SS Great Western
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The steamship SS Great Western, launched in 1837 and named for the Great Western Railway Company, was the first steamship purposely built for the Atlantic crossing. It was an iron-strapped wooden side-wheel paddle steamer (with 4 masts to hoist the auxiliary sails), designed by the great railway 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.
Brunel tried to convince the directors of the Great Western Railway to build such a ship, but failed. However, he did manage to convince a number of Bristol merchants, who formed the Great Western Steamship Company. The principle that Brunel understood, which many ship owners did not, 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.[1]
The Great Western was built at the shipyard of Patterson & Mercer in Bristol, and was launched on 19th July 1837. 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. The Great Western displaced 2,340 tons and had a crew of 60. The hull was built of oak by traditional methods. It was the largest steamship of its time, measuring 72 metres (236 feet) in length and 18.2 metres (59.8 feet) width across the paddle boxes. The Great Western was launched at Bristol on July 19, 1837 and was sailed round to the Thames, where she was fitted with two side-lever steam engines from the firm of Maudslay, Sons & Field, producing 750 i.h.p. between them. 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.
Twenty-four first-class passengers paid 35 guineas each for the maiden trans-Atlantic trip (more than many working class people then earned in a year). 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 Cork, Ireland days earlier, on April 4. The Great Western left Bristol, England, on April 8, 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 already been launched and was being fitted out with its machinery in London, was going to beat them to it. So they chartered 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 long with a breadth of 26 feet, considerably less than the Great Western. Part of the passenger accommodation was removed to make room for extra coal bunkers.[1]
The Sirius set off from the Thames on 28 March 1838 heading for Cork, where she replenished her coal bunkers and left for New York on April 4 with 40 passengers. The Great Western set off from the Thames on 31 March, but a fire broke out in the engine room. During the confusion Brunel fell 20 feet, and was badly injured. The fire was extinguished, but Brunel had to be put ashore at Canvey Island. This mishap put the Great Western four days behind the Sirius in the race, as she called in at Bristol and did not leave until April 8.[1]
Though the Sirius narrowly 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, inspiring the similar sequence in Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). The Great Western 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 trans-Atlantic travel speed at 8.66 knots, beating Sirius which clocked in at 8.03 knots.
The Great Western served on the trans-Atlantic run until 1846, completing 67 crossings in eight years. In 1847 she was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and used on The West Indies run. Later, after serving as a troopship in the Crimean War, she was broken up at Castles' Yard, Millbank on the Thames in 1856.
The Great Western demonstrated that ships could not use steam engines and sails at the same time, because hot cinders from its smokestacks would set the sails on fire. It also cut the Atlantic transit time in half, regularly making the westward passage typically in 15 days, and the return in 14 days.
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| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Royal William | World's largest passenger ship 1838 – 1839 | Succeeded by British Queen |
| Preceded by Sirius | Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound) 1838 – 1841 | Succeeded by Columbia |
| Holder of the Blue Riband (Eastbound) 1838 – 1840 | Succeeded by Britannia | |
| Preceded by Britannia | Holder of the Blue Riband (Eastbound) 1842 – 1843 | Succeeded by Columbia |
| Preceded by Columbia | Holder of the Blue Riband (Westbound) 1843 – 1845 | Succeeded by Cambria |
el:Γκρέητ Γουέστερν fr:Great Western hr:SS Great Western nl:SS Great Western ja:グレート・ウェスタン (蒸気船) sh:SS Great Western
