Shipyard workers 1912

Shipyard workers going home from Queen’s Island, May 1911.

In this busy photograph, electric trams are crowded with workers, bound  for parts of Belfast beyond walking distance. In the right foreground a barefoot boy is selling newspapers, while in the background Titanic is almost ready for launching.  

At this time H&W had a workforce of 15,000, of which over 3,000 were employed in the construction of Titanic. The bow of the White Star tender Nomadic can be seen on the left of the photograph.  Nomadic was built to ferry passengers and freight to and from the liners Olympic and Titanic when they called at Cherbourg.  Amazingly, this historic element of the Titanic story has survived to present day, despite years of neglect.   Brought from France to Belfast for restoration in July 2006, Nomadic is being restored to her original 1911 state.  She will be used as an exhibition centre telling the story of shipbuilding in Belfast and as a conference venue.