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SS ''Great Eastern'' was an
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
sail-powered, paddle wheel and screw-propelled
steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
designed by
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 ...
, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at
Millwall Iron Works The Millwall Iron Works, London, England, was a 19th-century industrial complex and series of companies, which developed from 1824. Formed from a series of small shipbuilding companies to address the need to build larger and larger ships, the hol ...
on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
, London. She was 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 only surpassed in 1901 by the 20,904-gross-ton and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,234-passenger . The ship having five
funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...
(which were later reduced to four) was unusual for the time. The vessel also had the largest set of
paddle wheels A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...
. Brunel knew her affectionately as the "Great Babe". He died in 1859 shortly after her maiden voyage, during which she was damaged by an explosion. After repairs, she plied for several years as a passenger liner between Britain and North America before being converted to a cable-laying ship and laying the first lasting
transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
in 1866. Finishing her life as a floating music hall and advertising hoarding (for the department store
Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
) in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, she was broken up on
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
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 Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
of the sea".Dugan (1952) p. 3, 4, 5, 6 Brunel saw the ship as being able to effectively monopolize trade with Asia and Australia, making regular trips between Britain and either
Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...
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" (180 m x 20 m x 9.1 m). These measurements were six times larger by volume than any ship afloat; such a large vessel would benefit from
economies of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables ...
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 A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...
were still very much experimental, he settled on a combination of a single screw and
paddle wheels A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...
, 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 (or, for that matter, a paddleshaft) that could transmit the required power to drive his giant ship at the required speed. Brunel showed his idea to
John Scott Russell John Scott Russell FRSE FRS FRSA (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built '' Great Eastern'' in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brune ...
, an experienced naval architect and ship builder whom he had first met at
the Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...
. 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 Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...
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
John Scott Russell John Scott Russell FRSE FRS FRSA (9 May 1808, Parkhead, Glasgow – 8 June 1882, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) was a Scottish civil engineer, naval architect and shipbuilder who built '' Great Eastern'' in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brune ...
, an experienced naval architect and ship builder, 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 Eastern''s first
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s. 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 Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
, London, the
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
being
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
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 Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
'', launched in 1856, was long with a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
. 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''. It was decided she would be more profitable on the
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
New York run, and she was outfitted accordingly. 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. 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 A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
. Total power was estimated at . She had six masts (said to be named after the days of a week – Monday being the fore mast and Saturday the spanker mast), providing space for of sails (7 gaff and maximum 9 (usually 4) square sails), rigged similar to a topsail schooner with a main gaff sail (
fore-and-aft A fore-and-aft rig is a sailing vessel rigged mainly with sails set along the line of the keel, rather than perpendicular to it as on a square rigged vessel. Description Fore-and-aft rigged sails include staysails, Bermuda rigged sails, ga ...
sail) on each mast, one "jib" on the fore mast and three square sails on masts no. 2 and no. 3 (Tuesday & Wednesday); 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 (later four)
funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...
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 (12,000 inert tons during the launch) made it the single heaviest object moved by humans to that point.Dugan (1952) p. 9-17 On 3 November, a large crowd gathered to watch the ship launch, with notables present including the Comte de Paris, the
Duke of Aumale Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
, 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'''s backers gathered a significant number of chains, jacks, hydraulic rams, and
windlass The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder (barrel), which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt. A winch is affixed to one or both ends, and a cable or rope is wound arou ...
es to assist in launching the ship. Some were obtained from sympathetic engineers, others through returned favours, and yet more for increasing sums of money; so lucrative was renting out of supplies for the ship's launch that engineer
Richard Tangye Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye (24 November 183314 October 1906) was a British manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment. Biography Richard Tangye was born at Illogan, near Redruth, Cornwall, the fifth son in a family of six sons and thr ...
was able to found his own engineering firm (Tangye & Co) the next year, remarking that "We launched ''Great Eastern'', and she launched us''".'' Advice sent to Brunel on how to launch the ship came from a number of sources, including steamboat captains on the Great Lakes and one admirer who wrote an insightful description on how the massive ''
Bronze Horseman The ''Bronze Horseman'' (russian: link=no, Медный всадник, literally "copper horseman") is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great in the Senate Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was opened to the public on 7 (18) August ...
'' had been erected in Saint Petersburg. High winds prevented the ship from being launched on 30 January, but the next morning a fresh attempt successfully launched the ship around 10:00 in the morning. Following her launch, ''Great Eastern'' spent a further 8 months being fitted out. However, the cost of the fitting out ($600,000) concerned many investors, who had already spent nearly $6,000,000 constructing her.Dugan (1952) p. 35 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.Dugan (1952) p. 36-39, 41-49 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 (which included engineers, stockholders, members of parliament, 5 earls, and other notables). 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 (caused by a valve being left shut by accident after a pressure test of the system) that killed five men. 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 The ''Royal Charter'' Storm (also known as the Great storm of 1859) of 25 and 26 October 1859 was considered to be the most severe storm to hit the Irish Sea in the 19th century, 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 betted 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 Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
(with additional investment from the Grand Trunk Railroad) went so far as to build a $125,000 pier to accommodate the ship.Dugan (1952) p. 49, 50-68 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.


1860–1862: Early career

After some delays, ''Great Eastern'' began her eleven-day maiden voyage on 17 June 1860, with 35 paying passengers, 8 company " dead heads" (passengers who do not pay) and 418 crew. Among the passengers were two journalists, Zerah Colburn and
Alexander Lyman Holley Alexander Lyman Holley (Lakeville, Connecticut, July 20, 1832 – Brooklyn, New York, January 29, 1882) was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, and founding member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was consider ...
. Her first crossing went without incident, and the ship's seaworthiness was proven again when she easily survived a small gale. ''Great Eastern'' arrived in New York on 28 June and was successfully docked, though she did damage part of a wharf. The ship was received with great aplomb, with many vessels and tens of thousands of people crowding to see her. In preparation for the crowds, the crew established a bar on deck, spread sand to soak up tobacco juice, and prepared to receive thousands of visitors. However, relations between the crew and New Yorkers began to sour – the public was outraged by the $1 entry fee (similar excursion trips in New York charged 25 cents) and many would-be visitors decided to forego visiting the ship. ''Great Eastern'' left New York in late July, taking several hundred passengers on an excursion trip to
Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...
and then to Old Point, Virginia. However, this too raised issues as the ship did not have enough provisions (a burst pipe in a storeroom had ruined much of the ship's food) to make the short trip comfortable, while the ship's rudimentary bathrooms posed a sanitation issue.Dugan (1952) p. 72-79 Duplicate tickets were sold for some berths, families were separated and remixed in improperly assigned cabins, and five plainclothes police officers (put on by New York to deter pickpockets) were discovered and chased into a livestock pen on deck. After reaching Virginia, the ship steamed back to New York, and from there sailed south again for an excursion cruise in the Chesapeake bay. The ship departed for Annapolis, where it was given 5,000 tons of coal by the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
.Dugan (1952) p. 81-84 ''Great Eastern'' remained in Annapolis for several days, where she was toured by several thousand visitors and President James Buchanan. During the presidential visit, one member of the company board discussed sending the ship to
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
to transport Southern cotton to English mills, but this idea was never followed up on. Upon its second return to New York, the company decided to sail from the United States. From a financial perspective, the American venture had been a disaster; the ship had taken in only $120,000 against a $72,000 overhead, whereas the company had expected to take in $700,000. In addition, the company was facing a daily interest payment of $5,000, which ate into any profits the ship made. Hoping to net more profit before returning to Britain, the ship sailed from New York in mid August, bound for Halifax with 100 passengers. However, on approach to the port the ship was hailed by a local lighthouse service, which was empowered by law to collect a toll based on ship tonnage – given the size of the ship, the lighthouse levied a toll of $1,750 on ''Great Eastern''. Infuriated by the size of the toll, a party went ashore to request that the toll be waived, but the governor of Halifax denied this request. Angered by the refusal, the captain and company leadership ordered the ship to return to Britain immediately, and as such no passengers or visitors were taken on in Halifax. With the engineering success but financial failure of the 1860 trip, the ship's ownership company again attempted to turn ''Great Eastern'' profitable. During the winter of 1860, Scott Russell (who had recently won a $120,000 legal judgement against the ship company) refitted the ship and repaired damage sustained during its first year of operations; during the refit, she once broke free from her moorings and cut off the bowsprit of HMS ''Blenheim''. She departed for New York in May 1861 (her other potential port, Baltimore, now considered too risky due to the outbreak of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
), arriving in the port with little fanfare. Taking on a cargo of 5,000 tons of barrelled wheat and 194 passengers, she departed for Liverpool on 25 May, making an uneventful trip.Dugan (1952) p. 97, 98 Upon her return to Britain, it was announced that the ship's company had been contracted by the British War Office to transport 2,000 troops to Canada, part of a show of force to intimidate the rapidly-arming United States. After a further refit to carry troops, ''Great Eastern'' departed Britain for Quebec City carrying 2,144 soldiers, 473 passengers, and 122 horses; according to one source, this number of passengers – when coupled with ''Great Eastern'''s crew of 400 – marked the most number of people aboard a single ship to that point in history. The voyage was a success and the ship made it to Quebec, where it took two days for the city's steamers to ferry the passengers from the ship. The crossing was made in record-setting time, taking 8 days and 6 hours. ''Great Eastern'''s durable design was praised by the military officers aboard, but soon after her return to Britain the War Office discontinued the contract, and the ship returned to regular passenger service. In September 1861, ''Great Eastern'' was caught in a major hurricane two days out of Liverpool. The ship was trapped in the storm for three days and suffered major damage to her propulsion systems; both her paddle wheels were torn off, her sails stripped away, and her rudder had been bent to 200 degrees and subsequently torn up by the ship's single propeller. A jury-rigged propeller was installed by Hamilton Towle (an American engineer returning from Austria), allowing the ship to steer for Ireland powered only by her screw. Arriving in Queenstown, (now
Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...
), she was denied entry to the harbour as it was feared high winds would cause her to smash her anchorage; she was granted entry three days later and towed in by HMS ''Advice'', tearing the anchor off an American merchant on her way to her berth. The only fatal casualty of the cruise occurred in port when a man was killed by backspin off the helm. Damage caused by the storm and lost revenue from the trip amounted to $300,000. The ship continued a cycle of uneventful cruises, cargo loadings, and brief exhibitions from late 1861 to mid 1862. By July 1862, the ship was turning its first noteworthy profits, carrying 500 passengers and 8,000 tons of foodstuffs from New York to Liverpool, bringing in $225,000 in gross and requiring a turnaround of only 11 days. However, as noted by sources, the ship's owners struggled to sustain this profitability as they were heavily focused on upper and middle class passenger service. As such, the ship was not used to transport large groups of immigrants travelling to the United States, nor did it take full advantage of the major downturn in the American clipper industry during the American Civil War.


1862–1884: Later career


''Great Eastern'' Rock incident

On 17 August 1862, ''Great Eastern'' departed from Liverpool for New York, carrying 820 passengers and several thousand tons of cargo – given the size of her load, she was drawing of water.Dugan (1952) p. 139, 145 After outrunning a small squall, the ship approached the New York coast on the night of 27 August. Fearing that ''Great Eastern'' was resting too low in the water to pass by Sandy Hook, the ship's captain instead chose the nominally safer route through Long Island Sound. While passing by Montauk Point around 2:00 AM, the ship collided with an uncharted rock needle (later named Great Eastern Rock) that stood around below the surface. The rock punctured the outer hull of the ship, leaving a gash wide and long—it was later calculated that the needle was large enough to contact the inner hull, but that the outer hull and strong transverse braces had prevented the inner hull from being breached. The collision was noticed by the crew, who guessed that the ship had struck a shifting sand shoal, and after a bilge check ''Great Eastern'' continued onto New York without incident. While in port, however, it was noticed that the ship had acquired a slight list to starboard, and so a diver was sent in to inspect the hull. After several days of inspection, the diver reported the massive hole in the ship's outer hull, a major issue as no drydock in the world could fit the ship. The ship's hull was repaired by metalworkers in a
cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...
, but cost the company $350,000 and delayed the ship's return to Britain by several months. She would make one more trip to New York and back in 1863 before being laid up until 1864 due to her operating costs.Dugan (1952) p. 160-164, 207 In January 1864, it was announced that the ship would be auctioned off. During the auction, four members of the company board of directors bid $125,000 for the ship and won it, thus acquiring personal control of the vessel. The group then allowed the ship company to go bankrupt, thus separating the ship from the now defunct shipping company and divesting many smaller stockholders. The ship was then contracted out to
Cyrus West Field Cyrus West Field (November 30, 1819July 12, 1892) was an American businessman and financier who, along with other entrepreneurs, created the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858. Early ...
, an American financier, who intended to use it to lay underwater cables. A trend soon emerged in which the ship's owners would rent out ''Great Eastern'' as a cable layer in exchange for shares in cable companies, ensuring that if ''Great Eastern'' succeeded in laying cables, the unprofitable ship could be personally lucrative for her owners.


Cable laying

In May 1865, ''Great Eastern'' steamed to Sheerness to take on wire for the laying of the
Transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
. In return for using the ship, her owners wanted $250,000 in telegraph company stock, but only on the condition the wire laying succeeded.Dugan (1952) p. 172-188 To accommodate the of cable she was carrying, ''Great Eastern'' had some of her salons and rooms replaced with large tanks to hold the cable. In July the ship began laying the undersea cable near
Valentia Island Valentia Island () is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also departs from ...
, gradually working its way west at a speed of . The effort went relatively smoothly for several weeks, but the cable end was lost mid-Atlantic in an accident, forcing the ship to return in 1866 with a new line. The ship's first officer,
Robert Halpin Robert Charles Halpin , Master Mariner, born 16 February 1836 at the Bridge Tavern Wicklow, Ireland, died 20 January 1894 at ''Tinakilly'', Wicklow. He captained the Brunel-designed steamship SS ''Great Eastern'' which laid transoceanic telegra ...
, managed to locate the lost cable end and the unbroken cable made it to shore in Heart's Content, Newfoundland on 27 July 1866. Halpin became captain of ''Great Eastern'', with the ship laying further cables. In early 1869 she laid a series of undersea cables near Brest. Later that year she was outfitted to lay undersea cables in the Indian Ocean; most of the operation's expenses were covered by the British government and banks in India, which hoped to circumvent the unreliable overland cables linking Britain to India. In preparation for operations in the hot climate, the ship was painted white to deflect heat away from the ship's cable tanks. ''Great Eastern'' departed from Britain in December 1869, arriving in Bombay (now Mumbai) 83 days later to lay her first cable anchor. Upon its arrival in port, ''Great Eastern'''s size generated considerable public interest, with the captain offering tickets to view the ship for 2 rupees apiece, distributing proceeds to the crew. Departing from Bombay before the onset of the Monsoon season, she proceeded north to lay a cable between Bombay and Aden. From Aden, she laid another cable to the island of Jabal al-Tair, where a second ship rendezvoused with her to take up the cable to Suez and then on to Alexandria.


Suez Canal concerns

The
Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, which opened in 1869, was a setback for the ship: the ship was too wide for the canal, and going around Africa it would not be able to compete with ships that could use the canal. One famed Arab navigator proposed taking the ship through the canal, but this was never attempted.


1885–1890: Break up

At the end of her cable-laying career – hastened by the launch of the CS ''Faraday'', a ship purpose built for cable laying – she was refitted as a liner, but once again efforts to make her a commercial success failed. She remained moored in Milford Harbour for some time, annoying the Milford harbour board, which wanted to build dockyards in the area. Many proposals for the ship were raised; according to one source, pubs were full of talk of filling her with gunpowder and blowing her up. The ship was ultimately saved, however, as a dock engineer (Frederick Appleby) was able to build a dock around her, using the ship's massive hulk as a station for driving pylons. During her 11 years moored in Milford, she accrued a large amount of biofouling on her hull. Early marine naturalist Henry Lee (best known at the time for his skepticism towards sea monsters) conducted an extensive study of her hull, calculating she had ~300 tons of marine life attached to her. She was sold at auction, at
Lloyd's Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gov ...
on 4 November 1885, by order of the
Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...
. Bidding commenced at £10,000, rising to £26,200 and sold to Mr Mattos, a city merchant. Sold again, she was used as a showboat, a floating palace/concert hall and gymnasium. She later acted as an advertising hoarding—sailing up and down the Mersey for
Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...
Department Store, who at this point were her owners, before being sold. The idea was to attract people to the store by using her as a floating visitor attraction. In 1886 she was sailed to Liverpool for the Liverpool Exhibition of 1886 – during the transit, she struck and badly damaged one of her tugs, the last of 10 ships she would damage or sink. On 10 May 1887, the steamship ''G. E. Wood'' collided with her in the Mersey.. Sold again after the exhibition, one company considered using her to raise shallow shipwrecks, while one humorist suggested that ''Great Eastern'' be used to help dig the Panama canal by ramming her into the isthmus. She was, again, sold at auction in 1888, fetching £16,000 for her value as scrap. Many pieces of the ship were bought by private collectors, former passengers, and friends of the crew – various fixtures, lamps, furniture, paneling, and other artifacts were kept. Parts of ''Great Eastern'' were repurposed for other uses; one ferry company converted her wood paneling into a public house bar, while one mistress at a Lancashire boarding school acquired the ship's deck caboose for use as a children's playhouse. An early example of breaking-up a structure by use of a
wrecking ball A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. It was most commonly in use during the 1950s and 1960s. Several wrecking companies claim to have invented the wrecking ball. An e ...
, she was scrapped near the
Sloyne The Sloyne is an anchorage in the River Mersey, in North West England. It lies off the Wirral shore between Rock Ferry and New Ferry. In past times it was used by ships of deeper draught, and was for much of the 19th century the berth of the Roya ...
, at
New Ferry New Ferry is an urban area on the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, with the River Mersey to the east and the town of Bebington to the west. Within the boundaries of the historic count ...
on the
River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
by Henry Bath & Son Ltd in 1889–1890—it took 18 months to take her apart, with her double hull being particularly difficult to salvage. The breaking of the ship caused a minor labour dispute as workers – who were paid by the ton of ship scrapped – became frustrated with the slow pace of breaking and went on strike.


Trapped worker legend

After ''Great Eastern'''s scrapping, rumours spread that the shipbreakers had found the remains of trapped worker(s) entombed in her hull—likely inspired by tales spread by her crew of a phantom riveter who had been sealed in the ship's hull. The legend was first widely noted on by James Dugan in 1952, who quoted a letter from a Captain David Duff, and many later sources cite Dugan's work. Other authors, notably
L. T. C. Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Te ...
in his biography of Brunel, have dismissed the claim (noting such a discovery would have been recorded in company logs and received press attention), but the legend has become widely mentioned in books and articles about nautical ghost stories. In ''London and Londoners in the Eighteen-Fifties and Sixties'', Alfred Rosling Bennett writes about the skeleton that "it was then remembered that while on the stocks building a pay-clerk had disappeared with a large sum of money... and was supposed to have fled with it", and questions if the remains could have been deposited by workmen who had murdered the man. Brian Dunning wrote about the legend in 2020, noting that while it was technically impossible to prove or disprove, the incident could not have happened given the lack of evidence being found during the numerous times ''Great Eastern'' was being repaired''.''


Surviving parts

In 1928,
Liverpool Football Club Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...
were looking for a flagpole for their
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
ground, and consequently purchased her top mast. It still stands there today at the Kop end. In 2011, the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
programme ''
Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' found
geophysical survey Geophysical survey is the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Detection and analysis of the geophysical signals forms the core of Geophysical signal processing. The magnetic and gravitational fields emanating from the E ...
evidence to suggest that residual iron parts from the ship's keel and lower structure still reside in the foreshore. During 1859, when ''Great Eastern'' was off Portland conducting trials, an explosion aboard blew off one of the funnels. The funnel was salvaged and subsequently purchased by the water company supplying Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in Dorset, UK, and used as a filtering device. It was later transferred to the Bristol Maritime Museum close to Brunel's SS ''Great Britain'' then moved to the SS ''Great Britain'' Museum. In October 2007, the recovery of a anchor in of water about from Great Eastern rock stirred speculation that it may have belonged to ''Great Eastern''.


In popular culture

* The SS ''Great Eastern'' is the subject of the Sting song, "Ballad of the Great Eastern" from the 2013 album '' The Last Ship''. * The history of the SS ''Great Eastern'' is chronicled in detail in James Dugan's non-fiction book ''The Great Iron Ship''. * An Atlantic crossing on the SS ''Great Eastern'' is the backdrop to
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
's 1871 novel ''
A Floating City ''A Floating City,'' or sometimes translated ''The Floating City,'' (french: Une ville flottante) is an adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne first published in 1871 in France. At the time of its publication, the novel enjoyed a similar ...
'' * The SS ''Great Eastern'' and its creator Isambard Kingdom Brunel are central to
Howard A. Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, author and professor. He is the former President of the Writers Guild of America, West, professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, alumnus of Telluride Association ...
's 2019 novel '' The Great Eastern'', in which
Captain Ahab Captain Ahab is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'' (1851). He is the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod''. On a previous voyage, the white whale Moby Dick bit off Ahab's leg, ...
is pitted against
Captain Nemo Captain Nemo (; later identified as an Indian, Prince Dakkar) is a fictional character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction classics, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' ...
. * The Great Eastern was the name of a radio comedy show on CBC Radio One from 1994 to 1999, named for the steamship. * In the trade management video game ''
Anno 1800 ''Anno 1800'' is a city-building real-time strategy video game, developed by Blue Byte and published by Ubisoft, and launched on April 16, 2019. It is the seventh game in the '' Anno'' series, and returns to the use of a historical setting fo ...
'', released in 2019 by
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
, the player has the opportunity to construct ''Great Eastern'' as an addition to their naval fleet. ''Great Eastern'' has the largest cargo capacity of any ship in the game with a total of eight cargo slots.


Gallery

File:On the deck of SS Great Eastern by Robert Howlett, 1857.jpg, On the deck, 1857 File:The Great Eastern by Robert Howlett, 1857.jpg, ''Great Eastern'',
12 November 1857 File:SS Great Eastern launch ramp.JPG, SS ''Great Eastern''s launch ramp at Millwall File:Leviathan Great Eastern.jpg, Print referring to the difficulty of trying to launch ''Great Eastern''. The
Mariners' Museum The Mariners' Museum and Park is located in Newport News, Virginia, United States. Designated as America’s ''National Maritime Museum'' by Congress, it is one of the largest maritime museums in North America. The Mariners' Museum Library, cont ...
File:PSM V12 D562 The great eastern.jpg, Magazine illustration ca. 1877 File:James Pullen's model of SS Great Eastern at Langdon Down Museum.JPG, James Henry Pullen's model of SS ''Great Eastern'' File:FlagpoleGreatEasternLFC.jpg, A
topmast The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these. The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower ...
salvaged from ''Great Eastern'' at the Kop end of
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
, the home stadium of
Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
File:Part of a funnel from the SS Great Eastern - geograph.org.uk - 1447346.jpg, Part of a funnel from the SS ''Great Eastern''. SS ''Great Britain'' Museum,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...


See also

* James Henry Pullen's model of SS ''Great Eastern'' *
Steering engine A steering engine is a power steering device for ships. History The first steering engine with feedback was installed on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's ''Great Eastern'' in 1866. Designed by Scottish engineer John McFarlane Gray and built by George ...
– ''Great Eastern'' was the first ship so equipped *
Transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...
*
Robert Halpin Robert Charles Halpin , Master Mariner, born 16 February 1836 at the Bridge Tavern Wicklow, Ireland, died 20 January 1894 at ''Tinakilly'', Wicklow. He captained the Brunel-designed steamship SS ''Great Eastern'' which laid transoceanic telegra ...
, commanded the SS ''Great Eastern'' when a cable layer *
List of large sailing vessels This is a list of large sailing vessels, past and present, including sailing mega yachts, tall ships, sailing cruise ships, and large sailing military ships. It is sorted by overall length. The list, which is in the form of a table, covers vessel ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * Kelly, Andrew and Melanie, (editors), ''Brunel – In Love With the Impossible'', 2006 by Bristol Cultural Development Partnership, Hardback Paperback . * . * * (Account of his 1867 voyage on ''Great Eastern''). *
The Titanic Disaster: An Enduring Example of Money Management vs. Risk Management


External links



*''The building of the Great Eastern.'' a
Southern Millwall: Drunken Dock and the Land of Promise
pp. 466–480,
Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an A ...
volumes 43 and 44, edited by Hermione Hobhouse, 1994.
Eastern'' and Cable LayingBrief description of ''Great Eastern''
*
First voyage of ''Great Eastern''
in ''The Engineer'', 16 September 1859.
Images of ''Great Eastern''
at the
English Heritage Archive The Historic England Archive is the public archive of Historic England, located in The Engine House on Fire Fly Avenue in Swindon, formerly part of the Swindon Works of the Great Western Railway. It is a public archive of architectural and arch ...

Maritimequest SS ''Great Eastern'' Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Eastern Victorian-era passenger ships of the United Kingdom Shipbuilding in London Steamships of the United Kingdom Steamships Sailing ships of the United Kingdom Six-masted ships Ships built in Millwall Ships designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel Cable ships of the United Kingdom 1858 ships Jules Verne Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships with box type boilers 1858 establishments in England Maritime incidents in September 1859 Maritime incidents in August 1862 Maritime incidents in May 1887