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Displaying items by tag: Shining Lights

A new outdoor lighting feature has been installed on the historic SS Nomadic, providing a new lease of life on the decks of the liner-tender on view at Titanic Belfast.

The project was launched as part of Local History Month celebrations, shining a spotlight on the iconic SS Nomadic which is the last remaining White Star Line vessel.

The £91k investment came from a collaborative partnership by Tourism Northern Ireland and owners of the vessel, Maritime Belfast Trust. The project was undertaken by Anthony Hayes of AH Design, a company with over 30 years’ experience in building services specialising in lighting design.

The completed installation uses accent lighting to elegantly illuminate the ships decks, funnels and gangways. The lights are versatile and can be changed in colour.

These will be co-ordinated with Titanic Belfast’s pre-existing illumination schedule, marking important calendar dates and key local, national and international events.

For further reading from Maritime Belfast in addition to a link on the history of the SS Nomadic.

Published in Historic Boats

About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.