Great Eastern
1859
(Classic Ship Collection CSC-026VR)
- Type: Passenger
- Displacement: 18,915 tons
- Dimensions: 689 x 82 ft.
- Machinery: Oscillating steam engines, paddlewheels = 13.5 knots
- Passengers: 2,996 (596 cabin class, 2,400 steerage)
- Builder: J. Scott Russell & Company, Millwall, London, England
- Service: Laid down as the Leviathan, but sailed as the Great Eastern for the Great Steamship Company. In transatlantic service, 1860-63. Well ahead of her time, she was at least five times larger than the next largest ship then afloat. Largely unsuccessful, she spent long periods laid up. Used as a cable-laying ship (including the first successful Atlantic Cable), 1865-69 and later as an industrial-exhibition ship. Broken up, 1889-91.
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