The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-07-25 00:00:00

DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT BRITAIN.

As is well remarked by our contemporary the Bristol
Mercury, who in a supplement furnishes a very minute
and accurate account of the " launch" and the ship,
" It is not alone the extraordinary size of the Great Britain
that makes her so remarkable in the eyes of the naval ar-
chitect and the man of science. There are peculiarities
in her construction, and more particularly in her powers
of propulsion, which are destined to test the value of some
important theories in mechanics." She is (like most of
our own iron ships) entirely built of iron, with the excep-
tion of the flooring of her decks, and some of her

cabin fittings and ornamental carving. Our opinions as
to the superiority of the material in many respects over
wood for ship-building are so well known that we need
not here enter upon the subject. In point of model the
Great Britain is somewhat peuliar, but upon the whole
much to our own liking, although not precisely in accord-
ance with the taste of some few nautical men with whom'
we have conversed. She tumbles in a good deal on deck,
from midships to stern, which gives her to our eye a pe-
culiarly buoyant and man-of-war like appearance ;
and by prolonging her bearings aloft (with a fine
rotundity) will doubtless render her very safe in the
event of a heavy sea taking her while running free. We
wish this roundness of side had been maintained still fur-
I ther forward, where there is a flatness of bias, particularly
abreast of the engine-room, which is, ',ye think, the less
needed, as she has no paddle-wheels. After all, she is a
beautifully-moulded vessel, with great bottom bearings,
(which could be afforded from her extraordinary length,)
and a sharp entrance, approaching to the plough form,
and an equally fine run ; and it is possible, if not pro-
' bable, that with greater beam and capacity aloft, she
might be found (like the Medusa and 'Medina Government
steamers of our port) to be liable to roll and strain, to the
detriment of the ship, and the discomfort of those on
board. Her beam, as it is, is great. We cannot, from
want of space, enter into many details of her construction
in cur present publication : this, indeed, is the less neces-
sary in our town,where we have long had iron ships afloat,
and are still building others with every modern improve-
ment which science can dictate; but as the Great Britain
is an object of peculiar national importance at the present
time, we shall next week revert to the subject. Mean-
while we furnish her principal dimensions, &c., in order
to convey some idea of her magnitude :
Length of keel.. .
„ from figure head to tafrail 322 „
Extreme width sn: ~
Depth of hold from upper or spar
deck .
Burthen, by old measurement,

about
Power, 2 engines, of 500 horse-
power each
Boiler (square) 34 feet by 22 in
height.
Fnrnaces, 24-12 forward an 12

abaft.
Stroke of pistons

8 feet.

Displacement of water when

drawing about 16 feet, about 3000 tons.
Stowage for coal llOO ~
„ goods additional about 1200 „
Will accommodate about 360 passengeis.
And dining accommodations for 380 17
Crew and firemen
. . .

The vessel is well put together with iron plates and angle• iron
ribs, of great strength, and is also bound with rods on the
tension principle. She has six masts, and it is said will
spread, when required, 1700 yards of canvas. Her rig is
that of what may be called a six-masted schooner, with
fore and aft sails, and lugger topsails, with the exception
of the mainmast, (the second from the bow,) which will
carry a square mainsail and topsail over it. She has four
decks, and the upper, or spar deck, is 308 feet in length.
The engines are somewhat en the patent plan of:Sir Mark
Brunel, with the cylinders, in place of being upright form-
ing an angle of about GO degrees. The main shaft for the
turning of the screw, and which is of great length and
large diameter, was made at the Mersey iron works, in
this town ; and is itself a great curiosity. But the most
interesting portion of the whole structure is the screw it-
self by which alone the ponderous mass is to be propelled.
It is precisely the same in principle as that invented, as
applicable to ships, some years ago, by Mr. F. P. Smith,
who visited this port, three years ago, in the Archi-
medes, in which it was first fitted on a large scale, and
performed well, as we noticed at the time; but in the
Great Britain it is modified slightly, by being divided into
four arms, or fans, somewhat similar to those of a wind-
mill, but broader at the extremities. We do not think
this will be found an improvement upon the original plan,
as it appears to us to be too small in lateral surface to pro-
pel so large a vessel A. small working model of this and
of the whole engine, as to be completed for the ship, was
exhibited to the visitors to the "launch" in the mould-
room. It formed, in the outer frame work, &c., the en-
tire section or part of the ship in the middle that will be
occupied as the engine-room, and by turning a crank
handle the whole engine and screw, as if at the stern, was
set in motion. A large drum, and a small one, driven by
the former by means of a chain, are purposed to be used
to give sufficient velocity to the propeller ; but we rather
think the simple cog-wheel and pinion would be quite as
good, and probably not be so liable to get out of order.
This, however, we merely suggest as a hasty matter of
opinion in which we may possibly be mistaken. We shall
hereafter notice the manner in which the screw is fixed,
immediately abaft the stern psst, and between it and the
rudder. in a space which would otherwise be " the dead
wood," or after part of the run in an ordinary wooden
ship.