| Part 3 – The Great Eastern | |
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Besides the role it played in laying the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable, the Great Eastern was also an important ship in its own right. Its original name `Leviathan’ aptly described its size at a time when a ship of 1000 tonnes was considered large the Great Eastern at 22,374 tonnes was truly monstrous. It was to remain the largest ship in the world until the arrival of the Lusitania 48 years later. It was also steam powered when the vast majority of the world’s merchant fleet still relied on sail power. The Great Eastern was a demonstration of Britain’s domination of the waves and industrial pre-eminence. But the Great Eastern was plagued by misfortune and ended its short life, rather ignobly, as a floating amusement park.
The ship was the product of the brilliant Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for his work on the railways. As early as 1844 Railway Mania had jaded even Brunel’s enthusiasm and he yearned to turn his mind to a different project. Writing to a friend he complained
`Here the whole world is railway mad. I am really sick of hearing proposals made. I wish it were at an end …. it would suit my interests and those of my clients perfectly if all railways were stopped for years to come.’
By the time he turned his mind to this giant project at the age of 45 he had already built five suspension bridges, 125 other railway bridges, hundreds of miles of railway, tunnels, dry docks and piers and the steamship Great Western, which was, in 1838, the largest vessel afloat.
Brunel first suggested the idea of building a giant steam-powered ship to the Eastern Steam Navigation Company. The important and profitable Far East and Australia route was dominated by the fast clipper ships which sailed via the Cape of Good Hope.
Their supremacy was assured as no steamship could carry sufficient coal on board to complete the voyage without spending valuable time in port recoaling. But a ship the size Brunel was proposing would be able to carry enough coal for the entire voyage and up to 4,000 passengers in luxury. And it would outrun the clippers.
This was no small undertaking – Brunel’s estimate of the cost was £500,000 – but the Eastern Steam Navigation Company decided it was a risk worth taking. The job was put out to tender and the company accepted John Scott Russell’s suspiciously low tender of £377,000 believing it had struck a bargain. In fact it was to prove the undoing of the company. Nevertheless, work began at Scott Russell’s yard at Millwall in February 1854. News of the ambitious project filled the newspapers and crowds of sightseers converged on the shipyard to watch the largest ship in the world being built. The British public dubbed the new ship `The Great Eastern’.
Construction
Building began in February 1854 at John Scott Russell’s shipyard at Millwall, on the Isle of Dogs. Two thousand workers were engaged on the project. The sheer size of the undertaking generated valuable publicity and the shipyard attracted sightseers in their thousands. Songs and dances were written to commemorate the building of the ship; stalls selling refreshments and souvenirs sprang up around the yard and newspaper reporters were never far away.
Brunel took a keen interest in what was to be his last great project. He meticulously checked drawings and plans, always on the lookout for ways to make improvements and avoid waste. When it came to money Scott Russell was nothing short of incompetent. Brunel supervised to make sure corners were not cut in a vain effort to reduce the escalating costs. This investment of time and energy was to take its toll on his health which quickly deteriorated.
There was no dry dock large enough in which to build a vessel the size of the Great Eastern so it was built on the shore of the Thames, parallel to the river. It would not have been possible to launch the ship in the normal way as the stern would have run aground. A sideways launch would avoid this problem but it was a method that had not been used before.
The launch date was set for November 11th, 1857 and a crowd of 10,000 assembled to witness the event. But the ship resolutely declined to move so much as one millimetre. There were further embarrassingly futile attempts which provided the Press with an excuse to destroy Brunel’s reputation. It was not until the end of January of the following year that the huge vessel was persuaded to enter the water, and then only with the aid of massive hydraulic rams. The cost so far was £732,000, almost twice Scott Russell’s original estimate, and the project had swallowed up much of Brunel’s personal fortune.
Into Service
After fitting out, the Great Eastern was ready to begin sea trials in August 1858. Brunel visited the ship just before it sailed but suffered a stroke and was, fortunately as it turned out, unable to stay aboard for the trials. When the ship was just off Hastings a massive explosion occurred ripping through the paddle engine room and the grand saloon. Brunel’s innovative construction methods – dividing the ship up into compartments with watertight bulkheads – restricted the extent of the damage.
After repairs, the ship finally made its maiden voyage in June 1860. By this time the company was on the verge of bankruptcy and could no longer afford to use the Great Eastern on the Australia run. Instead it was decided to trial the ship on the transatlantic run. But the Great Eastern was quite unsuitable for this route – it was too slow to be able to compete with the smaller, faster vessels which dominated the Atlantic.
Meanwhile the construction of the Suez Canal was about to deal the Great Eastern another serious blow. The Canal promised to cut the journey time to the Far East and Australia drastically. However, it could not accommodate a ship the size of the Great Eastern. It was a ship without a use.
In the early 1860s the Great Eastern made a futile attempt to compete on the transatlantic run. In 1861, after leaving Liverpool for New York the ship was caught in a severe storm which left it helpless for three days and nights. Seven days later it limped back to Cork where it became clear that Brunel’s superb design had saved the Great Eastern from a storm which would have sunk any other vessel. Two years later a rock tore an eighty-five foot hole in its hull, but the ship remained afloat due to its inner steel skin. Two expensive repairs and the subsequent loss of earnings convinced the owners to give up the transatlantic run in 1864 and lay the ship up. The following year the company was declared bankrupt.
But fate, which had so often dealt the Great Eastern cruel blows, now came to its aid. The ship was chartered for yet another attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable. The luxury passenger accommodation was ripped out and three huge cable holds constructed. Cunard seconded its most experienced captain, James Anderson, to command the Great Eastern – an indication of the significance of the venture.
After two years’ of laying cables the Great Eastern was refitted and chartered by the French Government to carry the anticipated large number of visitors to the Paris Exposition of 1867. Of the 4000 berths available only 191 were filled with paying passengers.
The ship was laid up again until 1869 when it returned to cable laying duties which it continued to do until 1872 when a purpose-built cable-laying ship was brought into service. The Great Eastern spent the next twelve years laid up at Milford Haven.
In 1885 the ship was leased for a year by a Mr Lewis, a draper of Liverpool. The Great Eastern steamed to Liverpool where it was moored and opened to the public as a floating amusement park,complete with restaurants, funfair and music hall. The ship was sold for scrap in 1888. The Great Eastern was to have the last laugh, though. The firm which had acquired the ship at a knock-down price foresaw no problems. The task of breaking up the largest ship in the world went on 24 hours a day for two years, consuming a total of 3.5 million man-hours.
Extension Activities
This is one of the few photographs of Isambard Kingdom Brunel that exist. He is seen standing in front of a ship’s anchor chain.
The Building of the Great Eastern
This photograph was taken when the Great Eastern was being built at Millwall on the Isle of Dogs.
Powering the Great Eastern
The Great Eastern had a huge propeller to push it through the water. You cannot see it because it is under the water.
Souvenirs
The Great Eastern was the wonder of the age. Thousands of people paid to watch it being built and launched. Many would have bought souvenirs like this one.
Design something to celebrate the launching of the Great Eastern. Do not make your object too expensive as you want as many people as possible to buy one. It could be a cup and saucer, a stamp, a spoon or a biscuit tin. You will need to use some text in your design. You could include the name of the boat, where and when it was built, who built it and who designed it.
The Crew
This is a list of the crew of the Great Eastern when it laid the second telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866.
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TRANSCRIPT Great Eastern Electric Cable Voyage 1866 Sea Equipment List Sailing Department (All amounts are converted to new money) |
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| No | Job | Per month £ | total per month £ | wine money per day |
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| 1 | Chief Officer | 25.00 | 25.00 | 10p | |
| 2 | Second Officer | 15.00 | 30.00 | 8p | |
| 3 | Third Officer | 10.00 | 30.00 | 8p | |
| 2 | Fourth Officer | 6.00 | 12.00 | 5p | |
| 1 | Surgeon | 165.00 (for the Voyage) | |||
| 1 | Surgeon’s Assistant | 50.00 (for the Voyage) | |||
| 1 | Purser | 10.00 | 10.00 | 8p | |
| 1 | Boatswain | 8.00 | 8.00 | ||
| 1 | Boatswain | 7.75 | 7.75 | ||
| 2 | Boatswains’ Mates | 5.00 | 10.00 | ||
| 1 | Captain of Forecastle | 5.00 | 5.00 | ||
| 1 | Joiner | 7.75 | 7.75 | ||
| 1 | Carpenter | 7.75 | 7.75 | ||
| 2 | Carpenters’ Mates | 6.75 | 6.75 | ||
| 1 | Plumber | 7.75 | 7.75 | ||
| 1 | Diver | 8.00 | 8.00 | ||
| 1 | Boatswain’s Yeoman (??) | 5.00 | 5.00 | ||
| 1 | Lamp Trimmer | 5.25 | 5.25 | ||
| 4 | Leading Quartermasters | 5.00 | 20.00 | ||
| 3 | Quartermasters | 4.75 | 14.25 | ||
| 10 | Quartermasters | 4.50 | 45.00 | ||
| 1 | Painter | 6.75 | 6.75 | ||
| 1 | Yeoman of Water Closets | 4.50 | 4.50 | ||
| 1 | Sick Bay Man | 4.50 | 4.50 | ||
| 103 | Able Seamen | 4.00 | 412.00 | ||
| 2 | Able Seamen | 4.50 | 9.00 | ||
| 8 | Ordinary Seamen | 2.50 | 20.00 | ||
| 1 | Ship’s Cook | 5.00 | 5.00 | ||
| 1 | Fidler | 4.00 | 4.00 | ||
| 4 | Boys | 2.00 | 8.00 | ||
| 163 | £ 745.75 | ||||
Feeding the crew
The crew must eat well if they are to work well. Plan their menu for a week on board the Great Eastern.
Remember that it is 1865. You will need to think very carefully what foods could be kept on board the ship. The ship has no refrigerators so there will be no way to store fresh food. Tinned and dried food is available and bread can be baked on board. Drinking water is limited.
Find out more about how food was preserved in Victorian times.
Sir James Anderson
Captain of the Great Eastern on its 1866 cable-laying voyage
Read these notes on Sir James Anderson. He was the captain of the Great Eastern on the 1865 and 1866 transatlantic cable-laying voyages.
James Anderson was born in 1824 at Dumfries in Scotland. He became very interested in boats and the sea when he was a boy. He longed to become a sailor but his parents did not share his enthusiasm. Instead they sent him to work for the local newspaper, the Dumfries Herald, as a printer. His job was to remove the printed sheets from the printing press. It was boring work but it allowed him to retell the stories he had read to his fellow workers. James’ urge to go to sea finally won and he joined the merchant navy when he was 16. When he was a second mate his captain said that he did not swear, there wasn’t a bit of bully in him and, young though he was, he had the manner and voice that made other men jump to his orders. He was quickly promoted. In 1851 he joined the Cunard Company and commanded some of their best ships. His ambition was to command a ship on the Atlantic mail service. He was perhaps the most respected and experienced commander within Cunard. The company released him to command the Great Eastern in 1866 for the Atlantic cable-laying voyage. They thought he was their best captain. For the part he played in laying the Atlantic telegraph cable he was knighted and was known as Sir James Anderson. He died in London in 1893.
Sir James Anderson has just died.
Imagine that you work for the Dumfries Herald. The Editor has asked you to write a short article about his life for the newspaper.
Try to make your article interesting. You can include some pictures as well if you want.
A New Life for the Great Eastern
The company which owns the Great Eastern is bankrupt.
It cannot make a profit carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean.
Can you suggest some other uses for the Great Eastern? The ship will need to do something which earns enough money to pay those who work on it and keep the ship in good condition.
Choose one of your ideas. Write a short account of how you think the ship should be used, giving the reasons for your choice. You may also need to include some drawings.
Make Your Own Activity
Look at the photograph of the Great Eastern. Write some questions for someone else to answer. Try to make your questions interesting but make sure you can answer them. Give your questions to a friend.
Talk about the answers your friend gave.
A Children’s Book
This is a page from a children’s book, written in about 1858, to celebrate the building of the Great Eastern.
On this page the printer has left out the words by mistake.
Write your own words to describe the picture.
Other Sources of Information
Books for Teachers
Books for Children
The following all contain references to the Great Eastern, electric telegraphy or the laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable.
Places to Visit
Glossary
Transatlantic: crossing the AtlanticResource Sheet
Resource Sheet
The wrecks dissolve above us; their dust drops down from afar –
Down to the dark, to the utter dark, where the blind white sea-snakes are.
There is no sound, no echo of sound, in the deserts of the deep,
Or the great grey level plains of ooze where the shell-buried cables creep.
Here in the womb of the world – here on the tie-ribs of earth
Words, and the words of men, flicker and flutter and beat –
Warning, sorrow, and gain, salutation and mirth –
For a Power troubles the Still that has neither voice nor feet.
They have wakened the timeless Things; they have killed their father Time ;
Joining hands in the gloom, a league from the last of the sun.
Hush! Men talk today o’er the waste of the ultimate slime,
And a new word runs between: whispering, `Let us be one!’
