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 the ship. The boats were supposed to be stocked with emergency supplies, but "Titanic"s passengers later found that they had only been partially provisioned. No lifeboat or fire drills had been carried out since "Titanic" left Southampton. A lifeboat drill had been scheduled for the morning before the ship sank, but was cancelled, allegedly because the ship's captain, Edward Smith, wanted to deliver one last Sunday service before he went into full retirement. Lists had been posted on the ship allocating crew members to particular lifeboat stations, but few appeared to have read them or to have known what they