Great Eastern

1859

(Mercator 400)

Type: Passenger
Displacement: 18,915 tons
Dimensions: 689 x 83 x 30 ft
Machinery: One oscillating steam engine of 3,400 ihp for the 56-foot paddles; one horizontal direct-acting engine of 4,000 ihp for the 24-foot single screw = 13.5 knots
Sail area: 54,900 sq ft
Passengers: 2,996 (596 cabin class, 2,400 steerage)

Builder: J. Scott Russell & Company, Millwall, London, England, 1858

Service: Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a ship capable of travel to Australia without stopping for coal - at a time before the Suez Canal. Laid down 1 May 1854 as the Leviathan for the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. Abortive launching attempt 3 Nov 1857, but the ship moved only a few yards before getting stuck. Finally launched 31 Jan 1858 on an extremely high tide. The long building time financially ruined the owners, so she was sold to the Great Ship Company and renamed Great Eastern to be fitted out for the North Atlantic. During trials on 7 Sep 1859 she suffered a boiler explosion that killed six. Additional problems during trials in heavy weather led to temporary layup at Southampton. Maiden voyage Southampton-New York 17 Jun 1860. Continued in service to 1863, but she was not popular with passengers, tending to roll very heavily, and damaging her paddles on multiple occasions.
The Great Ship Co was liquidated in Dec 1863 and the ship taken over by the Great Eastern Steamship Co in Feb 1864. In Jul she was towed to Sheerness to be fitted out as a cable layer, during which her fourth funnel and associated boiler were removed. Chartered to the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co, she departed the Medway 4 Jun 1865 on her first cable laying between Valentia and Newfoundland, but the cable snapped after 1,000 miles and the attempt was abandoned. Next year, from 13-26 Jul 1866, a cable was laid successfully -- the first usable Transatlantic cable, since the first one laid in 1858 had failed after only a few weeks.
In 1867 she returned to service as a passenger ship between New York and Brest on the occasion of the Paris World Exhibition. In 1869 she laid undersea cables from France to the USA and from Aden to Bombay. Thereafter she was laid up for seven years in Milford Haven. In 1886 she was chartered for use as a floating exhibition in Liverpool, Dublin, and Greenock. Sold for breaking up 1887, which was not completed until 1891.
Well ahead of her time, the Great Eastern was at least five times larger than the next largest ship then afloat, and would not be exceeded in length until the Oceanic of 1899.