IN THE 1860’S, the ‘Great Eastern’ was the only ship large enough to carry the single length of cable needed to span the Atlantic. She began life in 1858 as the Leviathan, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. She was used as a passenger ship on the Australia and Far East route and her name was changed to Great Eastern. However, this route was not a financial success and by 1864 she was in dock.
On the 4th April 1864, the cable manufacturers Glass Elliot of Greenwich came to an arrangement with the Great Eastern Steamship Company and her new life as a cableship began. She laid the successful Atlantic cable of 1866 with James Anderson as her captain. In 1872 the Great Eastern was docked in Liverpool. She rusted away until she was scrapped in 1888.
