History


       
RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE                                                                                                                                                                                                                  S.S. GREAT WESTERN 1837



The steamship Great Western was a remarkable and exceptionally historic transatlantic steamship. This ship was the first purpose built transatlantic steamship and first ocean liner. This ship pioneered the transatlantic crossing for steamships and in many ways is the first ocean liner.  This website celebrates the history of this pioneering ship and honours its unique place in maritime history in the birth of the transatlantic crossing. In doing so she paved the way for Brunel's second great ship which was the S.S. Great Britain. This was the first iron hulled, propellor driven, steam powered ocean liner and indeed is the forerunner of all modern ships. 

Designed by the famous railway engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Western was his first ship. Brunel had a vision of extending his Great Western Railway (London to Bristol) to New York via a passenger steamship service. He saw that steamships would eventually replace the transatlantic sailing packets that had been running their scheduled service since 1818 when the James Monroe inaugurated the service with Black Ball Line. As a result the Great Western Steamship Company was created to own and operate the Great Western as an extension to Brunel's Great Western Railway.

The Great Western was an iron-strapped, wooden, side-wheel paddle steamer (with four masts to hoist the auxiliary sails). The hull was built of oak by traditional methods. It was the largest steamship of its time, measuring 236 ft (71.93 m) in length, and designed to carry 148 passengers. It included a big passenger saloon (75 feet long by 34 feet (10 m) at its widest). The sails were not just intended to provide auxiliary propulsion, but 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 Great Western was built at the shipyard of Patterson & Mercer in Bristol. She was launched on the 19th July 1837.

She then sailed round to the River Thames, where she was fitted with two side-lever steam engines from the firm of Maudslay, Sons & Field, producing 750 i.h.p. (indicated horsepower) between them. On the 31st March 1838, the engines were in place and the Great Western set off for Bristol, from where the maiden voyage to New York was to begin. However, a fire broke out in the engine room. During the confusion Brunel fell 20 feet (6.1 m), and was badly injured. The fire was extinguished, and the damages to the ship were minimal, but Brunel had to be put ashore at Canvey Island. As a result of the accident, more than 50 passengers cancelled their bookings for the Bristol to New York voyage and when the Great Western finally set off from Bristol on the 8th April 1837, it was with only 7 passengers aboard. The Great Western finally set off from Bristol on the 8th April 1837 on her maiden voyage bound for New York. The Great Western arrived in New York on the 23rd April 1838 setting the record for the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing and beating the Sirius.

The rival British and American Steam Navigation Company expected to open the first steam-powered regularly-scheduled "packet" transatlantic service with their S.S. British Queen
. However this ship was still under construction in the shipyard. Therefore they quickly chartered the Sirius. The Sirius, which was an Irish Sea steam packet travelling between London and Cork. The Sirius had a displacement of 700 tons and was 178 feet (54 m) long with a breadth of 26 feet (7.9 m), considerably less than the Great Western. Part of the passenger accommodation was removed to make room for extra coal bunkers. The Sirius set off from the River Thames on the 28th March 1838 heading for Cork, where she replenished her coal bunkers and left for New York on the 4th April with 97 passengers. Though the Sirius narrowly beat the Great Western to New York, arriving on the 22nd April, they had to burn the cabin furniture, spare yards and one mast to do it, inspiring the similar sequence in Jules Verne's "Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). The Great Western meanwhile arrived the following day, with 200 tons of coal still aboard, and after only 15 days at sea. Great Western was subsequently awarded the Blue Riband for setting the record for fastest transatlantic crossing at 8.66 knots (16.04 km/h), beating Sirius which clocked in at 8.03 knots (14.87 km/h).

Between 1839 and 1840 she was rebuilt to accommodate more passengers this therefore altered her size to 251.97 ft long and 1,700 tons (GRT) from her previous 234.91 ft long and 1,340 tons (GRT) as built.

The Great Western served on the transatlantic run until 1846, completing 45 crossings in eight years. In 1847 she was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and used on the Southampton to the West Indies service. Later, after serving as a troopship in the Crimean War, she was broken up at Castles' Yard, Millbank on the River Thames in 1856.













(c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2008                                                                                                                                                                                 A Edward Elliott