The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-03 00:00:00

COMMENCEMENT OF THE LAUNCH

OF THE
GREAT EASTERN STEAM-SHIP.

This morning the preparations for launching this most
stupendous and magnificent specimen of naval architec-
ture were commenced in the presence of thousands of
spectators. From an early hour in the morning immense
numbers of persons arrived by the Biackwall Railway,
and the most intense interest was manifested to obtain
a sight of so novel and interesting a character. The
banks of the Thames opposite Miliwall were thronged ;
but owing to the haziness of the atmosphere very little,
we shout.' imagine, could bo seen from such a position.
Those parties fortunate enough to obtain tickets had
their comforts, as far as possible (owing to the shortness
of time at which the launch was fixed), sedulously at-
tended to. The present launch differed from ail pre-
ceding ones, and the ve-sel, instead of entering her
native element in the usual manner, was drawn into the
water " broadside on."

The whole of the arrangements were under the direc-
tion of Mr. Brunel, and the following is the plan
adopted :—Two launching " ways," or large and power-
fully-built tramways, have been constructed by the rail-
way contractors, Messrs. Treadwell and Co., running
from under the fore and after portions of the vessel
down into the river at low water spring tide mark.
Each of these " ways" is 300 feet long by 120 wide,
and the distance between the two is also about 120
feet. To guard against the shifting nature of the river
mud both the " ways " are constructed with unusual
solidity and strength. The foundation of each is formed
upon seven rows of piles, the four outside rows being
driven at three feet intervals, and the three inner rows
at six feet. These piles are all forced home to the
gravel of the river bed, so that they graduate from a
length of 32 feet under the ship's bottom to 10 feet
at the low water mark. To both sides of the heads of
the rows of piles strong timbers, 12 inches by 12 inches,
are securely bolted, and the whole area of the " way"
covered with concrete to a thickness of two feet. Above
the concrete longitudinal timbers of great strength are
secured at intervals of three feet six inches from centre
to centre, and run the entire length of the " way." Over
these again are placed transverse timbers of the
same solidity, but only three feet thick, which are
bolted together and again bolted down the wailings
to keep them fixed under the pressure they will have to
bear and prevent them floating at high tide. On these
transverse timbers, but running straight from the vessel
to the water's edge, are screwed railway metals at in-
tervals of 18 inches apart. They are the ordinary solid
bridge rails used by Mr. Brunel on the permanent way
of the Great Western Railway, and are, of course, of
the strongest kind. The rails complete the " ways,"
which, thus resting on a bed of piles and concrete, form,
as it were, a massive road of crossed and recrossed tim-
bers stretching from under the Great Eastern to low
water mark at an inclination of lin 12. Down the rail-
way metals on these " ways," thee, the ship will ')e
slowly lowered into the water on cradles, constructed
under her. The cradles are the same width as the
" ways" over which they are to run. They are made
of large balks of timber, wedged and driven in so as to
fit perfectly the bottom of the ship fore and aft. The
timbers are principally laid athwart-ships with longitu-
dinal beams and shores fastened to the enter sides. All
are firmly bound together with iron bolts, and loaded
with iron ballast to prevent them floating when the tide
takes the vessel off. The bottom of the cradle consists
of iron bars seven inches wide and an inch thick,
placed at intervals of one foot apart, and with their edges
carefully rounded off, so as to offer no resistance to the
railway metals of the " ways" down which they will have
to pass. The process of launching, therefore, consisted
in lowering these cradles with the vessel on them slowly
over the " ways." As a matter of course, if the monster
were les% to itself, the instant the shores were knocked
away it wssuld rush down the ways and very probably
strand itself On the opposite side of the river. To pre-
vent this catastrophe, massive chains were fastened to
the cradles, which were passed through double sheaves
secured to clumps of piles driven 35 feet into the solid
earth.

The principal dimensions of the ship, capacity, and
power of the Great Eastern are as follows :

Length, 680 feet.
Breadth, 8.3 feet.
Depth from deck to keel, 51
al feetoons .
400 feet.
Aggregate length of princip sal,
Height of ditto, 15 feet.
Number of decks, 4.
Tonnage, 25,000 tons.
Carries of coals and cargo, 18,000 tons.
Nominal horse-power, screw, 1,600 horses.
Ditto paddles, 1,00 horses.
Cylinders of screw engines, 4.
Diameter of cylinder, 84 inches.
Length of stroke, 4 feet.
Cylinders of paddle engines, 4 feet.
Diaoeter of cylinder, 74 inches.

Length of stroke, 14 feet 6 inches.
Draft of water (loaded), 28 feet; do. (light), 18 ft.
The actual weight of the ship, engines, and various
fitting 4, are as follows : TONS.
Ship
Timber work, fittings, (Sze.
Masts, rigging, and sails
Anchors, chains, &c 3OO
Paddle engines complete
Boilers to ditto (full)
Screw engines complete 607
Boilers to ditto (full) 632
Paddle-wheels lB5
Paddle-boxes and sporoon beams
Screw, shaft, and bearings
37
Screw propeller

Total 12,375

Her deck is flush except for cabin entrances and
similar purposes, so that a promenade More than twice
the length of the Great Britain's deck is available for
the passengers.
The floor of the ship is perfectly flat, the keel being
turned inwards and rivetted to the inner ship's keel.
These several skins are joined to each other by longi-
tudinal webs or girders, formed of plate and angle iron.
There are 17 of these webs on each side of the Irbil),
which run the entire length of the vessel, and they are
placed at such distances as to extend upward, at inter-
vals of about three feet from the keel to the maindeck,
and they are again closed up in lengths varying from 20
to 60 feet. Thus the outer and inner ships are joined
together by means of a great number of water-tight webs
or cell 4 of extraordinary strength, giving the vessel a
rigidity such as has never been cotnounicated to a ship
before. The main deck ie treated in the same manner

for a width of 20 feet on each side, and iron girders bind
one side to the other, so that the entire vessJ becomes,
as it were, a beam of strength, and the whole fab.-in may
be denominated a web of woven iron, the rivets forming
the fastenings, and the webbed or honey-comb cells bee
coming an indissoluble structure. The compartments
between the outer and inner skin will hold 3,000 tons
of water ballast, should it be required. The web plates
are of inch iron, and the outer and inner skins are of
three-quarter inch iron.
Each of the small first-class cabins is 14 feet by 101,
and 71 feet high. The largest are 15 feet by 11, and
71 high. There are whole streets and squares of such
apartments as these, opening out into saloons, which of
themselves afford as much space an the main deck of a
line-of-battle ship of the present day.
She has 20 ports on the lower deck, each five feet
square, to receive railway waggons. She has also 60
ports on each side, 2 feet 0 inches square, for ventilation,
and an abundance of dead lights. The lower ports are
16 feet above the water when the ship is loadci.
The bulwarks are 9 feet 6 inches high forward, and
slope down to above 5 feet high amidships and aft.
massive wrought iron deck is covered with teak plank-
ing, placed about 6 inches distance from the iron. The
engines are, beyond all doubt, the largest and most
powerful by some thousands of horse power that have
ever yet been constructed, and some of the largest pieces
of wrought iron that have ever been forged and the
largest castings that have ever been run in one casting
are used in their manufacture.

The paddle engines consist of four oscillating cylinders
of 74 inches diameter and of 14 feet stroke, working
in
a solid frame attached to the frame of the ship.
dair
Each
pair of cylinders, with its crank, condenser' an
pump, forms is itself a complete and separate a
and each of the four cylinders is constructed so asetogine,
per-
mit
instant disconnection, if required, from the other
three ; so that the whole form a combination of 4 engines
complete in themselves, whether worked together or
separately. The two cranks are connected by a friction
clutch, so that the two pairs of engines can be connected
or oisc:onnected at a moment's warning and by a single
movement of the band. The engines are provided with
expansion valves, throttle valves, and governors, all con-
structed on the most improved principles and arranged
for working in the most efficient manner. The com-
bined paddle engines will work up to an indicator power
of 3,000 horses of 33,00011). when working 11 strokes par
minute, with steam in the boiler at 151 b. upon the inch,
and the expansion valve cutting off at one-third of
the stroke. But all the parts of the engines are so
constructed and proportioned that they will work
safety and smoothly at 8 ,trokes per minute with the.
.-tram at 25'0. a:.d full ou wichou' txpausion (hey cthri
what is unavoidably effected by the elide), or at 16
strokes per minute, with the steam in the boiler still at
2511)., and the expansion valve cutting off at one-fourth
of the stroke. Under these last named circumstances
the paddle, engines P..lone will give a power of about ,

.._...~-

5,000 horses. The paddle boilers are of wrought Pl3t.
iron, with brass horizontal tubes, and are adapted for
working regularly at a pressure of 251 b., though thel.
are perfectly safe at 601 b., as they have all been tested
with an hydraulic pump to a great pressure. These
paddle boilers are in two distinct sets, and each se"a-
r.bout 8,000 square feet of tube surface, exclusive ague
and furnace, and about 400 square feet of fire bar fur"
nace. Each set aro equal to supply, with steady, Ill°.
derate firing, steam for an indicator of 1,800-horse pot:
though with full firing each set of two gives stool
the amount of 2,500-horse power, or 5,000-horse Power
in all.

Two auxiliary high-pressure condensing engine° 1.8
fixed adjacent to the paddle engines for working 13001:
and other necessary work of the ship. These tW° e:
gines together are equal to 60-horse power when Wer.
ing at 401 b., though, as they are made to work at 6°l'4
their power can be doubled if necessary.
The screw engines consist of four cylinders of St ie°bmel
diameter and four feet stroke, working horizontally•
with the paddle cylinders, each of the four is in itg°uf to
complete and separate engine, capable of working
independently of any of the other three. They
to an indicator power of 4,500 horses of 33,0001 b. yfrii-of
working at 45 strokes a minute, with steam in the oiler
working
at 151 b., and the expansion valve cutting off at orte'twric
of the stroke. They are, however, made to We" t!
smoothly either at 40 strokes per minute, with steesl:ll.
251 b,, without expansion, or at 55 strokes a minute -it
otrelte'
tide expansion cutting off at one-fourth of the
Under these circumstances they will be working lit the
tremendous power of 6,500 horses. The boilers °he:
the same kind as the paddle boilers, only ten in nultv,-r;
Connected with the screw engines are two aOtir
high pressure engines of 70 horse power, working "-th
401 b., but these, as with the other auxiliary engines' !dr?.
made to work at 601 b. Both these, besides doing
nary ship's work, are connected with the acre; eb to
abaft the ordinary disconnecting apparatus, ou
enable them to drive the screw if necessary, when dtBv-iii);
neeted from its main engine. It will thus be seen that t
at
paddle and screw engines, when working together I
their highest power, will exert an effective force of
Pi:
less than 11,500 horse power, or sufficient to
200,000 gallons of water to the top of the Monurpelltii-1
less than one minute, or to drive the machmery 0' -
the cotton mills in Manchester.
nt
The consumption of coal to produce this atnutlAsy
locomotive force is estimated at about 250 tons per
he
All the other details connected with the ship are °11:0)
same colossal scale. For instance, she will hale r
Trotman's anchors, each weighing 7 tone, and two e—At
anchors of 5i tons, at the forward part of the shiP. cb,
the stern there will be two anchors of 6 to" !ail be
The chain cables are likewise en, suite. There
two forward of 2a.inch diameter (about 601 b, the' mo
and two of 2i inch diameter. In the after-part fe•
will be two of 2i inch, and each cable will be 171-0 f
thorns long. The total number of crew will be' 4"-;:te
which one-third will belong to the engineering cilePone'
meat, one-third for victualling and servants, an

third the sailing department.
At half-past twelve o'clock the necessary arraoo-13 031
having been completed, the signal was given f,foro
commencement of operations, and shortly m" be,
one the immense vessel moved forward
tween six and seven feet amidst the Chei6
of the vast assemblage. At the time our report 1
(past 2 o'clock) the ship had not move f 31'
everything was
going on to the satisfaction of
Brunel. further, btj

LAW INTELLIGENCE.--(This Dal")

COURT OF QUEEN'S DENO'. ,„ti(
(Sittings in Banco, before Lord Campbell, !"'"

Coleridge, Wightman, and Erle.)

EX PAETR GREENWOOD. Jib"
This was an application to the Court of consider ip
importance in connection with the insolvent lager
the power of a creditor to present an insolvent's Pe::
for hearing independent of the insolvent himself.
peared that a creditor had presented an insolVent'B
tion to the York County Court for bearing, but A r.
Sergeant Dowling, the judge of that court, refusSi,"
hear the petition, on the ground that by the Act Of .10,
ltatnent the petition must be filed by the insolvent 111
self, the
The Court, after hearing Mr. Knowles, Q.C.,
Lie
part of the judge, and Mr. M'Oubrey, for the SPI:
tion, took time to consider their judgment.

COURT OF CONIMON PLEAS. 11 or
(Sittings in Banco, before Lord Chief Justice
burn, Justices Williams,
Crowder, and Viiilles )iot
Mrs. Cobbett renewed her application, this 1130tsecti
to the Court, on an mended affidavit, for
a habenl.
pus to bring up her husband fer his discharger 013..ati
ground of his wrong detention, the sheriff having ref
to obey the Queen's writ in moving him from one Pt;
o another. ti°l

Tne court refused the applioation, on the grotin`
614
Mr. Cobbett had refused to pay the half guinea 18 oil
quired by act of parliament on his transference 000
sheriff's prison to the Queen's prison.
LAST V. EDWARDS. 039
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine showed cause against -fle
obtained by Mr. Hawkins, in Easter term, for le jo
trial on various grounds. The case was tried bef°t:
Justice Willes, at Guildhall, when a verdict yr° °11:01
for the defendant. The plaintiff is a trunkmaker in
Haymarket, and had received from a person n°lo
Wright, a bill of exchaonrageectehifyoerinbg:ol., purporting t°
accepted by the defendant, a clerk in the Post"°!,r,licif
purchasing a trunk, and
count. The defendant, en
nied all knowledge of it, and said
absolute ll
tthheefobri becomingainaaantueerawe:::::::::
forgery, and at the trial opposite and contradictory
e
Thedeuce
wCaosurgtivgerilanted the rule
on the ground of new evidence—the costs to abide
event of the trial.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER. ad
(Sittings in Banco, before the Lord Chief Baron a
Barons Bramwell, Watson, and Channell.)
BYERS AND OTHERS V. TICJITERGILL. , to
Mr. Wilde, Q.C., applied for a rule to consolion:i
this action with 47 others commenced by the Pi°„.es
against that number of underwriters, upon certain Pc"ltt
of insurance on a cargo of rice from Madras to apc
in this country.
The question was simply one of a convenient for
Itrying the whole questioo without the multiplicityc
actions.
IThe Court granted the rule absolute for the consolit"
1 tion of the actions subject to terms.