Just after sunset on Wednesday April 10, 1912, the great new White Star liner Titanic entered the harbor at Cherbourg, France. Here she would be met by the tenders Nomadic and Traffic to embark 274 additional passengers, baggage and mail.  142 cross-channel passengers would also leave the ship here.  Tea was already being served in the Third-Class Dining Saloon and dinner was just beginning in Second Class.  In First Class, dinner would start shortly at seven.  The passengers about to disembark would do so from E Deck below, and thus very few passengers would remain on deck after the ship finished anchoring.  

This is how Titanic would have appeared to an observer at this moment in time, and this is how I've modeled her.  The open gangway on the starboard side, lit from within, conveys the sense of anticipation the arriving passengers must have felt as their tender approached.

   Note - For best appearance of color and detail, it's recommended that you view these images in dim light. 

In the above image, four 1st Class passengers have stepped out on deck from one of the forward A-Deck corridors. Two more passengers are standing beneath the overhang of the Navigating Bridge.

Above and below: a handful of curious passengers make their way out from the 1st Class entrance by the Gymnasium to see the lights of Cherbourg. 

Below:  further aft, on the 2nd Class area of the Boat Deck, a young boy has run ahead to the barrier railing for the Engineers' Promenade while his father walks up behind him.

Above, opposite the fourth lifeboat from the left, is the 1st Class Entrance on the Boat Deck.  Through these windows the light can be seen coming up through the opening of the grand staircase within.

    For the rest of the photos on this page, it's recommended that you turn off the lights in the
     room where you're viewing this.  The following low-light images are best seen in the dark.

Historical note:  years after the open gangway door on D Deck was modeled into the hull above, a previously undiscovered photograph showed that the gangway door further forward on E Deck was used instead for the tender on the starboard side. But as the entrance vestibule had long since been built out and furnished, it was left in place.

Historical note:  Although not visible in the above images, there's an anchor detail of a Senior Officer and five deckhands on the Forecastle Deck and a lookout in the Crow’s Nest.  There would normally be a Junior Officer in the Crow’s Nest while the ship entered harbor, but not after dropping anchor.   On this model only one lookout is present as the other lookout is still below.  On the Docking Bridge aft the Chief Officer would have been stationed with a Quartermaster while entering harbor, but I have only the latter standing watch as the Chief Officer has gone forward to assist with the many tasks involved with Titanic's one and only stop on the Continent.

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