John's Maritime History second Edition
John's Maritime History Society & forum links
Ship Builders
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White Star A brief History
In 1845 Henry Threfall Wilson Founded the White Star Line at Liverpool.John Pilkington was to be his first business partner. At the start the line employed mainly traditional sailing vessels. Their main routes at that time being on the Australian Trade. They transported goods and passengers to this new colony and on return carried back Minerals, wool, Whale Oil and anything else they could bring back with them.
John Pilkington was however replaced by a new partner in 1857, this was by James Chambers. Six years later the company got its first steamship. This was the " Royal Standard" she was of 2,033 tons. But like the early ships before her she also carried sails.She was involved in a collision with an Iceberg like Titanic again in April the 4th to be precise in 1864.She sustained damage to masts and stays and rigging. But her hull remained undamaged. She manageged to reach Argentina for repairs in Rio.
In the meantime Wilson and Chambers tried to amalgamate two other shipping lines with White Star, and another attempt, all failed.There was rumours of illegal share dealings. White Star got futher into trouble when they purchased their second steamhip,which subsequently had to be sold off even before it was put into service.They also failed at a transatlantic service,The company was thus liquidated, its remaining assets, IE the Name , House flag and the goodwill of the business was sold for the sum total of £1,000
The Purchaser was Thomas Henry Ismay. a young shipping entrepeneur of 31 years of age.
His aim was to start a Transatlantic Passenger Steamship service. He managed to persuade a Liverpool banker by the name of Gustav Schwabe to finance his scheme.This he agreed to do on the sole understanding that the new company would order all its ships from Harland & Wolff of Belfast. Schwabe's nephew Gustav Wolff was the junior partner of that company.
This followed a long train of events by1869 orders for up to six new vessels had been placed with this ship builder, Ismay went on to form a new company "Oceanic Steam Navigation Company Limited "to operate the ships under the name and flag of the " White Star Line."
The builders started the tradition of giving ships names that ended with "IC "
New designs were implimented and great improvements made over the next few years.Comfort and luxury being of paramount importance to this company.
Whilst all this was going on Thomas Ismay reorganised his business empire. With Willian Imrie, they formed " Ismay, Imrie & Co," to oversee the running of the OSNC and the WSL
Over the next 20 years WSL prospered and became the pace setter on the North Atlantic runs, But they still carried on operating to Australia. Never the less WSL carried on with its premier Atlantic service and in 1899 introduce a new liner the " Oceanic " this was to be the second ship bearing this name.She was considered to be one of the most graceful ships ever built. She was certainly the largest liner of her day
"Oceanic "was doing a good will job by restoring the WSL good name, but the company went into a significant change of ownership in 1902 when it was purchased by the (IMM ) " International Mercantile Marine Co " for the grand sum of £10 million.IMM was owned by the American Tycoon J.Pierpoint Morgan, a man who had single handedly built up his business to become the largest Banking House in America. He also dabbled into Railroads, Steel production and of course shipping.
He dreamed of building a monoploly of Transatlantic passenger traffic that he deemed lucrative.His first aquisition was to get control of the Liverpool " Inman Line."this was added to his own International Navigation Co of New Jersey. This company already was the owners of the " American Line " and the Belgian " Red Star Line "
In 1902 he changed the name to the " International Mercantile Marine Co " this follow by take overs of the following the British owned " Alantic Transport, Dominion and Leyland Lines. "
And finally the icing on the cake the jewel in thse crown so to speak, the " White Star Line."
When this take over occured the WSL was in control of Joseph Bruce Ismay the son of Thomas Ismay, Joeseph acted in partnership with his young brother James.and William Imrie.
Imrie and his family were strongly to resist this takeover, But like the phrase made in the Godfather films " They were made an offer that they could'nt refuse.by Morgan. A man to whom money meant no object.Bruce Ismay finally acepted this and cooperated with Morgan.
Bruce Ismay was to stay as chief executive of WSL and in 1904 was appointed president of the IMM group. He retained this position until he resigned in October 1912 following the Titanic Tragedy
The White Star line was now totally American owned. To all outward appearances it was still a British shipping line, the ships still flew the red ensign and still had British Officers and crew members
2, SS Georgic
THE GEORGIC OF 1931
From LLOYD`S REGISTER, 1933 - 34:
GEORGIC - Official Number 182365 Call Sign: L H R F
Steel, Twin screw, oil engines
Gross Tonnage 27,759 Net Tonnage 16,839
Built in 1932 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast; registered in Liverpool
Owned by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. (The White Star Line)
Length 683.6 feet. Breadth 82.4 feet
The Georgic was built in Belfast by Harland & Wolff for the White Star Line on 12th November 1931. She was the final ship to be built for the White Star fleet. She differed from her sister - the Britannic, completed two years earlier - in a number of respects. The Georgic was designed on ambitious lines, with an almost straight stem, cruiser stem and the then fashionable squat funnels with tops parallel with the deck. Unlike her sister the Georgic had a rounded bridge front. Slightly larger than the Britannic, her original accommodation was for a total of 1,636 passengers - 479 cabin class, 557 tourist class and 600 third class.
In April 1931 it was reported that construction work on the Georgic was to be speeded up in order that she could enter service in May 1932 instead of June, as was originally anticipated. Behind this idea was the fact that some 25,000 Americans were due to visit Dublin to attend the Eucharistic Conference that was to be held there from 22nd June until 29th June. As it turned out, the Georgic was not completed until June, and she began her maiden voyage on 25th June when she left Liverpool for New York.
The Georgic`s forward funnel was a dummy and used as a radio room and engineers` smoke room. She was designed as a cabin-class ship but her passengers had surroundings and comfort equal to those provided in any de luxe liner of the day. The Georgic`s trials took place early in June 1932 and a large party of guests was taken to Belfast to join the ship in the Belfast Steamship Company`s motorship Ulster Monarch which was specially chartered for the occasion. The completion of the ship attracted great attention, and in welcoming her to the Mersey for the first time, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool offered his congratulations to the owners. The Georgic made the outward passage to New York in rough weather, but even so managed to arrive some 12 hours ahead of schedule. In September 1932 a ball was held on the Georgic in Gladstone Dock, Liverpool, in aid of the new headquarters of the British Legion.
In November 1932 the Georgic`s sailing was brought forward two days in order that she could fit in with the postal arrangements for Christmas mails to the United States. On 11th January 1933 she made her first sailing froni Southampton to New York, having been brought in to replace the Olympic while that vessel underwent an extensive engine overhaul. Over 2,000 local people visited the Georgic, the proceeds being given to local charities.
A record fruit cargo of 51,687 cartons, representing about 3,000 tons, was discharged by the Georgic at Liverpool in October 1933. On 10th May 1934 the vessel was amalgamated into the Cunard - White Star fleet. June 1934 saw the ship once again turned into a floating ballroom in aid of the David Lewis Northern Hospital`s building fund. During January 1935 there was a small fire among some cotton bales in the Georgic`s forward hold. On 3rd May she joined the Britannic on the London - Southampton - New York service, and was the largest ship to use the Thames, being fractionally larger than the Dominion Monarch. In 1939 the Georgic reverted to the Liverpool - New York service and made five round trans-Atlantic voyages on commercial service with cargo and passengers, although she was hampered by the fact that Americans had been ordered not to travel in her as she was a belligerent ship. While she was homeward bound on 11th March 1940, the Cunard-White Star Company was informed that she would be taken off commercial service. After discharging a large cargo at Liverpool, the Georgic was ordered to the Clyde on 19th April, where she was converted into a troopship for 3,000 men.
At the end of May 1940 the Georgic assisted in the evacuation of British troops from Andesfjord and Narvik, and as soon as she had landed these men at Greenock she sailed to assist in the withdrawal from Brest and St. Nazaire. She was under repeated air attack but was fortunate in not being hit; her crew were highly commended by the soldiers she rescued. Between July and September 1940 she made a trooping voyage to Iceland, and another to Halifax, N.S., collecting Canadian troops after landing the evacuees she carried on the westbound voyage. From September 1940 until January 1941 the Georgic was employed on a trooping voyage from Liverpool and Glasgow to the Middle East via the Cape, and afterwards trooped from Liverpool to New York and Halifax, and back to the Clyde.
On 22nd May 1941 the Georgic left the Clyde under the command of Captain A.C.Greig, O.B.E., R.N.R., with the 50th Northumberland Division for Port Tewfik, Gulf of Suez. She was part of the convoy which had to be left almost unprotected during the hunt for the Bismarck. She arrived safely on 7th July 1941, but a week later on 14th July she was bombed by German aircarft while at anchor off Port Tewflk, with 800 Italian internees on board. Her fuel oil caught fire and the ammunition exploded in the stern area. The Georgic was beached on 16th July, half submerged and burnt out. On 14th September it was decided to salvage the vessel and the hulk was raised on 27th October. The hull was plugged, and on 2nd December the Georgic was taken in tow by the Clan Campbell and the City of Sydney. She reached Port Sudan on 14th December where she was made seaworthy.
The Georgic left Port Sudan on 5th March 1942 and was towed by T. & J. Harrison`s Recorder, with the tug St. Sampson steering from astern. On the following day, a strong north-westerly gale forced all the ships to heave-to on a northerly heading. The St. Sampson was damaged during this manoeuvre and cast off her towline. She drifted away and eventually foundered. Her crew were picked up by the hospital ship Dorsetsbire which happened to be passing.
Meanwhile, the Recorder was joined by the tug Pauline Moller and the British India steamer Haresfield. Between them, they managed to bring the Georgic to Karachi on 31st March, 1942 without any further untoward incidents. The Georgic remained at Karachi until 11th December whilst temporary repairs were carried out. She then sailed to Bombay, arriving on 13th December, where she was dry-docked for hull cleaning and further repairs. Finally she loaded 5,000 tons of pig iron ballast and on 20th January 1943 the Georgic left Bombay under her own power for Liverpool where she arrived on 1st March, having made the passage at 16 knots. Shortly afterwards she sailed to Belfast but had to anchor in Bangor Bay until 5th July awaiting a berth. After seventeen months the Georgic emerged on 12th December 1944 with one funnel and a stump foremast. She was now owned by the Ministry of Transport, with Cunard-White Star as managers. After trials the Georgic left Belfast for Liverpool on 16th December 1944.
During 1945 the Georgic trooped to Italy, the Middle East and India. On Christmas Day she arrived at Liverpool with troops from the Far East, including General Sir William Slim, C-in-C South East Asia. Early in 1946, the Georgic repatriated 5,000 Italian prisoners of war, and a few weeks later she had a smallpox case among some 5,000 Naval and R.A.F. personnel homeward bound from Bombay. A further case developed and both were landed at Suez. In June 1946 on a homeward voyage from Bombay there was trouble between civilian women and service women and this led to the barring of civilians on troopships unless no other transport was available.
In September 1948 the Georgic was refitted by Palmers & Co., at Hebburn, for the Australian and New Zealand emigrant trade. She retained her White-Star livery, and could accommodate 1,962 one-class passengers. In January 1949 the Georgic made her first sailing on the Liverpool - Suez - Fremante - Melbourne - Sydney run with 1,200 "assisted passages". However, when leaving the landing stage a rope wrapped round one of her propellers and she had to re-dock. During the summers from 1950 until 1954, the Georgic was chartered back to Cunard and made seven round voyages to New York each year as a one-class liner. In 1950 she was based at Liverpool, but Southampton was her terminal port from 1951 until 1954.
In the winter of 1954/55 the Georgic resumed ‘assisted passage voyages to Australia, and on 16th April 1955 she arrived at Liverpool with troops from Japan. She was then offered for sale, but the Australian Government chartered her for the summer. The Georgic`s final voyage was from Hong Kong to Liverpool with 800 troops, and she arrived on 19th November 1955. On 11th December she was laid up at Kames Bay, Isle of Bute pending disposal. In January 1956 the Georgic was sold for scrapping, and on 1st February arrived at Faslane for demolition by Shipbreaking Industries Ltd.
From the LNRS Bulletin, Vol. 42, No. 2. Autumn 1998
3,The Nomadic
The following is pictures taken of various parts of the Nomadic on 11/11/05.
All pictures are produced with permission of Thierry Dufournaud To whom we are extremely greatfull.Dialogue will shortly be added to these pictures.
Details of the pictures will be added later 19/11/05
4, Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Brunels Great Steamships
Contents of this page:
1, SS Great Western
2, SS Great Britain
3, SS Great Eastern
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1, SS Great Western
When she was launched the SS Great Western was the largest wooden hulled steam ship in the world and was built to cross the Atlantic. But on her maiden voyage disaster struck and Brunel was almost killed.
The Great Western was Brunel's first ship and made of oak. Brunel's s. Second ship SS Great Britain was even larger and was totally revolutionary being built of iron. She was the first steam-powered, and propeller-driven, transatlantic ocean passenger ship with an iron hull, forerunner of all modern ships.
The SS Great Western, , was launched at Bristol in 1837 and was a paddle wheeled steamer and was to miss, being the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam by about three hours. Brunel determined to solve the refuelling problem by building a big enough steamship to carry all the coal required for a round trip to Australia.
The SS Great Western had paddle wheels. The SS Great Britain had a screw propeller.The steamship SS Great Western, was the first steamship purposely built for the Atlantic crossing. It was an iron-strapped wooden side-wheel paddle steamer (with auxiliary sails), designed by the great railroad engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel whose idea it was that steam would replace sail power on the regularly-scheduled trans-Atlantic "packet boat" services, which had been operating under sail since 1818. He convinced the directors of the Great Western Railway. Though the Great Western's huge boilers took up almost half its interior, the ship was designed to carry 148 passengers, with a main passenger saloon 75 feet long by 34 feet at its widest.
Twenty-four first-class passengers paid 35 guineas each for the maiden trip. Adding to the value of the trip, on its maiden run, the Great Western raced the SS Sirius to New York, though the Sirius had left Ireland days earlier, on April 4. The Great Western left Bristol England on 8th April 1838
The rival British and American Steam Navigation Company expected to open the first steam-powered regularly-scheduled "packet" trans-Atlantic service with their SS British Queen But with their ship still at the shipyard, it became clear at the opening of the season that the Great Western, which had been launched in Bristol in April 1837 and was being fitted out with its machinery in London, was going to beat them to it. So they chartered the Sirius, which was a cross-Channel steamship.
Though the Sirius beat the Great Western to New York, arriving on April 22 with forty passengers, they had to burn the cabin furniture, spare yards and one mast, to do it. The Great Western arrived the following day, with 200 tons of coal still aboard, and after only 15 days at sea.
Type: Side-wheel steamship rigged for sail 4 masts, 1 funnel, 2 wheels.
Owners: Great Western Steamship Co. Bristol, England (1837-Apr. 24, 1847)
Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Liverpool, England (from Apr. 24, 1847)
Builder: William Patterson Bristol, England
Year Built: 1837
Engines; 1 x 2-cylinder side-lever steam engine by Maudslay Sons & Field 750hp
Keel laid down, 28th July 1836, Launched on 19th July 1837,maiden voyage 8th April 1838.
Passenger capacity 128 in first class, + 20 servants,
The Great Western served in the trans-Atlantic run until 1846. Later, after serving as a troopship, she was broken up in a salvage yard on the lower reaches of the Thames at Castle's yard, London in 1856-57
Some Sources used;
Grahame Farr, The SS Great Western, Bristol Branch of the Historical Association: Bristol
Book Source:
Denis Griffiths, (1985) Brunel’s Great Western, Published by Patrick Stephens: WellingboroughSomerset Record Office holds a number of records related to Brunel’s work in the county. Visit www.somerset.gov.uk/archives
Extra links; www.stfaiths100.freeserve.co.uk/html_files/brunelgw.htm http://www.college.hmco.com/history
2, SS Great Britain
the Great Westerns maiden voyage in the spring ao 1838, the new ship would break no technological ground,just another wooden paddle wheeler, but faster and larger than its predeccessors. With two ships, the Great Western company could become a true transatlantic line, crossing the ocean in both ways at the same time on a more frequent sailing schedule, and becoming an assumed habit for travellers. The driving philosophy was ships as enterprise, not as engineering, commerce above invention.Over the next few years, these initial intentions were turned inside out to produce the " Great Britain ". At a time of rapid, sweeping technological changes for ocean steamships, the Bristol company's planning and building process took many unforeseen twists and wizzed off on its own Brunelian course.
The initial drawings and timber for a wooden vessel were on hand when, in the autum of 1838, John Laird's channel packet " Rainbow " stopped at Bristol. Only a year old, the largest iron steamer yet built, she presented a powerful argument for the advantages of metal hulls. Brunel sent his steamship associates, Christopher Claxton and William Patterson on an investigating voyage to Antwerp and back on the " Rainbow ". They returned as converts, their report, revised by Brunel, persuaded the Great Western Steamship Company's directors to switch to iron.
The building committee for the new ship, as for the "Great Western", again consisted of Brunel, Claxton, Patterson and Thomas Guppy. But the balance of power within the committee shifted towards Brunel. He turned his chronically overtaxed attention to ship questions as never before, and the " Great Britain " became truly his
baby in ways that the " Great Western " had not. He at once asked John Grantham, an authority on iron shipbuilding, for advice about who made the best iron plates and braces for marine purposes, and drew up painstaking details for the engine and boilers, all to produce a vessel ready for sea by the spring of 1841. If these points are well considered, he confided to Claxton in November 1838, we will secure the superiority of the Bristol Line for the next five years at least. The hull designs drawn up by Patterson kept being revised. Iron fabrication allowed for a much larger ship, the material drove its own internal logic, and the process began to redefine itself. The " Great Britain " grew ever greater with each new set of plans. By the fifth take, she had reached 3400, a thousand tons larger than the biggest Atlantic steamship yet planned, the doomed " President " still under construction by Junius Smith and Macgregor Laird. In July 1839, workmen in a specially built dock in Bristol harbour started to bend, shape, hammer and rivet the hull of the " Great Britain ". Its most important to the interests of the proprietors of the company, that she should be at sea by the early part of 1841.The company assured its shareholders, Your Directors...have warmly to acknowledge the aid afforded them by the science of Mr Brunel, nothing indeed can exceed the obligation under which the Company is indebted to that gentleman for assistance, which,at every spare moment and at any personel inconvienience to himself, has been at the service of your Directors.
In the spring of 1840, another revolutionary steamship pulled into Bristol, Francis Smith's " Archimedes ", on one of her promotional stops. Brunel had been trying to find a better propelling device,looking into a new type of paddle, and considering experiments to squeeze more speed with less coal consumption from a standard wheel. Nothing seemed of real potential until "Archimedes" hove into unpaddled view. Altered by Thomas Guppy, Brunel was intrigued. "I have long since learn't" he
said a few years later," to be prepared to be convinced of anything" Claxton and Patterson resisted the screws, as still so unproven, for such a major project as the "Great Britain". Francis Smith, sensing a significant new customer, lent the "Archimedes to the Bristol group for a series of trials. Construction of the "Great Britain" was halted pending the outcome, Brunel already knew the conclusion he favoured. " The result if as I expect satisfactory would be of great importance to you" he wrote to a Smith associate. "The cautious must have positive proof," Now a quick recap on Brunels Ships
The "SS Great Western" was Brunel's very first ship. It was built to connect Bristol with America. The "Great Western" was 236ft long and displaced 2300 tonnes of water. Because of the space required for this type of transatlantic ship, Brunel had to take into account the stresses put upon it by the Atlantic. It was of conventional structural design with oak frames forming the bottom and sides, and for extra strength, he added four staggered rows of iron bolts running the entire length of the ship. The hull was sheathed in copper below the waterline.
The size of the engine and the amount of fuel required was questioned by Dr. Lardner who said there would not be enough room to carry the amount of coal needed for a transatlantic crossing. On the 8th of April, 1838, the "Great Western" set out for New York from Bristol. The ship arrived on the 23rd of of April, with coal to spare. The story is not the same for a rival paddle steamer, known as the "Sirius", who left Cork, on the 5th of April and arrived twelve hours before The "Great
Western". All the coal had been used up,and so had some of the fittings. The "Great Western" had bettered the "Sirius's " time by almost four days. The "Great Western" became the Queen of the Atlantic, regularly crossing between Bristol and New York from 1838 to 1846. Construction on " SS Great Brtain" began in 1839. It took 4 years to build and was first floated in Bristol dry dock on the 19th July 1843. It was 322ft long and displaced 3675 tonnes. The engines and propeller were installed in December 1844 and official trials commenced in January 1845. Its maiden voyage started in July 1845. The six bladed propeller was damaged because of the stress on the small blades, so a four bladed propeller was added instead. After 2 years it was sold to another company and underwent a huge refit. The engines were replaced and another funnel added, the number of masts was reduced to four, and to increase the number of passengers an upper deck house was added. This was when the "S.S. Great Britain" started service between England and Australia, the first voyage took 83 days carrying 630 passengers. In 1876 it was converted into a cargo sailing ship having had its engines removed and hull strengthened.
Ten years later, The "S.S. Great Britain" was caught in a storm, rounding Cape Horn, and found shelter in the Falkland Islands. Then the ship was bought again, this time as a store ship, and stayed in Port Stanley for fifty years. In 1937, the "Great Britain" was towed to Sparrow Cove, which was nearby, and was left to disintegrate, beached there until 1970. It was then that the ship was refloated and towed 7000 miles back to Avonmouth, passing under the Clifton Suspension Bridge, into the floating harbour and put into dry dock for restoration to Brunel's original design.
The "SS Great Eastern" launched in 1858. It was 692ft long, and displaced 27380 tonnes of water. The paddles were 52ft in diameter and the propeller was 24ft in diameter. Nothing mu
ch has survived from the "Great Eastern". It was intended to go from England to Australia, but didn't make many trips. See Previous article published on this site about her in more detail. The SS Great Britain is one of a number of ships from these shores that made up a fascinating part of my history lessons at school. Others were the HMS Warrior, the HMS Victory and the Cutty Sark. Those were the days when ships were ships and men were men. I don't know what women were, we were never told.
She Can be located at:
Great Western Dock
Gas Ferry Road
Bristol
BS1 6TY
Phone to check Opening times on: 0117 926 0680
Or Visit the official website at;; http://www.ss-great-britain.com
Part Source: "The Ocean Railway " By Stephen Fox
3, Brunel's Great Eastern
The Great Eastern on her trials'
The steamship "Great Eastern" was the last ship to be designed by a remarkable nineteenth century engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.He lived from 1806 to 1859. The son of an emigre French engineeer,Brunel was brought up in England in an atmosphere of machine inventions and of engineering projects.When Brunel began work on the "Great Eastern" he had already built two record breaking steamships for the Atlantic route, the wooden paddle ship the "Great Western" in 1837 and the iron screw ship "Great Britain" in 1834. The "Great Britain" was remarkable in two ways, she had a new method of propulsion, a steam driven screw, instead of a paddle,and was made of iron not wood.It was the first time either had been used in an ocean going steamer and her success made their future use assured.
The " Great Eastern", however, was to be six times larger than the "Great Britain" and was designed especially to make the long voyage to the Far East. Her size was dictated by the large amount of coal that had to be carried as there were no bunkering facilities in the East.
The Eastern Steamship Company was created to build and operate Brunel's super ship and contracts were allocated in 1853 for a total of £377,200. James Watt and Company were to build the screw engines and John Scott Russell was the main contractor, responsible for building the paddle engines and ship itself.
The Great Eastern sets sail for New York
The " Great Easterns" keel was laid down in February 1854 at Milwall in the Isle of Dogs on the River Thames, England, and the bad luck that was to follow the ship started early during the building stage.A worker was killed by falling into the hold and another died when a workmate fell on him, a workboy also fell from scaffolding and was impailed on an iron bar, and a visitor had his head flattened by a pile driver.
In order to secure the contract by under bidding the other tenders, Russel had not allowed enough money for the work and went into bankrupcy early in 1856. For three months all work was stopped on the ship while futher funds were sought. Finally, with Brunel busying himself here, there and everwhere, the ship was ready to be launched at the end of October 1857.
For technical reasons related to her size and weight the "Great Eastern " had to be launched sideways, a new method devised by Brunel. On November the 7th 1857, Miss hope, the daughter of one of the directors, broke a bottle of champagne, naming the ship "Leviathan. and the restraining chocks were knocked away as hydraulic presses were applied to the hull. Suddenly the ship rumbled down more that a metre and the brake handle of a chain for controlling its slide flew up, injuring four workmen and killing a fifth. then the ship refused to move any futher.
It took nearly three months and numerous attempts to drag it centmetre by centimetre to the waters edge, but on January the 30th 1858 the gigantic hull floated at last. The expense of the launching had pushed the cost of the ship to £732,000. Almost double the original estimate, and she was still far from complete. Brunel's health had been permently impaired by the strain of the work, and the Eastern Steamship Company went into liquidation. The ship was towed to Deptford where she laid for a year without any futher work being done on her.
Great Easterm a profile look
A new company, the Great Ship Company, aquired the " Great Eastern", ( for this was the name that was now painted on her bows.) and completed her in August 1859. Her characteristics were Length 211m, Beam 36m at the paddle boxes, Load draught 9.2m, Hull Iron, double skinned with 25mm plates below the waterline and 19mm plates above, fixed by 3,000,000 hand driven rivets. Ten watertight bulkheads plus two longitudinal bulkheads in the boiler and engine rooms. Tonnage 18,915 tons gross, 27859 tonnes displacement. ( Great Eastern's tonnage record was not broken until the launching of the liner the "Lusitania" in 1907 .Paddle engines, 1000 hp, 4 cylinders with a 188cm bore and a 4.26m stroke powered by 4 boilers and activating two 17.1m diameter wheels with 30 blades 0.92m deep and 3.96 m wide.
Great Easterns Paddle engines
Screw engine 1,600 hp, 4 cylinders with a 213 cm bore and 1.22 stroke powered by 6 boilers and driving a 7.3m propeller with a 1.12m Pitch. Speed under power, 14 knots, Auxiliary rig, 5,450 square metre's of canvas carried by six masts, Passenger capacity 6,096 tonnes.
the combination of paddles and screw seem strange but multiple screws were not invented and a single screw would have been totally inadequate to propel the ship. As it turned out, the combination gave her great manouverability which was to prove very useful in the future.
The Screw engine aboard the Great Eastern
The "Great Eastern" was the first of the prestigious ocean liners and was far ahead of her time, which perhaps explains the many problems that plagued her. She had five sallons lit by gas generated in her own gas plant. The lxurious grand sallon was 19m long, 14.3 m wide and 4.25 m high. there were berths for 4,000 passengers and the first class cabins had the unheard of luxury of a bath with running hot and cold water.
Brunel was aboard just before her sea trials, looking in to last minute details, when he collapsed with a stroke. The ship left without him and was just off Hastings on 9th September when a tremendous explosion caused by a blocked safety valve erupted through the upper deck. Horribly scalded men crawled out of the boiler room. One of them jumped over the side and was mangled to death by the paddle wheel, five others were killed on the spot or died in agony a few hours later. Brunel, lying paralysed in his home, suffered a relapse when he heard the news, dying on 15th September of the same year.
Above::Isambard Kingdom Brunel
The Great Eastern limped into Weymouth where her boiler room and grand saloon ( which had been devastated ) were provisionally repaired but the bad luck persisted. The following January ( 1860 ) her master, Captain Harrison his coxswain and a boy were drowned when their gig capsized.
By the time the Great Eastern was ready for passenger service, the Great Ship Company did not have enough money left to finance the voyage to Australia and it was decided to try her on the North Atlantic run, for which she was not designed and was not adapted. she sailed nearly empty on 17th June 1860 but as she arrived at New York ten days later, she received a fourteen gun salute, the first merchant vessel to be honoured in this way
. In order to earn a few extra dollars she was opened to the public, and in July she was visited by nearly 150,000 people. Two 2 day cruises at 10 dollars a head were organized. The first attracted over 2,000 passengers but only 200 berths had been prepared, there was not enough food and the ship was dirty. as a result the second cruise attracted only a hundred passengers. The Great Eastern returned to England with even fewer passengers and her master suffered a nervous breakdown as soon as he stepped ashore.The ship was a great strain on her masters and she changed them at almost every voyage.
After she had made another money losing voyage to New York she was chattered by the British Government to transport 2,144 troops and 437 women and children and a 122 horses to Quebec. this time she crossed the Atlantic in a record breaking eight & a quarter days, but she returned only with 500 passengers
On the slips at Milwall on the banks of the River Thames England
Her next departure for New York looked promising, with a substantial passenger list. She left Liverpool on the 19th September 1861, but three days out she met a severe storm. An unco-ordinated manover resulted in the rudder shaft snapping and shearing off,and helpless the ship swung broadside on to the seas. The paddles were smashed almost immeadiatly and the propeller had to be stopped because the uncontrolled rudder kept swinging against it. The sails were set, but they were immediately blown to ribbons. The storm lasted for three days and the situation was critical, the ship was rolling 45 degrees to each side and the passenger quarters were a scene of utter chaos. The Great Eastern eventually limped under jury steering into Cork where repairs took eight months and cost £60,000
In May and July 1862 the Great Eastern made two transatlantic crossings with reasonable bookings and freight, and in August she left for New York with 1,530 fare paying passengers, her record. But the jinx was still with her, as she neared New York she hit an uncharted reef and tore 25.5 x1.2m hole in her bottom. had it not been for her double hull construction, she would have sunk like the "Titanic".Although still watertight she could not sail home without repairs, and a special caisson had to be made to encase the hull and enclose the rip. The casson was then pumped out and temporary plates riveted in. Four months later she returned to Liverpool, going on to Milford Haven in wales where proper repairs could be carried out. After another three money losing crossings to New York she was finally laid up.
Shoring needed to suport this giant,which because of its size had to be launched sideways on to the river
In 1865 the Great Eastern was chartered by the Atlantic Telegraph Company, as she was the only ship big enough to carry 2,000 miles of cable necessary for a transatlantic connection. One cable had bee previously laid across the Atlantic but it had functioned for only three weeks. The grand saloon and two of the screw boilers were ripped out to make space for the cable tanks, and she started her new job on 15th July, from Ireland. After many minor problems, on August 2nd, when they were well past the half way mark, the cable parted and vanished into 2,000 fathoms ( 1,800 m ) of water.
The experience was not wasted, however, for the next year she sailed again with better equipment and cable,. On 27th July 1866 the Valentia telegraph station in Ireland received a triumphant message from Hearts Content ( Newfoundland ), success at last.On her way back, the Great Eastern also fished up the broken end of the previous years cable, spliced it and returned to Newfoundland with a second working cable.
The following year, the Great Eastern's role changed yet again. She was chartered by the " Societe des Affreteurs du Great Eastern, with the backing of the french Goverment, for a special journey from New York to France carrying American visitors to the World trade Fair in Paris. the ship was reconverted at great cost to a passenger liner but the venture was a financial disaster. Once more she was laid up, until she was again chartered by the French in 1869 for laying a Telegraph cable from France to America. After this she carried another cable from England to Bombay and laid it from India towards Suez. In 1870-71 she was engaged in various cable maintenance jobs and in 1872 laid a fourth cable across the Atlantic, Her fourth transatlantic cable success.
The Great Easter ready for her Launching
Although the Great Eastern had been a permanent finacial liability to her owners, she had been a successful cable layer,but even this was not to continue for very long. In 1874 a specially designed cable layer, the " Faraday " was launched, and the Great Eastern became obsolete.
For twelve long years she laid gathering rust at Milford Haven. Then in 1885 she was bought for only £26,000 by Edward de Mattos, who chartered her for one year to the Liverpool clothing and drapery firm of David Lewis to be used as a floating advertising gimmick and fun fair. At the expiry of the charter, de Mattos tried to use her as a floating museum and for an arts and industrial exhibition, but he was not successful. He sold her to the breakers in 1888 for £16,000. They were the last owners to lose money on her, although they sold the scrap metal and sundries to the value £56,000 the ship was so solidly built that it took nearly two years for them to dismantle her completely, at a cost which finally exceeded the profit from their sales.
The Great Easterns demise at the hands of the breakers.
Source: Erik Abranson " Ships of the High Seas"
Additional sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/industrialisation/seven_wonders_gallery_01.shtml
Port Cities London: http://www.portcities.org.uk