BRUNEL - the Great Eastern
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Also known as the "Leviathan" , Great Eastern was constructed and launched in 1858 for the Eastern Steam Navigation Co. to establish a steamship route from Great Britain to the Far East and Australia around the Cape of Good Hope. These routes were dominated by the "clippers". The Great Eastern was the world's largest steamship until the Oceania in 1899 exceeded its length and in 1906 the Lusitania entered service with greater displacement
The Great Eastern had
Commercially, for the Eastern Steam Navigation Co., the vessel was a flop - perhaps because it was a transportation solution in search of a problem. The market for such large ship passenger transportation was still under-developed. Establishing coaling stations on route to the Indian Ocean and Pacific was costly. For Great Eastern to compete with the clippers it needed to sufficient fuel to avoid re-coaling, cargo and many passengers.
Brunel estimated the project costs to be £500,000 and John Scott Russell's ship-building company submitted a low tender of £377,000. This was accepted by the Eastern Steam Navigation Co. The final cost however rose to £ 750,000.
Work began at Russell's Millwall shipyard early in 1854 with two thousand workers involved. The construction attracted much media popularity and sightseers came in their thousands. The yard become a "tourist" attraction which Eastern Steam Navigation and Russell himself exploited contrary to Brunel's recommendation.
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Brunel supervised the project and applied his diligent approach to the engineering programme but it became apparent that Scott Russell's financial management skills were poor - if not corrupt. Tension with Russell, who played to the media (to Brunel's detriment) and handling the problems of escalating costs, sapped Brunel's strength. His health suffered.
Great Eastern's size meant it could not be launched by the stern from a slip way. It would have run aground on the opposite bank of the Thames. So it was constructed parallel to the river - a method not used before.
The launch day was scheduled for November 11th, 1857. There was great publicity and 10,000 people bought tickets and attended the launch - against Brunel's advice.
Like a draw in a chest of drawers that becomes stuck, the Great Eastern moved a fraction and became jammed on is ramps. The pushing hydraulic rams were underpowered. Chains broke and workers were killed.
It was Brunel that the newspapers vilified for the launch fiasco not Russell.
Eastern Steam Navigation were financially embarrassed to incur the additional expenditure needed to try to launch Great Eastern again. Isambard brought in more hydraulic rams at his own personal cost and after several more attempts the vessel finally moved into the Thames in January at nearly double Russell's original estimate.
Great Eastern started its sea trials in August 1858. The project had exhausted Brunel. A heavy cigar smoker, his health had deteriorated and he suffered a stroke such that he could not stay onboard for the trials. He died in 1859.
Sailing off Hastings, Brunel's bulkhead design limited the damage of a major engine room explosion. Great Eastern was repaired and made its maiden voyage in June 1860 but Eastern Steam Navigation was approaching bankruptcy and could not finance the Great Eastern on the Australia run. A change to a transatlantic run was made but Great Eastern was not designed for this route which was served by smaller, faster ships.
The opening of the Suez Canal then dealt another blow cutting journey times to the Far East and Australia. Great Eastern was too big for the canal. Its subsequent history can be summarised as follows.
