RMS Titanic headed for the French port of Cherbourg, a journey of . The weather was windy, very fine but cold and overcast. Because Cherbourg lacked docking facilities for a ship the size of "Titanic", tenders had to be used to transfer passengers from shore to ship. The White Star Line operated two at Cherbourg, the and the . Both had been designed specifically as tenders for the "Olympic"-class liners and were launched shortly after "Titanic". ("Nomadic" is today the only White Star Line ship still afloat.) Four hours after "Titanic" left Southampton, she arrived at Cherbourg and was met by the
Lifeboats of the RMS Titanic was involved in a collision with the Lloyd Italiano liner in January 1909 and sank. Even though she did not have enough lifeboats for all passengers, they were all saved because the ship was able to stay afloat long enough for them to be ferried to ships coming to assist. This fact is what led to the harsh condemnation of Captain Stanley Lord of , who both American and British inquiries into the disaster felt could have saved many if not all of the passengers and crew had she heeded the "Titanic"s distress calls. In this scenario, "Titanic"s lifeboats would