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
History of the Port of Southampton large amount of cargo; nearly 90 percent of South Africa's fruit exports to the UK was handled at the port. Express freight trains enabled produce landing at Southampton in the morning to be on sale in London fruit markets in the afternoon: Dock facilities: The King George (No. 7) dry dock was the largest in the world, and could accommodate liners of up to 100,000 tons: Southampton's maritime museum was originally housed in The Wool House on the edge of Town Quay which included a small exhibition about the "Titanic". To mark the centenary of the "Titanic"s voyage a larger