The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-01-24
THE GREAT EASTERN.


How the Big Vessel was Used and FINAL,
Disposed of.
A few days since the last blow was
struck in the destruction of the creates,
merchant steamship that had ever floated
IN any waters. The last piece of iron that
entered into the construction of the Great
Eastern has been sent to the junk shop. Ii
required about fifteen months to demolish
this snip. The keel of the Great Eastern
was laid in 1858 The great ship was in pro-
cess of construction about six years One
OF the most renowned engineers of Great
Britain drew the plans and had the over
sight of the work. Tho ship was designed
for the East India trade, and more espec-
Tally for the transportation of troops.
There was no Suez canal in those days.
Steamers to India made the passage by way
OF the Cape of Good Hope, requiring at
that time from sixty to eighty DAYS. II
was expected that the Great Eastern
would make the passage in about thirty
days, and that, if necessary, the vessel
would be able to transport 10000 troops on
single trip.
1t. is a notable fact that the great
ship never was engaged in the transporta-
tloH OF troops to India and never made a
single voyage to that country. The vessel
/ was much too large to go through the Suez
| canal, which was completed at later day,
She had register of Is, 915 tons, and was
! 6oO feet long. With full cargo her draft
was ABOUT thirty feet. AS the vessel was
htted up, there were accommodations for
1000 of various classes of passengers and a
crew OF 400. With II, 600 tons of coal on
board there was room for about 5000 tons
of freight. The ship never carried that
number of passengers, nor was any such
dead weight of coal and cargo ever put on
! board.
Inc Great Eastern was unfortunate from
the start. The vessel was built ahead of
the times. On the trial trip there was an
explosion of feed water heather, by which
several persons were killed and wounded.
II was not till June, 1860, that the Great
Eastern was sent over to this country as a
show ship, bringing forty-two passengers
out and taking sixty eight ON the return
voyage The speed on the western voyage
was little over twelve knots an hour, and
on the return voyage the average was four
teen knots an hour. On the round VOYAGE
the Great Eastern burned $500 tons of
coal. In New York 100, 900 persons visited
the ship, Tor which an admission charge
was made. 1t was reported that the total
receipts Gid not pay the expenses
In the following year the ship made an
other trip to New York, bringing 100 pas
sengers and making the voyage in nine DAYS
and fourteen hours running time. On the
return trip 2l2 passengers were taken, and
the voyage was made in nine days and thir-
teen hours. That was considered an ex
traordinary performance. The next VOYAGE
was made to Quebec, the ship CARRYING
$500 troops and making one of the shortest
trips on record. In September, 1861.
the Great Eastern started on an,
other voyage to New York with
400 passengers. But when few
hundred miles out a gale was encountered
which disabled both paddle-wheels and
wrenched off the rudder-head The shin
returned by the aid of her new screw en-
gines, and the voyage was abandoned In
the following year several voyages vera
made between Liverpool and New York.
But in August of that year the Great East
ern on her outward voyage, struck a rock
off Montauk Point, knocking a hole in her
hull about eighty feet long and four feet
wide. The inner shell OF the vessel was
not broken and the ship was brought into
port and was beached and repaired. There.
was no dry dock in this country that could
take up the ship.
Another fact of interest was that the
Great Eastern could not be brought into
the port of New York by way of Sandy
Hook, but on account of her great draupht
was compelled to enter and depart by Wav
of Long Island sound. 1t was at the east.
ern entrance of this sound that the hidden
rock was struck, over which vessels had
sailed Tor more than two hundred years
without an accident.
AT the time the Great Eastern was con-
structed every known Improvement in
naval architecture was included. The
screw and paddle-Wheels were driven bv
Independent engines. The great ship was
swift, and the passenger and carving
capacity exceeded that of any shin that
had ever been put afioat. There were
few compartments, the double shell
being the main dependence in case
of accident TO the hull. There were
no compound engines, and the consumption
OF coal was enormous. 1t is probable that
II the hull as then constructed had been
supplied with such engines as are now
working up to 90 000-horse- power. and are
driving the largest of the great passenger
ships, the Great Eastern would have beer
more nearly success. The improvements
that have since been made cover about q
third OF century. The gain has been an
enormous one.
IL was considered as good as settled that
there never would be another steamship
constructed OF the size of the Great East
ern. That venture, it was supposed. Would
stand alone for all time. But the largest
passenger steamer now afoat exceeds. a
little, 600 feet in length. Several have a
tonnage of 10000 tons. Two steamships
are reported as on the stocks in Europe
that will be of 14,0U0 tons. These great
steamships are gradually creeping up to
the tonnage OF the Great Eastern, although
it may be many day before that mark
will be reached.
The best part of the history of this shin
Is that connected with the laying of the
first ocean cables. The first effort made in
1865 was failure after l,SOO miles of cable
bad been run out. But a year later. in
June, the work was resumed, and through
that instrumentality the first great ocean
cable OF the world was laid. The ship was
found admirably adapted for such a service
and was afterward employed to lay num-
Der OF other cables. If there is a shade of
regret that such noble ship has been sent
in pieces to the junk shop, it is also re-
lleveo by the fact that even the failures of
this largest ship of the world are honor
ably connected with the subseouent
triumps of naval arohitecture.-San Fran