its past and gain insights into what it would have been like to be a passenger or crew member. Visitors also have an opportunity to find out about some of the vessel’s famous passengers including Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Taylor.

The same Harland and Wolff workers who built the Titanic also built the Nomadic, and she is exactly one quarter of the size of her ill-fated sister ship. She primarily ferried first and second class passengers to the Titanic. Original plans and drawings were used to sensitively restore the vessel, with original panelling and features retained and reused wherever possible. The project provided public access to Hamilton Dock for the first time, enabling visitors to learn about the history of the shipbuilding industry in Northern Ireland by providing an authentic experience of life and work in booming industrial Belfast in 1911. The original Pump House, which dates to 1867, was also restored to house a retail, gift and interpretative space. 

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