SS Great Britain ship model SS GREAT BRITAIN SS Great Britain was a bold attempt by a British company to break the American monopoly of the trans-Atlantic passenger trade. At the time of her launch in 1843, SS Great Britain was by far the largest ship in the world and most technically innovative ship. She was over 100 feet longer than her rivals, and the first screw-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, also the first iron ship to do so. However, her high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business a few years later. On 26 July 1845, SS Great Britain undertook her maiden voyage to New York. She covered 3,100 miles in just 14 days 21 hours. In 1850, after five voyages to New York, SS Great Britain begin her service to Australia. In 1852, she made her first voyage to Melbourne, Australia, carrying 630 emigrants. During her time, she was considered the most reliable immigrant ship between Britain and Australia.

In 1854, SS Great Britain was refitted as a troopship for the Crimean War, and again in 1857 she carried reinforcements to Bombay to deal with the Indian Mutiny. In 1882, SS Great Britain was converted entirely to a sailing vessel for transporting coal to San Francisco and returning with wheat. After two successful voyages, in 1886 she was dismasted by a hurricane off Cape Horn. She was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was utilized as a warehouse and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937. In 1970, the Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was born. Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, SS Great Britain won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize as UK Museum of the Year 2006, which brought with it ï¿½100,000 in prize money. The ship also won two awards at the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence 2006 conference in the restoration and conservation category as well as permanent exhibition.

These Awards follow the re-launch of the Great Britain after work costing ï¿½11.3 million to transform her into a major visitor attraction and museum. The vessel attracts 150,000-170,000 visitors annually. BBC - Bristol - History - SS Great Britain: 1970 You are in: Bristol > History > Local history > SS Great Britain: 1970 SS Great Britain comes home SS Great Britain: 1970 There were some tricky moments as salvage experts brought the ss Great Britain back from the Falkland Islands in July 1970. With only inches to spare, the ship was returned to the Jefferies Dock from where she was launched back in 1843. The world’s first propeller-driven, ocean going iron ship was salvaged from the icy waters around Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands in an operation made possible by the property tycoon Sir Jack Hayward. Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ship almost ended her days as a rusting hulk but was rescued from decay by a dedicated team of salvage experts who oversaw the process of preparing the ship and sailing her back across the Atlantic to her homeport of Bristol.

SS Great Britain and the River Avon The most difficult part of the voyage was the journey along the River Avon into the heart of the city’s docks, where the infamous Horseshoe Bend was successfully negotiated, although had the tugs made the slightest error of judgement, we could now be visiting the ss Great Britain as an out-of-town attraction! The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip, had followed the ss Great Britain’s return to the UK with much interest and was there to see the ship come home. The ss Great Britain had been in The Falklands since 1886 after a fire on board had put her beyond repair. In the 1930s the ship was scuttled having been sold to the Falkland Islands Company as a storage hulk. In her ocean-going career, as a steamer, the ss Great Britain was used chiefly between England and Australia, but in later years she was converted to a sailing vessel and used to carry coal. The ship came back to Bristol exactly 127 years after her launch and was returned to the same dock where she started her ocean-going life.

SS Great Britain eases into dock In June 1970, BBC2 broadcast “The Great Iron Ship” as part of the history series “Chronicle”, and our first film clip shows footage from the programme, which was written by Richard Wade and narrated by Dudley Foster. The second film features highlights from an outside broadcast introduced by Magnus Magnusson and which followed the steady process of piloting the Great Britain into the Jefferies Dock. Ss Great Britain · National Historic Ships UK 3443.00 History When she was built in the nineteenth century the ss GREAT BRITAIN was a bold attempt by a British company to break the American monopoly of the trans-Atlantic passenger trade. Launched by Prince Albert on 19 July 1843, she was the largest and most technically innovative ship of her day. Her first voyage to America began on 26 July 1845, and she covered 3,100 miles in 14 days and 21 hours. On the return journey, because of the loss of propeller blades, she used sail only, but still completed the voyage to Liverpool in 20 days.

In 1846, however, on her fifth voyage, she ran aground in Dundrum Bay, County Down. It was not until August of the following year that she was refloated and towed back to Liverpool, and, in 1850, was sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co. for service to Australia. She was significantly altered at this time. In 1854, she was refitted as a troopship for the Crimean War and again in 1857 she carried reinforcements to Bombay to deal with the Indian Mutiny. Returning to the Australian run, she carried the first touring English cricket side. In 1876, she was put up for sale at Birkenhead, but not bought until 1882. Her new owners, Anthony Gibbs, Sons & Co. converted her entirely to a sailing vessel for transporting coal to San Francisco and returning with wheat. After two such voyages, in 1886, she was dismasted by a hurricane off Cape Horn and she put into the Falkland Islands. As repairs were considered too expensive, she became a hulk for storing coal and wool.

On April 14 1937, she was towed a few miles out of Port Stanley to shallow water in Sparrow Cove; holes were punched in her bottom and she settled on the seabed. The organisation required to co-ordinate the task of recovery came into being in 1968, led by Dr Ewan Corlett. In April 1970, she was refloated, returning to her original dock Bristol in July that year where she underwent a major conservation programme. In 2006, an appeal was launched to help restore the masts of the ss GREAT BRITAIN. Two of the masts and part of a third needed to be urgently replaced as they had become badly degraded. The vessel was successful in winning the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize as UK Museum of the Year 2006, which brought with it £100,000 in prize money. This was put towards the costs of the masts. The ship also won two awards at the Museums and Heritage Awards for Excellence 2006 conference in the restoration and conservation category as well as permanent exhibition. The project was also awarded the Civic Trust Award 2006 for accessibility.

These Awards follow the relaunch of GREAT BRITAIN after work costing £11.3 million to transform her into a major visitor attraction and museum, as well as to preserve the vessel for future generations. The ship saw more than 160,000 visitors between July 2005 and September 2006. Significance What is the Vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric? Launched in 1843, ss GREAT BRITAIN is of outstanding international significance in view of the technological advances expressed in her structure, machinery and fittings. The hull, which remains substantially complete from the time of her construction in Bristol, is of wrought iron riveted plates on wrought iron frames, and at the time was the largest iron vessel ever built, the largest ship in the world, the first large screw-propelled ship, and the first trans-continental vessel to be designed to operate to a timetable. In addition to the hull, the tubular riveted iron main yard from the original configuration also survives and is displayed alongside in the ship’s museum. The masts and spars are reconstructions of the original transatlantic fore and aft configuration with only 2 square sails on the foremast.

This rig was designed to assist passage making by allowing the ship to sail close-hauled into the westerly winds. Brunel’s design incorporated the after masts being hinged at deck level, and these form part of the faithful extreme reconstruction of the 6 masted sail plan. The ship is displayed with a replica of Brunel’s first 6-bladed propeller in place. The later lifting propeller gear from her sailing period is on display in the associated museum. The interior of the ship has been reconstructed and replicated to the highest research standards using primary sources to interpret different parts of the ship at particular times in the vessel’s long life. The promenade deck, adjacent cabins, and dining saloon have been replicated to represent what was there in 1843. The original steam engine and chain drive have been replicated and, along with the ship’s galley, are from that period too. Portside accommodation is presented at the time of the Crimean War, when ss GREAT BRITAIN acted as a troop ship, whilst the forward accommodation is a reconstruction of the steerage accommodation from her time as an emigrant ship, based on contemporary plans, drawings, accounts and diaries.

A forward section of the hull incorporates a display of the ship carrying horse during the Crimean War, whilst the very fore-most area of the hull has been left unreconstructed to show the original form of the frames and hull plating. The conservation and reconstruction of ss GREAT BRITAIN has been predicated on 2 key principles: accuracy, and the capacity to accommodate and encourage activities involving visitors of all ages and backgrounds within the ship, on deck, and where possible engagement with the ship’s rig. What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence? ss GREAT BRITAIN's associational links are very wide-ranging. First and foremost she is the brain-child of IK Brunel, whose impact on engineering and travel is of international significance. The ship was originally conceived as the logical extension of the Great Western Railway in which Brunel was a prime mover. After her stranding and recovery from Dumdrum Bay (Ireland) the ship was bought by Gibbs Bright & Co, whose principal, William Gibbs, was instrumental in financing and backing the building of the Great Western Railway, and who built the remarkable Tyntesfield House near Bristol, with its own private rail stop on the Great Western line.

William Gibbs was also present at the opening of the Clifton Suspension in 1864, five years after Brunel’s death. Contemporary accounts, paintings, illustrations and photographs record the ship’s associations with the Crimean War, her role as an emigrant ship carrying some 25,000 people to Australia, the carrying of special groups such as the first English Cricket Eleven, and her role as a depot ship in the First World War. How does the vessel’s shape and form combine and contribute to her function? Specifically built to steam across the Atlantic, ss GREAT BRITAIN had to be of sufficient size and proportion to carry the necessary fuel to power the steam engine. This demanded the huge hull which Brunel designed in order to house engines, bunkers, supplies and the number of passengers needed to make the ship economically successful. All of this can be seen in the ship today. The specific sailing requirements for west-bound vessels are reflected in the fore and aft rig (see above). Internally the levels of accommodation reflect social differences, the demands placed on the ship as her function shifted over time, and changes in the legislation applied to passenger vessels.

The reconstructed galley and steerage larder are of particular interest as reflections of different passenger status and expectations. The ship has been very carefully and sympathetically adapted to meet modern museum standards of visitor access. In view of her outstanding significance ss GGREAT BRITAIN is listed in the National Historic Fleet of the National Register of Historic Vessels. Key dates 1843 Vessel launched by Prince Albert on 19 July 1845 First voyage to America 1846 Ran aground on the sands of Dundrum Bay in Northern Ireland 1850 Sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co.

for service to Australia 1854 Refitted as a troopship for the Crimean War 1857 Carried reinforcements to Bombay during the Indian Mutiny 1882 New owners, Anthony Gibbs, Sons & Co., converted her entirely to a sailing vessel for transporting coal to San Francisco returning with wheat 1886 Dismasted by a hurricane off Cape Horn, put into the Falkland Islands 1937 Beached and abandoned a few miles from Port Stanley 1970 Refloated and returned to her original dock in Bristol to undergo major conservation 2006 Vessel won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize as UK Museum of the Year 2006, which brought with it £100,000 in prize money Bibliography 1971 The SS Great Britain Official Guide 1975 Ships Monthly Ships Preserved: No 6 Brunel's Great Britain 1975 Ships Monthly Brunel's Three Great Ships 1975 Mariner's Mirror The Stranding of the SS Great Britain in Dundrum Bay 1978 Old Ships, Boats and Maritime Museums - Sullivan, Dick 1983 Sea Bree

zes The 'Great Britain'; Progress Report 1985 Maritime Wales The SS Great Britain as the world's first six-masted schooner 1989 Restoring the Great Britain - Blake, Joe 1993 International Register of Historic Ships - Brouwer, Norman J 1995 World Wide Web Page Great Britain - Bruzelius, Lars 2001 Classic Boat Matthew joins Great Britian Grants 1987 The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £25,000 for restoration of the skylight 1994 The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £189,000 for restoration of the deck 1995 The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £106,000 for restoration works 1995 The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £13,000 for restoration work of the mast and spars 1996-1997 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £67,500 for developing the main application for restoration, conservation and development 1997 The National Heritage Memorial Fund awarded £86,140 for restoration work of the mast and spars 2000-20

01 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £9,205,000 for conservation of the iron fabric 2001 A grant of £50,000 was given towards conservation by The Headley Trust 2004 A grant of £40,000 was given towards the restoration project by The Headley Trust 2005 A grant of £30,000 was given towards the restoration appeal by The Headley Trust 2005 A grant of £30,000 was awarded by Rolls Royce Plc for engine restoration 2006 A grant of £30,000 was awarded by Rolls Royce Plc for engine restoration 2006-2007 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £3,475 for an activity day designed to involve visually impaired people 2007-2008 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £640,000 for conservation and a learning centre 2008-2009 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £50,000 for documenting, collecting and conserving the memories of those who participated in the salvage and return of the vessel in 

1970 2012-2013 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £84,300 restoration of the special rig which Brunel designed to assist the steam powered screw propeller 2013-2014 The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £500,000 for conservation If you are the owner of the vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk Engineering Timelines - SS <i>Great Britain</i> date launched 19th July 1843 era Victorian | category Ship | reference ST577724 ICE reference number HEW 247 photo Jane Joyce The first ship to have an iron hull and to have screw propulsion.

She was steam driven, with masts for sail assistance when the wind was favourable. Today, the SS Great Britain can be seen in dry dock in Bristol, where she is being restored to Brunel's original design. She is the second of his 'great ships', preceeded by the SS Great Western, and followed by the enormous SS Great Eastern. The Great Britain was at the time of her launch the largest ship in the world. She is 322ft long and displaced 3,675 tons. Her hull is a double layer of iron and she was equipped with a six-bladed propellor, driven by steam engines that developed 1600 hp at 18 revs per minute. In trials she achieved a speed of 11 knots under steam but was also provided with 6 masts to allow sail power to assist her when the wind was right. She carried 252 passengers and 30 crew, as well as cargo and coal for the steam engines. Her many voyages took her to New York and Australia and she was requisitioned as troop carrier during the Crimean War.

She had been sold in 1850 and her six-bladed propellor was changed at that time to a three-bladed one. In 1882 she was converted for coal transport. She was damaged off Cape Horn in 1886 and put in to Port Stanley in the Falklands, where she remained as a store ship until 1937, when she was deliberately holed. The Great Britain was returned to Bristol in 1970. She lies in the former Great Western Dock, which had been built for her construction. Both the interior and exterior of the ship are slowly being restored, and replicas of her engines can be observed in operation, though now turned by electricity. SS Great Britain | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 130 officers and crew (as completed) </td></tr> SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship, advanced for her time. She was the longest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company 's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York.

While other ships had been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic, which she did in 1845, in the time of 14 days. When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 after the ship was stranded by a navigational error. Sold for salvage and repaired, Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937. [2] In 1970, Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was built.

Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection , she is an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour , with 150,000–170,000 visitors annually. Contents Edit After the initial success of its first liner, SS Great Western of 1838, the Great Western Steamship Company collected materials for a sister ship, tentatively named City of New York. [2] The same engineering team that had collaborated so successfully on Great Western—Isambard Brunel, Thomas Guppy, Christopher Claxton and William Patterson —was again assembled. This time however, Brunel, whose reputation was at its height, came to assert overall control over design of the ship—a state of affairs that would have far-reaching consequences for the company. Construction was carried out in a specially adapted dry dock in Bristol, England. [3] Adoption of iron hull Edit Two chance encounters were to profoundly affect the design of Great Britain. In autumn 1838, John Laird 's 213-foot (65 m) (English) channel packet ship Rainbow—the largest iron-hulled ship then in service—made a stop at Bristol.

Brunel despatched his associates Christopher Claxton and William Patterson to make a return voyage to Antwerp on Rainbow in order to assess the utility of the new building material. Both men returned as converts to iron-hulled technology, and Brunel scrapped his plans to build a wooden ship and persuaded the company directors to build an iron-hulled ship. [4] Great Britain's builders recognised a number of advantages of iron over the traditional wooden hull. Wood was becoming more expensive, while iron was getting cheaper. Iron hulls were not subject to dry rot or woodworm , and they were also lighter in weight and less bulky. The chief advantage of the iron hull was its much greater structural strength. The practical limit on the length of a wooden-hulled ship is about 300 feet, after which hogging —the flexing of the hull as waves pass beneath it—become too great. Iron hulls are far less subject to hogging, so that the potential size of an iron-hulled ship is much greater. [5] The ship's designers, led by Brunel, were initially cautious in the adaptation of their plans to iron hulled-technology. With each successive draft however, the ship grew ever larger and bolder in conception.

By the fifth draft, the vessel had grown to 3,400 tons, over 1,000 tons larger than any ship then in existence. [6] Adoption of screw propulsion File:SS Archimedes by Huggins cropped.jpg In the spring of 1840, a second chance encounter occurred, the arrival at Bristol of the revolutionary SS Archimedes , the first screw-propelled steamship, completed only a few months before by F. P. Smith's Propeller Steamship Company. Brunel had been looking into methods of improving the performance of Great Britain's paddlewheels, and took an immediate interest in the new technology, and Smith, sensing a prestigious new customer for his own company, agreed to lend Archimedes to Brunel for extended tests. [6] Over several months, Smith and Brunel tested a number of different propellers on Archimedes in order to find the most efficient design, a four-bladed model submitted by Smith. [7] Having satisfied himself as to the advantages of screw propulsion, Brunel wrote to the company directors to persuade them to embark on a second major design change, abandoning the paddlewheel engines—already half constructed—for completely new engines suitable for powering a propeller.

Brunel listed the advantages of the screw propeller over the paddlewheel as follows: Screw propulsion machinery was lighter in weight, thus improving fuel economy; Screw propulsion machinery could be kept lower in the hull, reducing the ship's centre of gravity and making it more stable in heavy seas; By taking up less room, propeller engines would allow more cargo to be carried; Elimination of bulky paddle-boxes would lessen resistance through the water, and also allow the ship to manoeuvre more easily in confined waterways; The depth of a paddlewheel is constantly changing, depending on the ship's cargo and the movement of waves, while a propeller stays fully submerged and at full efficiency at all times; Screw propulsion machinery was cheaper. [8] Brunel's arguments proved persuasive, and in December 1840, the company agreed to adopt the new technology. The decision became a costly one, setting the ship's completion back by nine months.

[8] Reporting on the ship's arrival in New York, in its first issue Scientific American opined, "If there is any thing objectionable in the construction or machinery of this noble ship, it is the mode of propelling her by the screw propeller; and we should not be surprised if it should be, ere long, superseded by paddle wheels at the sides." [9] Launch Edit The launching or, more accurately, the "floating out" took place on 19 July 1843. Conditions were generally favourable and diarists recorded that, after a dull start, the weather brightened with only a few intermittent showers. The atmosphere of the day can best be gauged from a report the following day in The Bristol Mirror: Large crowds started to gather early in the day including many people who had travelled to Bristol to see the spectacle. There was a general atmosphere of anticipation as the Royal Emblem was unfurled. The processional route had been cleaned and Temple Street decorated with flags, banners, flowers and ribbons. Boys of the City School and girls of Red Maids were stationed in a neat orderly formation down the entire length of the Exchange.

The route was a mass of colour and everybody was out on the streets as it was a public holiday. The atmosphere of gaiety even allowed thoughts to drift away from the problems of political dissension in London. [10] Prince Albert arrived at 10am at the Great Western Railway terminus. The royal train , conducted by Brunel himself, had taken two hours and forty minutes from London. There was a guard of honour of members of the police force, soldiers and dragoons and, as the Prince stepped from the train, the band of the Life Guards played works by Labitsky and a selection from the "Ballet of Alma". Two sections of the platform were boarded off for the reception and it was noted by The Bristol Mirror that parts were covered with carpets from the Council House. The Prince Consort, dressed as a private gentleman, was accompanied by his equerry-in-waiting, personal secretary, the Marquis of Exeter, and Lords Warncliffe, Liverpool, Lincoln and Wellesley. [10] Launch of Great Britain at Bristol, July 1843.

Painting by Joseph Walter Introductions were made, followed by the "Address to His Royal Highness the Prince Albert", by the town clerk, D. Burgess. Honours were then bestowed on him by the Society of Merchant Venturers , and there were speeches from members of the Bristol clergy. The royal party then had breakfast and, after 20 minutes, reappeared to board horse-drawn carriages. [10] At noon, the Prince arrived at the Great Western Steamship yard only to find the ship already "launched" and waiting for royal inspection. He boarded the ship, took refreshments in the elegantly decorated lounge then commenced his tour of inspection. He was received in the ship's banqueting room where all the local dignitaries and their ladies were gathered. [10] After the banquet and the toasts, he left for the naming ceremony. It had already been decided that the christening would be performed by Clarissa (1790–1868), wife of Philip John Miles (1773–1845) and mother of Bristol's MP, Philip William Skinner Miles (1816–1881), a director of the company.

She stepped forward, grasped the champagne bottle and swung it towards the bows. Unfortunately the steam packet Avon had started to tow the ship into the harbour and the bottle fell about 10 feet (3.0 m) short of its target and dropped unbroken into the water. A second bottle was rapidly obtained and the Prince hurled it against the iron hull. In her haste, Avon had started her work before the shore warps had been released. The tow rope snapped and, due to the resultant delay, the Prince was obliged to return to the railway station and miss the end of the programme. [10] Another extended delay Edit Fitting out in the Cumberland Basin , April 1844. This photograph by William Talbot is believed to be the first photograph taken of the ship. Following the launch ceremony, the builders had planned to have Great Britain towed to the Thames for her final fitting out. Unfortunately, the harbour authorities had failed to carry out the necessary modifications to their facilities in a timely manner.

[11] Exacerbating the problem, the ship had been widened beyond the original plans to accommodate the propeller engines, and her designers had made a belated decision to fit the engines prior to launch, which resulted in a deeper draught. [12] This dilemma was to result in another costly delay for the company, as Brunel's negotiations with the Bristol Dock Board dragged on for months. It was only through the intervention of the Board of Trade that the harbour authorities finally agreed to the lock modifications, begun in autumn 1844. [13] After being trapped in the harbour for more than a year, Great Britain was at last floated out in December 1844, but not before causing more anxiety for her proprietors. After passing successfully through the first set of lock gates, she jammed on her passage through the second, which led to the River Avon . Only the seamanship of Captain Claxton enabled her to be pulled back and severe structural damage avoided.

The following night, an army of workmen under the direct supervision of Brunel, taking advantage of the slightly higher tide, removed coping stones and lock gate platforms from the Junction Lock, allowing the tug Samson to tow the ship safely into the Avon. [14] Description Edit Sketch of Great Britain. The lower image shows the internal arrangement of her decks and machinery. When completed in 1845, Great Britain was a revolutionary vessel—the first ship to combine an iron hull with screw propulsion, and at 322 ft (98 m) in length and with a 3,400-ton displacement, more than 100 ft (30 m) longer and 1,000 tons larger than any ship previously built. Her beam was 50 ft 6 in (15.39 m) and her height from keel to main deck, 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m).

She had four decks, including the spar (upper) deck , a crew of 120, and was fitted to accommodate a total of 360 passengers, along with 1,200 tons of cargo and 1,200 tons of coal for fuel. [1] Like steamships of the era, Great Britain was provided with secondary sail power, one square-rigged and five schooner -rigged masts—a relatively simple sail plan designed to reduce the number of crew required. The masts were of iron, fastened to the spar deck with iron joints, and with one exception, hinged to allow their lowering to reduce wind resistance in the event of a strong headwind. The rigging was of iron cable instead of the traditional hemp, again with a view to reducing wind resistance. [15] Another innovative feature was the lack of traditional heavy bulwarks around the main deck; a light iron railing [16] both reduced weight and allowed water shipped in heavy weather to run unimpeded back to sea. The hull and single funnel amidships were both finished in black paint, with a single white stripe running the length of the hull highlighting a row of false gunports.

The hull was flat-bottomed, with no external keel, and with bulges low on each side amidships which continued toward the stern in an unusual implementation of tumblehome—a result of the late decision to install propeller engines, which were wider at the base than the originally planned paddlewheel engines. [17] Brunel, anxious to ensure the avoidance of hogging in a vessel of such unprecedented size, designed the hull to be massively redundant in strength. Ten longitudinal iron girders were installed along the keel, running from beneath the engines and boiler to the forward section. The iron ribs were 6 by 3 inches (15.2 cm × 7.6 cm) in size. The iron keel plates were an inch thick, and the hull seams were lapped and double riveted in many places. Safety features, which also contributed to the structural strength of the vessel, included a double bottom and five watertight iron bulkheads. [18] [19] The total amount of iron, including the engines and machinery, was 1,500 tons.

[20] Machinery Edit Installed amidships and with a combined weight of 340 tons, [20] were the two giant propeller engines, built to a modified patent of Brunel's father Marc . The engines, which rose from the keel through the three lower decks to a height just below the main deck, were of the direct-acting type, with twin 88 in (220 cm) bore , 6-foot (1.8 m) stroke cylinders inclined upward at a 60° angle, capable of developing a total of 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) at 18 rpm. [18] [21] Steam power was provided by three 34-foot (10 m) long by 22-foot (6.7 m) high by 10-foot (3.0 m) wide, 5 psi (34 kPa) "square" saltwater boilers, forward of the engines, with eight furnaces each – four at each end. [22] A model of Great Britain's engines In considering the gearing arrangement, Brunel had no precedent to serve as a guide.

The gearing for the Archimedes, of the spur-and-pinion type, had proven almost unbearably noisy, and would not be suitable for a passenger ship. [23] Brunel's solution was to install a chain drive . On the crankshaft between Great Britain's two engines, he installed a huge 26-foot (7.9 m) diameter primary gearwheel, [24] which by means of a set of four massive inverted-tooth or "silent" chains, operated the smaller secondary gear near the keel, which turned the propeller shaft. This was the first commercial use of silent chain technology, and the individual silent chains installed in Great Britain are thought to have been the largest ever constructed. [25] Great Britain's main propeller shaft, built by the Mersey Iron Works, was the largest single piece of machinery. 68 ft (21 m) long and 28 in (0.71 m) in diameter, the shaft was bored with a 10-inch (250 mm) diameter hole, reducing its weight and allowing cold water to be pumped through to reduce heat.

At each end of the main propeller shaft were two secondary coupling shafts: a 28-foot (8.5 m), 16-inch (410 mm) diameter shaft beneath the engine, and a screw shaft of 25 ft (7.6 m) in diameter 16 inches (41 cm) at the stern. Total length of the three shafts was 130 ft (40 m), and the total weight 38 tons. [20] The shaft was geared upward at a ratio of 1 to 3, so that at the engines' normal operating speed of 18 rpm, the propeller turned at a speed of 54 rpm. [25] The initial propeller was a six-bladed "windmill" model of Brunel's own design, [26] 16 ft (4.9 m) in diameter and with pitch of 25 ft (7.6 m). [27] Interior Edit The interior was divided into three decks, the upper two for passengers and the lower for cargo. The two passenger decks were divided into forward and aft compartments, separated by the engines and boiler amidships.

[28] In the after section of the ship, the upper passenger deck contained the after or principal saloon, 110 ft (34 m) long by 48 ft (15 m) wide, which ran from just aft of the engine room to the stern. On each side of the saloon were corridors leading to 22 individual passenger berths, arranged two deep, a total of 44 berths for the saloon as a whole. The forward part of the saloon, nearest the engine room, contained two 17-by-14-foot (5.2 m × 4.3 m) ladies' boudoirs or private sitting rooms, which could be accessed without entering the saloon from the 12 nearest passenger berths, reserved for females. The opposite end of the saloon opened onto the stern windows. Broad iron staircases at both ends of the saloon ran to the main deck above and the dining saloon below. The saloon was painted in "delicate tints", furnished along its length with fixed chairs of oak, and supported by 12 decorated pillars.

[29] Looking down one aisle of the reconstructed dining saloon in the museum ship SS Great Britain. Beneath the after saloon was the main or dining saloon, 98 ft 6 in (30.02 m) long by 30 ft (9.1 m) wide, with dining tables and chairs capable of accommodating up to 360 people at one sitting. On each side of the saloon, seven corridors opened onto four berths each, for a total number of berths per side of 28, 56 altogether. The forward end of the saloon was connected to a stewards' galley, while the opposite end contained several tiers of sofas. This saloon was apparently the ship's most impressive. Columns of white and gold, 24 in number, with "ornamental capitals of great beauty", were arranged down its length and along the walls, while eight Arabesque pilasters , decorated with "beautifully painted" oriental flowers and birds, enhanced the aesthetic effect. The archways of the doors were "tastefully carved and gilded" and surmounted with medallion heads.

Mirrors around the walls added an illusion of spaciousness, and the walls themselves were painted in a "delicate lemon-tinted hue" with highlights of blue and gold. [29] The two forward saloons were arranged in a similar plan to the after saloons, with the upper "promenade" saloon having 36 berths per side and the lower 30, totalling 132. Further forward, separate from the passenger saloons, were the crew quarters. [29] The overall finish of the passenger quarters was unusually restrained for its time, a probable reflection of the proprietors' diminishing capital reserves. [30] Total cost of construction, not including £53,000 for plant and equipment to build her, was £117,000 [31] —£47,000 more than her original projected price tag of £70,000.

Service history Edit On 26 July 1845—seven years after the Great Western Steamship Company had decided to build a second ship, and five years overdue—Great Britain embarked on her maiden voyage, from Liverpool to New York under Captain James Hosken , with 45 passengers. The ship made the passage in 14 days and 21 hours, at an average speed of 9.25 knots (17.13 km/h; 10.64 mph) – almost 1.5 knots (2.8 km/h; 1.7 mph) slower than the prevailing record. She made the return trip in 13½ days, again an unexceptional time. [30] Replica of Great Britain's original six-bladed propeller on the museum ship. This propeller proved totally unsatisfactory in service and was quickly replaced with a four-bladed model. Brunel, who prior to commencement of service had substituted a six-bladed "windmill" design of his own for Smith's proven four-bladed propeller design, now decided to try and improve the speed by riveting an extra two inches of iron to each propeller blade.

On her next crossing to New York, carrying 104 passengers, the ship ran into heavy weather, losing a mast and three propeller blades. After repairs in New York, she set out for Liverpool with only 28 passengers, and lost four propeller blades during the crossing. By this time, another design flaw had become evident. The ship rolled heavily, especially in calm weather without the steadying influence of sail, causing great discomfort to passengers. The long-suffering shareholders of the company dipped into their pockets once more to try and solve the problems. The six-bladed propeller was dispensed with and a four-bladed cast iron model, similar to that originally chosen, substituted. The third mast was removed, and the iron rigging, which had proven unsatisfactory, was replaced with conventional rigging. In a major alteration, two 110-foot-long (34 m) bilge keels were added to each side in an effort to lessen her tendency to roll. These repairs and alterations delayed her return to service until the following year. Stranded in Dundrum Bay, 1846.

In her second season of service in 1846, Great Britain successfully completed two round trips to New York at an acceptable speed, but was then laid up for repairs to one of her chain drums, which showed an unexpected degree of wear. Embarking on her third passage of the season to New York, her captain made a series of navigational errors that resulted in her being run hard aground in Dundrum Bay on the northeast coast of Ireland. There was no formal inquiry but it has been recently suggested that it was mainly due to the captain not having updated charts, so that he mistook the new St John's light for the Calf light on the Isle of Man. [32] She remained aground for almost a year, protected by temporary measures organized by Brunel. In August 1847, she was floated free at a cost of £34,000 and taken back to Liverpool, but this expense exhausted the company's remaining reserves. After languishing at the North Dock for some time, she was sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co. , former agents of the Great Western Steamship Company, for a mere £25,000.

[33] [34] Refit and return to service Edit The new owners decided not merely to give the vessel a total refit. The keel, badly damaged during the grounding, was completely renewed along a length of 150 feet (46 m), and the owners took the opportunity to further strengthen the hull. The old keelsons were replaced and ten new ones laid, which ran the entire length of the keel. Both the bow and stern were also strengthened by heavy frames of double angle iron . [35] Reflecting the rapid advances in propeller engine technology, the original engines were removed and replaced with a pair of smaller, lighter and more modern oscillating engines, with 82 1⁄2-inch (210 cm) cylinders and 6-foot (180 cm) stroke, built by John Penn & Sons of Greenwich. They were also provided with more support at the base, and supported further by the addition of both iron and wood beams running transversely across the hull, which had the added benefit of reducing engine vibration.

[35] The cumbersome chain-drive gearing was replaced with a simpler and by now proven cog-wheel arrangement, although the gearing of the engines to the propeller shaft remained at a ratio of one to three. The three large boilers were replaced with six smaller ones, operating at 10 psi (69 kPa) or twice the pressure of their predecessors. Along with a new 300-foot (91 m) cabin on the main deck, the smaller boilers allowed the cargo capacity to be almost doubled, from 1,200 to 2,200 tons. [35] Great Britain in 1853, after her refit to four masts The four-bladed propeller was replaced by a slightly smaller three-bladed model, and the bilge keels, previously added to reduce the tendency to roll, were replaced by a heavy external oak keel for the same purpose. The five-masted schooner sail-plan was replaced by four masts, two of which were square-rigged. [35] With the refit complete, Great Britain went back into service on the New York run.

After only one further round trip she was sold again, to Antony Gibbs & Sons , which planned to place her into England-Australia service. [35] Australian service Edit Antony Gibbs & Sons may have intended to employ Great Britain only to exploit a temporary demand for passenger service to the Australian gold fields following the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 , [36] but she found long-term employment on this route. For her new role she was given a third refit. Her passenger accommodation was increased from 360 to 730, and her sail-plan altered to a traditional three-masted, square-rigged pattern. She was fitted with a removable propeller, which could be hauled up on deck by chains in order to reduce drag when under sail power alone. In 1852, Great Britain made her first voyage to Melbourne, Australia, carrying 630 emigrants . She excited great interest there, with 4,000 people paying a shilling each to inspect her. She operated on the England–Australia route for almost 30 years, interrupted only by two relatively brief sojourns as a troopship during the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny.

Gradually, she earned a reputation as the most reliable of the emigrant ships to Australia. An 1862 source preserves some statistics of a typical voyage. The ship put out from Liverpool on 21 October 1861, carrying a crew of 143, 544 passengers (including the first English cricket team to visit Australia), a cow, 36 sheep, 140 pigs, 96 goats and 1,114 chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. The journey to Melbourne (her ninth) occupied 64 days, during which the best day's run was 354 miles and the worst 108. With favourable winds the ship travelled under sail alone, the screw being withdrawn from the water. Three passengers died en route. The captain was John Gray, a Scot, who had held the post since before the Crimean War. [37] On Thursday 8 October 1868 The Argus (Melbourne) reported 'To-day, at daylight, the fine steamship Great Britain will leave her anchorage in Hobson's Bay, for Liverpool direct.

On this occasion she carries less than her usual complement of passengers, the season not being a favourite one with colonists desiring to visit their native land. The Great Britain, however, has a full cargo, and carries gold to the value of about £250,000. As she is in fine trim, we shall probably have, in due time, to congratulate Captain Gray on having achieved another successful voyage.' [38] Later history Edit The ship's mizzen mast in Port Stanley In 1882 Great Britain was converted into a sailing ship to transport bulk coal, but after a fire on board in 1886 she was found on arrival at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands to be damaged beyond repair. She was sold to the Falkland Islands Company and used, afloat, as a storage hulk (coal bunker) until 1937, when she was towed to Sparrow Cove , 3.5 miles from Port Stanley, scuttled and abandoned. As a bunker, she coaled the South Atlantic fleet that defeated Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee 's fleet in the First World War Battle of the Falkland Islands .

In the Second World War , some of her iron was scavenged to repair HMS Exeter , one of the Royal Navy ships that fought the Graf Spee and was badly damaged during the Battle of the River Plate . Recovery and restoration SS Great Britain SS Great Britain, Bristol The salvage operation, made possible by several large donations, including from Sir Jack Hayward and the late Sir Paul Getty , was organised by 'the SS Great Britain Project', chaired by Richard Goold-Adams. Ewan Corlett conducted a naval architect's survey, reporting that she could be refloated. A submersible pontoon, Mulus III, was chartered in February 1970. A German tug, Varius II, was chartered, reaching Port Stanley on 25 March. By 13 April, after some concern about a crack in the hull, the ship was mounted successfully on the pontoon and the following day the tug, pontoon and the Great Britain sailed to Port Stanley for preparations for the transatlantic voyage.

The voyage (code name "Voyage 47") began on 24 April, stopped in Montevideo from 2 May to 6 May for inspection, then across the Atlantic, arriving at Barry Docks , west of Cardiff on 22 June. ("Voyage 47" was chosen as the code name because it was on her 47th voyage from Penarth , in 1886, that during a tempest she had sought shelter in the Falklands. [39] ) Bristol-based tugs then took over and towed her, still on her pontoon, to Avonmouth Docks . The ship was then taken off the pontoon, in preparation for her re-entry into Bristol, now truly afloat. On Sunday 5 July, amidst considerable media interest, the ship was towed up the River Avon to Bristol. [40] Perhaps the most memorable moment for the crowds that lined the final few miles was her passage under the Clifton Suspension Bridge , another Brunel design.

She waited for two weeks in the Cumberland Basin for a tide high enough to get her back through the locks to the Floating Harbour and her birthplace, the dry dock in the Great Western Dockyard (now a grade II* listed building, disused since bomb damage in the Second World War). [41] The air seal around Great Britain's hull. Aboard SS Great Britain The original intent was to restore her to her 1843 state. However, the philosophy changed and the conservation of all surviving pre-1970 material became the aim. By 1998, an extensive survey discovered that the hull was continuing to corrode in the humid atmosphere of the dock and estimates gave her 25 years before she corroded away. [42] Extensive conservation work began which culminated in the installation of a glass plate across the dry dock at the level of her water line, with two dehumidifiers , keeping the space beneath at 20% relative humidity, sufficiently dry to preserve the surviving material. [43] [44] This being completed, the ship was "re-launched" in July 2005, and visitor access to the dry dock was restored.

Popular culture Edit The Great Britain featured in several television specials. In 1997, she appeared in the award-winning Arts and Entertainment two-part mini-series Floating Palaces as part of an overview documenting the history of the ocean liner age from 1819 to 1970 and the historic significance of Brunel and his three ships, including expert commentary and a walking tour of the Great Britain, showcasing her restored interiors and the ground-breaking significance of certain decorative and technological traits. The ship was prominently seen in the PBS documentary and drama Victoria's Empire . Here, the ship is featured as an accomplishment of Brunel's skills, used as a period set for scenes showing Prince Albert boarding her for his inspection tour along with other actors playing Victorian-era passengers and crew, and with random cargo set up in the foreground. A telecast in the ITV1 series The West Country Tonight , in July 2010, told five aspects of the Great Britain's story: her history, her restoration and Bristolians' memories of her return to the city, showing their home footage of the event.

Correspondent Robert Murphy travelled to Grand Bahama for an exclusive interview with Sir Jack Hayward , then moved to The Falkland Islands where he spoke with islanders who worked in the salvage team. A BBC West documentary called When Brunel's Ship Came Home tells the story of the salvage operation and was broadcast on BBC One in the West of England on 12 July 2010. It includes memories of many of the people who were involved. Awards Edit The engineers Fenton Holloway won the IStructE Award for Heritage Buildings in 2006 for the restoration of the Great Britain. In May of that year the ship won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize for museums and galleries. The chairman of the judging panel, Professor Robert Winston , commented: SS Great Britain got our unanimous vote for being outstanding at every level. It combines a truly groundbreaking piece of conservation, remarkable engineering and fascinating social history plus a visually stunning ship above and below the water line. Most importantly, the SS Great Britain is accessible and highly engaging for people of all ages. [45] The project won The Crown Estate Conservation Award in 2007.

[46] and the European Museum of the Year Awards Micheletti Prize for 'Best Industrial or Technology Museum'. [47] In 2008 the educational value of the project was honoured by the Sandford Award for Heritage Education. [48] Dimensions Length: 322 ft (98 m) Beam (width): 50.5 ft (15.4 m) Height (main deck to keel): 32.5 ft (9.9 m) Weight unladen: 1,930 long tons (2,161 short tons, 1,961 tonnes) Displacement: 3,018 long tons (3,380 short tons, 3,066 tonnes) Engine Rated Horsepower: 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) Weight: 340 tons Cylinders: 4 x inverted 'V' 88 inches (220 cm) diameter Stroke: 72 inches (180 cm) Pressure: 5 psi (34 kPa) RPM: Max.

20 RPM American Chain Association (2005): Standard Handbook of Chains: Chains for Power Transmission and Material Handling, Second Edition (Dekker Mechanical Engineering), CRC Press, p. 10, ISBN 978-1-57444-647-0 . Ball, Adrian and Wright, Diana (1981): SS Great Britain, David & Charles, London, ISBN 0-7153-8096-6 . Claxton, Capt. R. N. (1845): History and Description of the Steamship Great Britain, J. Smith Homans, New York. Dumpleton, Bernard and Miller, Muriel (2002): Brunel's Three Ships, Intellect Books, page 64, ISBN 978-1-84150-800-9 . Fletcher, R. A. (1910): Steamships: The Story Of Their Development To The Present Day, Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd., London, pp. 225–227.

Fox, Stephen (2003): Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel, and the Great Atlantic Steamships, HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-019595-3 . Gibbs, Charles Robert Vernon (1957). Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. John De Graff. pp. 41–45. Maginnis, Arthur J. (1900): The Atlantic Ferry: Its Ships, Men and Working, Whittaker and Co., London and New York. Reid, Alexander (ed.) (1862): The Cabinet, or a Repository of Facts, Figures and Fancies relating to the Voyage of the "Great Britain" SS Melbourne: J. Reid, 1862 (a modified reprint of a periodical compiled and printed on board during the voyage). Further reading Ewan Corlett (1975; revised 1990, Conway Maritime Press). The Iron Ship: The Story of Brunel's SS Great Britain. London: Conway Maritime.

ISBN 0-85177-531-4 . External links SS Great Britain | Flickr Back to albums list SS Great Britain SS Great Britain is a museum ship and former passenger steamship, advanced for her time. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic, which she did in 1845, in the time of 14 days. When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 after the ship was stranded by a navigational error. Sold for salvage and repaired, Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia until converted to sail in 1881.

Three years later, she was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937. In 1970, Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was built. Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, she is an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour, with 150,000–170,000 visitors annually. Show more ss Great Britain ss Great Britain ss Great Britain "Where from Cap'n?" "Penarth" On the Victory Green in the centre of Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, lies the half section of the ss Great Britain's mizzen mast. It is a reminder of the time that the ss Great Britain spent in the Falklands - more than eighty years. For she is an extraordinary ship, built in an era of many other extraordinary ships, she nevertheless stands out in a class of her own. And the fact that she still survives today is remarkable - her story is a classic tale of the seven seas. She was designed and built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel in 1843 in a specially constructed dry dock in Bristol.

Not only was she a giant of her time, the largest ship ever built in Bristol, but she was also the first ever steam-powered, screw-driven ship. But her career was so nearly short-lived; when she was just three years old she ran aground on the coast of Northern Ireland and was stuck fast for nearly a year. The fact that she survived that ordeal is a testament to her strength. After a refit, the ss Great Britain went on to make thirty-two voyages between Melbourne and Liverpool between 1852 and 1875. Hundreds and thousands of Australians today are descended from the 16,000 emigrants who arrived aboard her. In between times she was used as a government troopship in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. And it's as well to recall that there was no refrigeration in those days. In order to feed up to 900 passengers and crew live animals were taken on board. Setting out on one passage in 1859, the ship carried 133 live sheep, 38 pigs, 2 bullocks, 1 cow, 420 fowl, 300 ducks and 30 turkeys.

1859 was a tragic year in British maritime history because in October that year a ferocious storm battered the west coast of Britain. As many as 800 ships were lost in the most disastrous single night ever recorded. The biggest loss of life came as the Royal Charter ran onto rocks on the Island of Anglesey - more than four hundred people drowned, most of them returning from a successful gold-mining adventure in Australia. Only a handful of seamen survived; one of these was Joe Rogers, a hero who swam ashore with a rope and helped to save a number of other lives. Rogers went on to join the Great Britain serving variously as a lamplighter and quartermaster. He also made quite a bit of money on the side by doing the washing for some of the wealthier passengers. By 1872 this magnificent vessel was nearly thirty years old and coming towards the end of her time as a passenger ship. Her Master was a Shetland seafarer, Captain John Gray, an eccentric skipper who once stopped the ship to claim an uninhabited island in the name of Queen Victoria and held a supper that evening to commemorate the event.

The ship was on passage from Melbourne returning to Liverpool when, in mid-Atlantic, Captain Gray was lost overboard in mysterious circumstances believed by many to be suicide. Shortly afterwards, in another refit, the Great Britain's engines were removed and the passenger accommodation converted to holds. She became a cargo sailing vessel carrying coal to South America and her last commercial voyage began when she left Penarth in South Wales on the 6th February 1886. Weeks later, attempting to round the Horn she was battered in a fierce storm and put back to the Falkland Islands for repair. A telegram from Lloyds was received on the morning of the 11th June 1886; the ss Great Britain en route from Cardiff to Panama put in to the Falkland Islands with loss of fore and main topmasts, the loss of some sails, rigging very much damaged by seawater. She touched the ground in entering port. Captain awaiting orders from England. The ss Great Britain never again left the Falklands as a sea-going ship but she did not die. From 1886 until 1933 she was owned by the Falkland Island Company and used as a floating hulk to store wool and coal.

Then in 1933 she was towed to Sparrow Cove, scuttled in shallow water and abandoned. She was then ninety years old and had twenty-five accidents of one sort or another recorded in her log books. For most ships that would have been enough, but even in ignominious oblivion she would prove useful. During the battle of the River Plate in 1939, when the German pocket battleship Graf Spey was chased into Montevideo by a small flotilla of lightweight British warships, the British cruiser HMS Exeter was badly damaged and a large number of her crew were killed or injured. She limped to the Falkland Islands where she was patched up using iron plates torn from the abandoned Great Britain. Eventually, Exeter was able to make her way slowly back to Britain where she was properly repaired and sent back to sea to fight again. For the Great Britain, the story was not over even then. In 1970, thirty-seven years after she was scuttled and abandoned, came a salvage operation of gargantuan proportions; the Great Britain was patched up, re-floated and put onto a huge pontoon to be towed back to Britain.

It was a voyage that lasted 86 days and reaching the Bristol Channel, she once again passed Penarth, 84 years after setting out on her last voyage. 'Where from Cap'n?' Penarth. 'Where to?' Bristol She completed her return to the dry dock in Bristol where she was built, on the 19th July 1970, one hundred and twenty-seven years to the day after she was launched. She remains there still, much restored after yet another refit and now plays host to thousands of visitors every year. And they have the other half of that original mizzen mast there too. The ss Great Britain; an extraordinary ship. Viv Head Brunel 200: ss Great Britain Launch of ss Great Britain ss Great Britain sea trials ss Great Britain off St Helena Newly gilded stern of ss Great Britain Artist’s impression of ss Great Britain’s new ‘glass sea’ New photography by Mandy Reynolds.

(All images above courtesy of ss Great Britain Trust) Brunel’s friend Thomas Guppy, a Bristol engineer and business man who had been instrumental in establishing the Great Western Railway, took the practical step of bringing together the necessary partners to form the Great Western Steamship Company with a view to making this happen (Guppy was also a trustee of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and a valued colleague to Brunel). ss Great Western (Private collection) Brunel’s first shipbuilding project for the new company was the ss Great Western. The ship was built by the firm of William Patterson, a leading Bristol shipbuilder, with steam engines provided by Maudslay, Sons and Field in London. She was an oak-hulled paddle steamer and the first steamship to provide a regular trans-Atlantic service, heralding a new era of ocean going transport. The ship was launched in July 1837 from Wapping (now Prince’s) Wharf and moved to London for fitting out. On her return trip to Bristol, fire broke out in the boiler room and Brunel was injured when he fell 18 feet (5.49 metres) to the flooded boiler room floor from a burning ladder.

When the Great Western left Bristol on 8 April 1838 for her maiden voyage to New York, 50 of her original 57 paying passengers had cancelled as they considered her too risky a venture. The Great Western Steamship Company’s main competitors in the race to develop a trans-Atlantic steam line was British and American Steam Navigation, a London-based group led by an expatriate American businessman called Junius Smith. As a publicity stunt, Smith sent the Sirius, a channel steamer, to cross the Atlantic in competition with the Great Western, leaving Cork on April 4 1838. The Great Western left Bristol on April 8 and arrived in New York 15 days later, only 12 hours behind Sirius with 203 tons of coal to spare (a sailing ship would have taken a month). In 1839, Bristol’s Royal Western Hotel was opened to accommodate passengers stopping off en route between the docks and Temple Meads station. However, the Great Western regular service ran from Liverpool instead of Bristol. The hotel façade is now part of Bristol City Council’s planning office, Brunel House.

Of perhaps greater significance for world travel was the Great Western’s sister ship, the ss Great Britain launched on 19 July 1843, the largest and most powerful ship to have been built to date and the first propeller driven, steam powered iron ship to cross the Atlantic. Symptomatic of the difficulties Bristol faced in its ambition to be a major port, the Cumberland basin locks the ship needed to pass through in order to leave the city proved to be too narrow. Brunel had to carry out widening work and the ship remained in Bristol until 11 December 1844. The ss Great Britain is the forerunner of modern passenger liners, making regular voyages to the USA and Australia (it is estimated she carried around 16,000 emigrants to Australia during her years of service). As with the ss Great Western, after her launch, the ss Great Britain mainly operated from Liverpool from where she made her maiden voyage to New York. On 23 September 1846 she ran aground at Dundrum Bay in Ireland.

Brunel visited the site and wrote to his colleague Christopher Claxton: I have returned from Dundrum with very mixed feelings of satisfaction and pain, almost amounting to anger, with whom I don’t know. I was delighted to find our fine ship almost as sound as the day she was launched, and ten times stronger in character. I was grieved to see her lying unprotected, deserted, and abandoned by all those who ought to know her value and ought to have protected her. The result, whoever is to blame, is that the finest ship in the world, in excellent condition such that £4,000 or £5,000 would repair all the damage done, has been left lying like a useless saucepan, kicking about on the most exposed shore you can imagine, with no more effort or skill applied to protect the property than the said saucepan would have received on the beach at Brighton. It took nearly a year to refloat her by which time the Great Western Steamship Company was bankrupted. She was bought by Gibbs, Bright and Company. At times of war ss Great Britain served as a troopship, travelling both to the Crimea and to India.

In later years, she was converted to a sailing ship for carrying coal from Wales to San Francisco. Following storm damage off Cape Horn in 1886, she struggled to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a storage hulk for wood and coal. She was beached in Sparrow Cove in 1937. In 1970, the Great Britain was towed home to Bristol where now, partially restored to her former glory, she is a major tourist attraction, dry docked in the Great Western Dockyard that was originally created to build her. She is probably rivalled only by the Clifton Suspension Bridge as a visual image of the city’s splendour, and she makes an important contribution to Bristol’s growing tourism and leisure economy. As a recipient of lottery funding, the ss Great Britain site is undergoing further renewal to enhance the visitor experience. Go to the ss Great Britain website for more details of the history and restoration of the ship. s.s. Great Britain - Bristol's Maritime History | View of s.… | Flickr s.s. Great Britain - Bristol's Maritime History View of s.s. Great Britain 1845 she carried mail to New York and Australia off Avonmouth.

The ss Great Britain was a world first when she was launched in Bristol in 1843. This uniquely successful ship design brought together new technologies in a way which transformed world travel. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the most daring of the great Victorian engineers, conceived the groundbreaking combination of a screw propeller, an iron hull, and a massive 1000-horsepower steam engine. She was immediately successful - on her maiden voyage across the Atlantic the ss Great Britain easily broke the previous speed record. Although effectively a prototype, she continued sailing until 1886, and travelled thirty-two times around the world and nearly one million miles at sea. She was finally abandoned in the Falkland Islands, in 1937, after more than 40 years use as a floating warehouse. In 1970 an ambitious salvage effort brought her home to Bristol, where today she is conserved in the dry dock where she was originally built. Edward Towle and his brother Ben were first class passengers who travelled to Australia in 1852, in the hope of finding work either in sheep-farming or by prospecting for gold.

Whilst on board the ss Great Britain Edward often wrote to his sister Mary in Derbyshire, UK. Edward’s diary relates humorous accounts of his passage to Melbourne: 22nd August 1852 “Opposite to our berths lies a wild Irish man, a genteel looking fellow but always in fun he appears to be like his compatriots all impulse and as unstable as the water upon which we float. Above him lies a surgeon, a serious but rather soft looking chap we shall see what he is made of presently.” 3rd September 1852 “We are awoke in the morning by the crowing of cocks and cackling of ducks, the hens are dying off, partly by the heat and partly by the commands of the captain….we have our meals much more regular, the provisions improve and we had a plum pudding yesterday, a great treat after salt provisions.

Six pigs were butchered this morning, their dying screams were the music that greeted us during dinner.” Gamblers Den “There seems to be a great mixture of characters on board, men who had been gambling the night before now appeared at church with a most devotional demeanour, and others who appeared to be very steady and sedate never went to church at all……We have French, Germans, Poles, Jews, Italians, Scotch and Irish on board.” Done

Question: Where was the ship SS Great Britain from 1886 until 1970, when it was returned to Bristol?
Answer: FALKLAND ISLANDS