SS Great Eastern
SS Great Eastern was an iron-hulled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London, England. Powered by both sidewheels and a screw propeller, 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 was surpassed only in 1899, by the 17,274-gross-ton, her gross tonnage of 18,915 was surpassed only in 1901, by the 20,904-gross-ton and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed only in 1913, by the 4,234-passenger. Her five funnels was unusual for the time. She also had the largest set of paddle wheels in existence.
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 in her intended use as a passenger liner between Britain and North America, her voyages made largely unprofitable by her high initial and operating costs. Within a few years she was repurposed to lay underwater cable, laying the first lasting transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866. Finishing her life as a floating music hall and advertising hoarding in Liverpool, she was broken up on Merseyside in 1889.
History
Concept
After his success in pioneering steam travel to North America with and, Brunel turned his attention to a vessel capable of making longer voyages as far as Australia. With a planned capacity of 15,000 tons of coal, Great Eastern was envisioned as being able to sail halfway around the world without taking on coal, while also carrying so much cargo and passengers that papers described her as a "floating city" and "the Crystal Palace of the sea". Brunel saw the ship as being able to effectively monopolize trade with Asia and Australia, making regular trips between Britain and either Sri Lanka or Australia.On 25 March 1852, Brunel made a sketch of a steamship in his diary and wrote beneath it: "Say 600 ft x 65 ft x 30 ft". These measurements were six times larger by volume than any ship afloat; such a large vessel would benefit from economies of scale and would be both fast and economical, requiring fewer crew than the equivalent tonnage made up of smaller ships. Brunel realised that the ship would need more than one propulsion system; since twin screws were still very much experimental, he settled on a combination of a single screw and paddle wheels, with auxiliary sail power. Although Brunel had pioneered the screw propeller on a large scale with Great Britain, he did not believe that it was possible to build a single propeller and shaft that could transmit the required power to drive his giant ship at the required speed.
Brunel showed his idea to John Scott Russell, an experienced naval architect and ship builder whom he had first met at the Great Exhibition. Scott Russell examined Brunel's plan and made his own calculations as to the ship's feasibility. He calculated that it would have a displacement of 20,000 tons and would require to achieve, but believed it was possible. At Scott Russell's suggestion, they approached the directors of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company with the new design plan. The James Watt Company would design the ship's screw, Professor Piazzi Smyth would design its gyroscopic equipment, and Russell himself would build the hull and paddle wheel.
1854–1859: Construction to launch
Construction
Brunel entered into a partnership with Scott Russell to build Great Eastern. Unknown to Brunel, Russell was in financial difficulties. The two men disagreed on many details. It was Brunel's final great project, and he collapsed from a stroke after being photographed on her deck, and died only ten days later, a mere four days after Great Easterns first sea trials. About the ship, Brunel said "I have never embarked on any one thing to which I have so entirely devoted myself, and to which I have devoted so much time, thought and labour, on the success of which I have staked so much reputation."Great Eastern was built by Messrs Scott Russell & Co. of Millwall, Middlesex, England, the keel being laid down on 1 May 1854. She was long, wide, with a draught of unloaded and fully laden, and displaced 32,000 tons fully loaded. In comparison, SS Persia, launched in 1856, was long with a beam. She was at first named Leviathan, but her high building and launching costs ruined the Eastern Steam Navigation Company and so she lay unfinished for a year before being sold to the Great Eastern Ship Company and finally renamed Great Eastern.
The hull was an all-iron construction, a double hull of wrought iron in plates with ribs every. Her roughly 30,000 iron plates weighed each, and were cut over individually made wooden templates before being rolled to the required curvature. Internally the hull was divided by two long, high, longitudinal bulkheads and further transverse bulkheads dividing the ship into nineteen compartments. Great Eastern was the first ship to incorporate a double-skinned hull, a feature which would not be seen again in a ship for 100 years, but which would later become compulsory for reasons of safety. To maximize her fuel capacity, stored coal was bunkered around and over her 10 boilers; which provided steam at 172 kPa. She had sail, paddle and screw propulsion. The paddle-wheels were in diameter and the four-bladed screw-propeller was across. The power came from four steam engines for the paddles and an additional engine for the propeller. The cylinders for the paddle engines measured bore and stroke. The four cylinders for the screw engine measured bore and stroke. Total power was estimated at. She had six masts, providing space for of sails, rigged similar to a topsail schooner with a main gaff sail on each mast, one "jib" on the fore mast and three square sails on masts no. 2 and no. 3 ; for a time mast no. 4 was also fitted with 3 yards. In later years, some of the yards were removed. According to some sources she would have carried in sails. Setting sails turned out to be unusable at the same time as the paddles and screw were under steam, because the hot exhaust from the five funnels would set them on fire. Her maximum speed was. She was involved in a series of accidents during construction, with 6 workers being killed.
Launch
Great Eastern was planned to be launched on 3 November 1857. The ship's massive size posed major logistical issues; according to one source, the ship's 19,000 tons made it the single heaviest object moved by humans to that point. On 3 November, a large crowd gathered to watch the ship launch, with notables present including the Comte de Paris, the Duke of Aumale, and the Siamese ambassador to Britain. The launch, however, failed, and the ship was stranded on its launch rails – in addition, two men were killed and several others injured, leading some to declare Great Eastern an unlucky ship. Brunel rescheduled the launch for January 1858, hoping to use the tide in the next launch attempt.In the leadup to the second launch, Brunel and Great Eastern
Following her launch, Great Eastern spent a further 8 months being fitted out. However, the cost of the fitting out concerned many investors, who had already spent nearly $6,000,000 constructing her. With the building company already in debt, cost cutting measures were implemented; the ship was removed from Russell's shipyard, and many investors requested she be sold. As reported by the Times, one investor openly proposed that the ship be sold to the Royal Navy, noting if the navy employed Great Eastern as a ram, she would easily cleave through any warship afloat. These efforts had mixed success, with the ship eventually being sold to a new company for £800,000, equating to a loss of $3,000,000 for investors in the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. The new company modified parts of its predecessor's design, most notably cutting the ship's coal capacity as it intended to use the ship for the American market. Fitting out concluded in August 1859 and was marked with a lavish banquet for visitors. In early September 1859, the ship sailed from her dock towards the channel, accompanied by many spectators. However, off Hastings she suffered a massive steam explosion that killed five crewmen and destroyed the forwardmost funnel. She proceeded to Portland Bill and then to Holyhead, though some investors claimed more money could have been made if the ship had remained as an "exhibition ship" for tourists in the Thames. Great Eastern successfully rode out the infamous Royal Charter Storm, after which it was moved to Southampton for the winter. The start of 1860 led to a further change of ownership when the owning company was found to be badly in debt and the value of the ship depreciated by half. This revelation forced the resignation of the board of directors, who were then replaced by a third group of controlling stockholders.
With the new board in place, the ship was recapitalized to raise an additional $50,000. The new board was determined to finish the ship, but also bet heavily on making large profits exhibiting the ship in North American seaports. To accomplish this, the company played major American and Canadian cities against each other, goading them into competition over which city would welcome Great Eastern; the city of Portland, Maine went so far as to build a $125,000 pier to accommodate the ship. Ultimately New York City – which had quickly dredged a berth for her alongside a lumber wharf – was decided on as the ship's first destination.