From the quayside, third-class passengers boarded Nomadic through gates on either side of the poop deck, separate from first- and second-class passengers, then descended the stairway to the third-class deck. A hatch on the poop deck led to the boatswain's, or bosun's, store, a storage compartment below deck at the stern. At the centre of the deck originally stood a steam-powered steering gear that powered the ship's rudder, and a telegraph on the deck communicated with the crew below in the engine deck. The flagstaff on the poop deck flew the French tricolor, and the word "poop" comes from a French word for a ship's stern.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.

Photo: William Fischer, Jr.