page_title: SS Great Eastern
section_title: 1863 voyages
hierarchical_section_title: SS Great Eastern / History / 1860–1863: Transatlantic voyages / 1863 voyages
caption_attribution_description: Deck of the „Great Eastern“ Reproduction ID: H2415 National Maritime Museum &#160;&#160;Native nameNational Maritime MuseumLocationGreenwich, London, EnglandCoordinates51°&#160;28′&#160;51.96″&#160;N, 0°&#160;00′&#160;20″&#160;W Established1937Web pageRoyal Museums GreenwichAuthority control : Q1199924 VIAF:&#8201;153531318 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0004 0426 429X LCCN:&#8201;n80126325 Historic England:&#8201;1211481 GND:&#8201;1049610-5 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q1199924
context_page_description: SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by J. Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London. She was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling. Her length of 692 feet was only surpassed in 1899 by the 705-foot 17,274-gross-ton RMS Oceanic, her gross tonnage of 18,915 was only surpassed in 1901 by the 701-foot 21,035-gross-ton RMS Celtic, and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,935-passenger SS Imperator. The ship's five funnels were rare and were later reduced to four. It also had the largest set of paddle wheels.
  Brunel knew her affectionately as the "Great Babe". He died in 1859 shortly after her maiden voyage, during which she was damaged by an explosion. After repairs, she plied for several years as a passenger liner between Britain and North America before being converted to a cable-laying ship and laying the first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866.
context_section_description: In 1863 Great Eastern made three voyages to New York, with 2,700 passengers being carried out and 970 back to Britain along with a large tonnage of cargo. One of her paddle wheels was damaged on the last outward trip and she completed it using her screw, while on the return journey she ran down, damaged, and  sank Jane, a 775 ton sailing ship, with the loss of two of her 22 crew. It was found that Great Eastern was not maintaining sufficient look-out for the speed she was steaming at; thus she was held to blame for the collision. The company lost nearly £20,000 on the voyages due to a price war between the Cunard and Inman shipping lines, and ended up with debts of more than £142,000, which forced them to lay up Great Eastern.
caption: The deck of Great Eastern in 1865
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