The forerunner of all modern ocean liners, the SS Great Britain was the brainchild of legendary British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose vision was of a large liner capable of carrying all the coal it required to steam across the Atlantic to New York. Having designed the Great Western Railway from London's Paddington Station to Bristol (opened in 1838), Brunel saw an opportunity to extend the railway all the way to America via a steamship service. Based on Brunel's concept, the Great Western Steamship Company (GWSSC) had been established in 1836 and the company's first vessel, SS Great Western, launched in 1837. However, Brunel wanted an even bigger ship, and in 1839 began construction of the SS Great Britain at a specially-constructed dry dock in Bristol Harbour.
The SS Great Britain's hull was built from iron plates manufactured in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, measuring approximately 6 feet long and 2 feet wide, and overlapped on the horizontal edges in clinker fashion. The plates were thickest (2cm) near the keel, where the greatest strength was required, and thinnest (1cm) higher up on the hull. The riveted plates were fastened to 167 iron frames inside the hull, rising from the keel to the upper deck. In total, 1,040 tons of iron and around 370 tons of wood were used in the SS Great Britain's structure.
Brunel was assisted in the design and construction of the SS Great Britain by GWSSC engineer Thomas Guppy, who provided immediate supervision and management of Great Britain's construction, and also designed the 1,000 horsepower engine and the ship's lifeboats; the GWSSC's Managing Director, Captain Charles Claxton, who advised Brunel on the ship's sailing rig and helped him test various propeller designs; and William Patterson, the lead shipwright who designed the shape of the hull. The total cost to the Great Western Steamship Company of constructing SS Great Britain was £117,295.
On 19 July 1843, the SS Great Britain was launched by HRH Prince Albert, with thousands of enthusiastic Bristolians looking on. Whilst the wife of one of the directors of the GWSSC was to have christened the vessel, her bottle of wine missed the ship's bow as it floated out of the dock; thinking quickly, Prince Albert grabbed a nearby bottle of champagne, smashed it against the bow and declared the ship the SS Great Britain. When launched, SS Great Britain was the world's largest ship and, over the course of its career, she would sail over 1 million miles and call at more than 15 ports around the world.
As designed, SS Great Britain was divided into three classes of accommodation: first, second, and steerage. On some voyages the first class after-saloons were four times the cost of the passage in steerage. Accommodations in first or second class were small but comfortable and food was plentiful, including bottles of special Mumm champagne served to first class passengers. However, in steerage, passengers lived in cramped, densely-packed quarters and subsisted on a diet of salt pork, pease soup, porridge, and ship's biscuit.
After departing Liverpool on her fifth transatlantic voyage to New York on 22 September 1846, SS Great Britain ran aground in Dundrum Bay in Northern Ireland. The Captain blamed the error on an inaccurate chart, but fortunately nobody was injured and the passengers and crew were taken to shore on peasant carts. For the next 11 months, Great Britain was battered by the waves until Brunel and Captain Claxton intervened and engineered a solution that led to the ship being refloated on 27 August 1847.
In 1852, the Great Western Steamship Company sold SS Great Britain to Gibbs, Bright & Company for use in transporting emigrants from Britain to Australia, following the discovery of gold in Victoria state. A new, more efficient engine and second funnel were installed, as was a retractable propeller and new rudder. An extra upper deck increased capacity to 700 passengers. Between 1852 and 1875, SS Great Britain would circumnavigate the earth 32 times via Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, delivering emigrants to a new life in Australia. Today, hundreds of thousands of Australians are descended from emigrants who arrived aboard SS Great Britain.
With the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1853, the British government needed more ships to transport troops to the war zone. The SS Great Britain was chartered in 1854 and, in 10 months, carried over 44,000 British, French, and Turkish troops, mostly on short voyages from Malta to the Crimean Peninsula. On one trip alone, the ship carried 1,600 French soldiers, 30 officers, and 27 horses. Later, in 1857, SS Great Britain carried the 17th Lancers and 8th Royal Irish Hussars to Bombay to serve in the Sepoy War.
In 1882, the SS Great Britain was converted to a pure sailing ship, having its engine and funnels removed to provide even more cargo space, and with three tall masts and broad square sails replacing the original six masts. Using sail power reduced costs, and Great Britain could carry 2,640 tons of coal or wheat. Between 1882 and 1886, the ship carried British coal to San Francisco for use on California's railways, returning to the UK with cargoes of North American wheat and South American seabird guano (for fertiliser). These pre-Panama Canal voyages required SS Great Britain to traverse the wild and stormy seas around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. After being damaged in a gale near Cape Horn in 1886, SS Great Britain sought shelter in the Falkland Islands. The ship's owners determined that the cost to repair SS Great Britain was prohibitive and insurers sold her to the Falkland Islands Company for use as a floating wool and coal warehouse in Port Stanley's harbour, a role she served until, in 1937, she was moved to an isolated cove and scuttled.
In December 1939, the badly-damaged heavy cruiser HMS Exeter limped into the Falklands following the successful battle against the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate. To patch up their ship sufficiently to make the long cruise back to Britain for more extensive repairs, Exeter's crew cut iron plates from the then-derelict SS Great Britain and welded them over the holes in the cruiser's battle damaged hull.
A salvage effort financed by donations returned the badly-weathered SS Great Britain from the Falklands to Bristol in 1970. After being installed in the same dry dock in which she was constructed, the ship has been extensively restored to showcase her various roles, from transatlantic liner to emigrant ship to Crimean War transport. SS Great Britain is now more than 160 years old and is the most popular attraction in Bristol, attracting over 150,000 visitors every year.
Photos taken 23 September 2015, Bristol, UK
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| The entrance to the Great Western Dockyard, birthplace and current home of the SS Great Britain. After passing under the archway, visitors proceed into the large brown building, formerly the engine factory and today housing the ticket office and gift shop. |
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| The admission ticket, good for unlimited visits for one year from date of purchase, is a copy of the ticket given to passengers who travelled on the SS Great Britain in 1865. The panel at the right side depicts the ship during various stages of its life between 1843 and 1970. |
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A map of the Great Western Dockyard and a deck plan for the SS Great Britain.
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| The richly ornamented stern of SS Great Britain. |
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| SS Great Britain today resides in the same dry dock in which she was constructed between 1839 and 1843. |
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| Scenes from the Great Western Dockyard I: The recreated dockyard provides visitors with the feel of entering a working Victorian-era port. |
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| Scenes from the Great Western Dockyard II: storehouses piled high with crates and barrels of dry goods and produce make it appear that SS Great Britain is preparing to depart on a transatlantic voyage. |
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| The grey-coloured SS Great Britain Museum building in the background, with the entrance to the dry dock floor in the foreground. |
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| The SS Great Britain Museum takes visitors through time, tracing the history of the ship's construction and service life from 1970 back to 1845. Here, visitors read about Great Britain's first voyage as an emigrant ship to Australia in 1852. |
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| SS Great Britain's 'main yard', dating from 1857 and now displayed inside the museum. Built of small, curved wrought iron plates riveted together to form a cylinder, the main yard was slung from the ship's main mast (240 feet high) and carried the largest sail aboard, the 'main course'. The main yard is 100 feet long, weighs 7.5 tonnes, and was slung from the main mast 80 feet above the ship's deck. |
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| The SS Great Britain's lifting frame, two-bladed propeller, and large wooden rudder, on display inside the museum. Installed aboard SS Great Britain in 1857 by new owners Gibbs, Bright & Company, the technologically-advanced lifting frame allowed the crew to raise the propeller inside a shaft within the ship, thereby cutting down on resistance through the water when Great Britain was cruising under sail. Sailing was cheaper than using costly coal to power the engine, especially important during the ship's tenure transporting emigrants to Australia between 1852 and 1875. Visitors can turn a large crank wheel to raise the propeller up and down on the lifting frame. |
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| The brass whistle of SS Great Britain's larger cousin, the SS Great Eastern (1858), also designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Compared to the Great Britain, the Great Eastern had a short life as a passenger liner, cable-laying ship, music hall, and floating advertisement before being scrapped in 1889-1890. Now employing compressed air rather than high pressure steam, visitors to the museum can pull a rope attached to the whistle to hear Great Eastern's 'voice'. |
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| A large glass case containing a scale model of SS Great Britain as she appeared in 1845, with sails deployed from all six masts. The single funnel for the steam engine is seen amidships. |
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| Descending to the floor of the dry dock, visitors can inspect the SS Great Britain's iron hull up close and walk completely around the 322-foot long ship. Wooden cladding fixed to the upper hull plates in 1882 when SS Great Britain was converted to a sailing cargo vessel protected these plates from damage from the elements and small boats, which is why these plates are in better condition than those lower down. |
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| Close-up of the some of SS Great Britain's badly corroded iron hull plates. Notwithstanding the ship's current dry environment, more than 100 years of being immersed in salt water means that the iron hull plates still contain salts. These salts attract moisture in the air and so corrosion continues to this day. Additionally, when salt and iron atoms bond, certain chemical compounds form which accelerate corrosion even further. |
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| To slow the corrosion of the SS Great Britain's iron hull, the dry dock features an innovative, high-tech conservation measure. Here, the large dehumidifier removes moisture from the air in the dry dock by forcing it through a super-absorbent powder. The dried air is then blown over the hull via nozzles spaced along a large aluminium duct that runs around the hull. By drying the air in the dry dock to a relative humidity of 20% (the same as the Arizona desert), the dehumidifier is able to almost completely halt further corrosion of the hull plates. |
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| A view of the giant 'balanced rudder' and six-bladed propeller installed aboard SS Great Britain. These are replicas of the original rudder and propeller designed for the ship by her designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel's brilliant balanced rudder design made turning the rudder much easier for the crew, as the vertical post connecting the rudder to the steering mechanism on deck was mounted in such a way that the pressure of water was balanced on either side of the rudder. (Traditional rudders had been mounted at their forward end; modern day rudders use Brunel's concept.) |
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| The immensity of the propeller is seen here next to the standing visitor. This 15-foot 6-inch diameter propeller is a replica of the one used by SS Great Britain on her first transatlantic voyage in 1845. Weighing 3.9 tonnes, the propeller was capable of driving the ship at speeds up to 12 knots (22.2 kph; 13.8 mph). Brunel was so inspired by the experimental screw propeller employed by a small vessel that visited Bristol in 1840, that he scrapped his original plan to use paddle wheels to power SS Great Britain and convinced the Great Western Steamship Company to approve the use of a propeller instead. While the original six-bladed propeller was very efficient and is similar in design to modern propellers, it could not withstand the amount of energy being pushed through the blades, and the ship's owners subsequently replaced the six-bladed version with one that was less efficient but structurally stronger. |
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| A head-on view of SS Great Britain's bow. The dehumidified air duct and nozzles running the length of the hull can clearly be seen on the dock floor. The glass roof that protects the hull from the elements is also evident. Using a rubber seal along the hull, the top of the strong roof is flooded with a few inches of water to cleverly give the ship the appearance of floating. |
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| A view down the port side of SS Great Britain, as seen from the gangway leading from the museum building onto the ship's Weather Deck. |
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| The white line on the deck kept steerage passengers from mixing with wealthy first class passengers who enjoyed exclusive use of the after portion of the Weather Deck, reflecting the rigid class hierarchy of Victorian Britain. These two deckhouses contain staircases down to the the first class accommodations and common areas. |
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| The ship's wheel at the stern. Despite the innovative design and novel size of the SS Great Britain, her exposed steering position on the Weather Deck reflects a traditional layout. |
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| A view toward the bow from the ship's bridge, literally an elevated platform spanning the Weather Deck, from which lookouts could assist with navigating SS Great Britain on her lengthy oceanic voyages. |
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| Looking forward on the Weather Deck. Note the skylights which allow natural light into the first class saloon on the Promenade Deck below. A long deckhouse with extra accommodation space was built over the Weather Deck during the ship's conversion to an emigrant vessel in 1852, however. |
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| The stairs leading down from the Weather Deck to the Promenade Deck immediately below. |
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| Luggage piled high in the amidships passageway on the Promenade Deck. |
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| The forward Promenade Deck is recreated as it appeared when SS Great Britain served as an emigrant ship to Australia between 1852 and 1875. Row upon row of cramped, poorly-ventilated bunks show how uncomfortable was the 60-day passage to Australia for the working class emigrants who sought a new life Down Under. |
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The steerage class passengers' pantry, where rations and utensils were stored. Steerage passengers were divided into messes of eight people each, and one person from each mess served on a rotational basis as mess leader. The mess leader was responsible for fetching food from the pantry, taking it to the galley to be cooked, collecting and distributing the meal to his fellow messmates, and cleaning up afterward. Meals for steerage class passengers were a bland, meagre diet of pease soup, porridge, salt pork, and rock hard ship's biscuit.
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| A typical emigrant 'cabin' comprised four bunks, with an aisle a mere two feet across, such that only one person could dress at a time. |
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| A typical emigrant mess table, at which meals were taken. |
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| Looking up the port passageway on the forward Promenade Deck's emigrant accommodations. On a typical emigrant voyage to Australia, SS Great Britain required a crew of 120 to 140 men, comprising trained sailors and officers, blacksmiths, butchers, stewards, surgeons, sail-makers, engineers, stokers, cooks, bakers, and lamp-trimmers, working in 4-hour watches. On most voyages at least one crewman was seriously injured or lost overboard. |
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| One of the ship's storerooms for the large quantity of food carried aboard for the voyages from Liverpool to Melbourne, Australia. As the ship did not stop to replenish along the way, she carried all the supplies needed to make the 60 day voyage to the South Pacific. Different storerooms were dedicated to dry and tinned goods, vegetables, meat, and cheese, with an icehouse used to keep slaughtered meat fresh for the first few days out of port. |
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| The SS Great Britain's galley, where all meals were cooked. On a typical voyage, galley staff comprised ten cooks, two bakers, two butchers, and a storekeeper. |
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| The ship's bakery, featuring a large brick-lined iron oven, a work table for kneading dough, and racks for the freshly-baked loaves to cool on. |
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| The ship's butcher cuts into a porpoise caught en route to Australia. Hundreds of sheep, poultry, and pigs carried in pens on the Weather Deck provided fresh meat during the voyage, while first class passengers could enjoy milk with their tea from cows also kept on deck. |
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| SS Great Britain's engine room. A large skylight allows natural light to illuminate this space. The four-cylinder engine produced 1,000 horsepower and was the world's largest marine powerplant in 1843. As steam engine technology advanced through the 1840s, SS Great Britain's owners replaced this engine in 1852 with a smaller, more efficient engine which served the ship until 1876, when Great Britain was converted to use sail power exclusively. |
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| The large central wheel on the engine's crankshaft transmitted power to a smaller wheel on the propeller shaft via a set of chains. |
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| Down in the stokehold, two stokers swelter in the stifling heat while shovelling coal into the boilers. Stokers had the most uncomfortable job on the ship, working four-hour shifts to keep the fires burning at the constant, intense heat required to produce sufficient steam to power the engine. Often, a stoker could shovel a ton of coal in one shift in the boiler room. |
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| The Captain's berth, located amidships on the Promenade Deck. |
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| The Captain's cabin contained all the charts and instruments required to navigate the ship. It was located next to his berth so that he could respond quickly to any emergencies. Here, Captain Matthews argues with his First Mate. |
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| A Royal Marine officer takes passage on SS Great Britain for the voyage to the Black Sea during the Crimean War in 1854. |
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| A private room for women only, located just off the forward end of the Promenade Saloon. |
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| The Promenade Saloon, where first class passengers could walk, dance, and socialise. Skylights on the Weather Deck above allowed natural light to flood the Promenade Saloon, while further skylights on the edge of the Promenade Saloon's deck allowed much of this light to reach the Dining Saloon below. At the aft end of the Promenade Saloon is a large curved window that traverses the ship's stern, allowing passengers to watch the ship's wake while keeping dry and warm. The doors on either side of the Promenade Saloon lead to first class cabins. |
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| A typical first class cabin, containing two bunks, a washbasin, and a candle lamp. Given the danger of fire at sea, the ship's officers enforced a strict curfew of lights out by 10pm. |
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| The ship's surgeon had an office off the Promenade Saloon to treat passengers and crew who were injured or fell ill. |
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| A family in a larger, four-berth first class cabin on the port side enjoys the light and ventilation provided by a port hole. |
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| A cabin on the starboard side, containing four berths crammed with luggage and a washbasin. |
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| The Dining Saloon on the Saloon Deck. This lavishly-appointed room was used by first class passengers for meals, socialising, and entertainment. Given the lengthy voyages, passengers aboard SS Great Britain spent much time eating and drinking. And as the ship carried no professional entertainers, passengers were responsible for their own amusement, which could include amateur theatrical performances, concerts, charades, magic shows, mock trials, and raffles. Bible readings, Sunday school lessons, volunteer militia drill, and language lessons were also held in the Dining Saloon. The portraits of famous navigators in history are displayed over each of the cabin doors lining both sides of the Dining Saloon. |
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| The forward hold is recreated to look as it appeared during the Crimean War service that SS Great Britain undertook in 1854. Here, a British cavalryman cares for horses being transported to the war zone. |
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| SS Great Britain's bow towers over the dock and the 'glass sea' enclosing the dry dock. |
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| The SS Great Britain at home in her dry dock. |
SS Great Britain - Specifications:
Displacement: 3,674 tons
Length: 98 metres (322 feet)
Beam: 15.39 metres (50 feet 6 inches)
Draught: 4.88 metres (16 feet 4 inches)
Propulsion: Single screw propeller; five schooner-rigged masts and one square-rigged mast (original sail configuration)
Speed: 10-11 knots (19-20 km/h)
Complement: 130 officers and crew, 360 passengers (later increased to 730), and 1,200 tons of cargo
