page_title: SS Great Western
section_title: Service history
hierarchical_section_title: SS Great Western / Service history
caption_attribution_description: English: The Great-Western Steam Ship in 1838, engraved by H. Papprill after a painting by J.S. Coteman
context_page_description: SS Great Western of 1838, was a wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship built of Dantzic pine, the first steamship purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic, and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1837 to 1839. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Great Western proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful wooden Atlantic paddle-steamers. She was capable of making record Blue Riband voyages as late as 1843. Great Western worked to New York for 8 years until her owners went out of business. She was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and was scrapped in 1856 after serving as a troop ship during the Crimean War.
context_section_description: On 31 March 1838, Great Western sailed for Avonmouth (Bristol) to start her maiden voyage to New York. Before reaching Avonmouth, a fire broke out in the engine room. During the confusion Brunel fell 20 feet (6 m), and was injured. The fire was extinguished, and the damages to the ship were minimal, but Brunel had to be put ashore at Canvey Island. As a result of the accident, more than 50 passengers cancelled their bookings for the Bristol-New York voyage and when Great Western finally departed Avonmouth, only 7 passengers were aboard.
  Construction of the rival British and American's first ship was delayed, and the company chartered Sirius to beat Great Western to New York.  Sirius was a 700 GRT Irish Sea steam packet on the London – Cork route, and had part of her passenger accommodation removed to make room for extra coal bunkers. She left London three days before Great Western, refuelled at Cork, and departed for New York on 4 April. Great Western was delayed in Bristol because of the fire and did not depart until 8 April.
  Even with a four-day head start, Sirius only narrowly beat Great Western, arriving on 22 April. When coal ran low, the crew burned 5 drums of resin. Great Western arrived the following day, with 200 tons of coal still aboard. Although the term Blue Riband was not coined until years later, Sirius is often credited as the first winner at 8.03 knots (14.87 km/h). However, Sirius only held the record for a day because Great Western's voyage was faster at 8.66 knots (16.04 km/h).
  Great Western proved completely satisfactory in service and influenced the design of other Atlantic paddlers. Even Cunard's Britannia was a reduced version of Great Western. During 1838–1840, Great Western averaged 16 days, 0 hours (7.95 knots) westward to New York and 13 days, 9 hours (9.55 knots) home. In 1838, the company paid a 9% dividend, but that was to be the firm's only dividend because of the expense of building the company's next ship. After the collapse of British and American, Great Western alternated between Avonmouth and Liverpool, before abandoning Avonmouth entirely in 1843. The ship remained profitable even though she lacked a running mate because of the protracted construction on Great Britain. In 1843, Great Western's receipts were GB£33,400 against expenditures of GB£25,600.
  The company's fortunes improved in 1845 when Great Britain entered service. However, in September 1846 Great Britain ran ashore because of a navigational error and was not expected to survive the winter. The directors suspended all sailings of Great Western and went out of business. Great Western had completed 45 crossings for her owners in eight years. In 1847 she was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and used on the West Indies run. Southampton became her new home port from where she made 14 voyages to the West Indies between 1847 to 1853, before being put on the South America run and made another 9 voyages to Rio de Janeiro between 1853 and 1855.  On the South America run she called at Lisbon, Madeira, Teneriffe, St Vincents, Pernambuco and Bahia on the way to Rio and then in reverse on the return passage.
  The Great Western was then laid up at Southampton before being taken into government service as 'Transport No. 6'. She served as a troopship in the Crimean War in 1856, carrying soldiers between the UK, Gibraltar, Malta, and the Crimean Peninsula. In August 1856 she was sold for scrapping and was broken up at Castles' Yard, Millbank on the Thames.
caption: The Great-Western Steam Ship in 1838, engraved by H. Papprill after a painting by J.S. Coteman
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