SS ''Great Western'' of 1838, was a wooden-hulled paddle-wheel
steamship with sails the first steamship purpose-built for crossing the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, and the initial unit of the
Great Western Steamship Company
The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, it was expected to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line. Th ...
.
She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1837 to 1839, which was then passed by the . Designed by British civil engineer
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
, ''Great Western'' proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful wooden Atlantic paddle-steamers.
She was capable of making record
Blue Riband voyages as late as 1843.
''Great Western'' worked to New York for 8 years until her owners went out of business.
She was sold to the
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
and was scrapped in 1856 after serving as a troop ship during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
.
Development and design
In 1836, Isambard Brunel, his friend Thomas Guppy and a group of Bristol investors formed the Great Western Steamship Company to build a line of steamships for the Bristol-New York route.
The idea of regular scheduled transatlantic service was under discussion by several groups and the rival
British and American Steam Navigation Company The British and American Steam Navigation Company was a steamship line that operated a regular transatlantic service from 1839 to 1841. Before its first purpose-built Atlantic liner, ''British Queen'' was completed, British and American chartered ...
was established at the same time.
''Great Western's'' design sparked controversy from critics that contended that she was too big.
The principle that Brunel understood was that the carrying capacity of a ship increases as the cube of its dimensions, whilst the water resistance only increases as the square of its dimensions. This meant that large ships were more fuel efficient, something very important for long voyages across the Atlantic.
[Rolt, L.T.C., "Victorian Engineering", 1970, Allen Lane The Penguin Press, ]
''Great Western'' was an iron-strapped, wooden, side-wheel
paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...
, with four masts to hoist the auxiliary sails. The sails were not just to provide auxiliary propulsion, but also were used in rough seas to keep the ship on an even keel and ensure that both paddle wheels remained in the water, driving the ship in a straight line. The hull was built of oak (one source says Dantzic pine) by traditional methods. She was the largest steamship for one year, until the British and American's
''British Queen'' went into service. Built at the shipyard of
Patterson & Mercer in Bristol, ''Great Western'' was launched on 19 July 1837 and then sailed to London, where she was fitted with two
side-lever steam engines from the firm of
Maudslay, Sons & Field, producing 750
indicated horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
between them.
Service history
On 31 March 1838, ''Great Western'' sailed for
Avonmouth
Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Es ...
(Bristol) to start her maiden voyage to New York. Before reaching Avonmouth, a fire broke out in the engine room. During the confusion Brunel fell , and was injured. The fire was extinguished, and the damage to the ship was minimal, but Brunel had to be put ashore at
Canvey Island
Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ( ...
.
As a result of the accident, more than 50 passengers cancelled their bookings for the Bristol-New York voyage and when ''Great Western'' finally departed Avonmouth, only 7 passengers were aboard.
[MaritimeQuest.com about SS Great Western](_blank)
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Construction of the rival British and American's first ship was delayed, and the company chartered ''Sirius'' to beat ''Great Western'' to New York. ''Sirius'' was a Irish Sea steam packet on the London – Cork route, and had part of her passenger accommodation removed to make room for extra coal bunkers.[ She left London three days before ''Great Western'', refuelled at Cork, and departed for New York on 4 April. ''Great Western'' was delayed in Bristol because of the fire and did not depart until 8 April.][
Even with a four-day head start, ''Sirius'' only narrowly beat ''Great Western'', arriving on 22 April.] When coal ran low, the crew burned 5 drums of resin. ''Great Western'' arrived the following day, with 200 tons of coal still aboard. Although the term Blue Riband was not coined until years later, ''Sirius'' is often credited as the first winner at . However, ''Sirius'' only held the record for a day because ''Great Western's'' voyage was faster at .
''Great Western'' proved completely satisfactory in service and influenced the design of other Atlantic paddlers. Even Cunard's ''Britannia'' was a reduced version of ''Great Western''. During 1838–1840, ''Great Western'' averaged 16 days, 0 hours (7.95 knots) westward to New York and 13 days, 9 hours (9.55 knots) home. In 1838, the company paid a 9% dividend, but that was to be the firm's only dividend because of the expense of building the company's next ship. After the collapse of British and American, ''Great Western'' alternated between Avonmouth and Liverpool, before abandoning Avonmouth entirely in 1843. The ship remained profitable even though she lacked a running mate because of the protracted construction on ''Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
''. In 1843, ''Great Western's'' receipts were GB£33,400 against expenditures of GB£25,600.
The company's fortunes improved in 1845 when ''Great Britain'' entered service. However, in September 1846 ''Great Britain'' ran ashore because of a navigational error and was not expected to survive the winter. The directors suspended all sailings of ''Great Western'' and went out of business. ''Great Western'' had completed 45 crossings for her owners in eight years. In 1847 she was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
and used on the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
run. Southampton became her new home port from where she made 14 voyages to the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
between 1847 to 1853, before being put on the South America run and made another 9 voyages to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
between 1853 and 1855.[Denis Griffiths: "Brunel's Great Western", 1985. ] On the South America run she called at Lisbon, Madeira, Teneriffe, St Vincents, Pernambuco and Bahia on the way to Rio and then in reverse on the return passage.
The ''Great Western'' was then laid up at Southampton before being taken into government service as 'Transport No. 6'. She served as a troopship in the Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
in 1856, carrying soldiers between the UK, Gibraltar, Malta, and the Crimean Peninsula. In August 1856 she was sold for scrapping and was broken up at Castles' Yard, Millbank on the Thames.
See also
* SS ''Great Britain''
* SS ''Great Eastern''
*List of world's largest wooden ships
This is a list of the world's longest wooden ships. The vessels are sorted by ship length including bowsprit, if known.
Finding the world's longest wooden ship is not straightforward since there are several contenders, depending on which definiti ...
References
External links
Houghton-Mifflin "Ships of the World"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Western, SS
1837 ships
Blue Riband holders
Ships built in Bristol
Steamships
Troop ships of the United Kingdom
Victorian-era merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Ships designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
1837 establishments in England
Maritime incidents in November 1851