Isambard Kingdom Brunel,s Great Ships

The s.s. Great Eastern

On 31 January saw the 'sideways launching of Brunel's last ship, the Great Eastern.The ship had a displacement of 32,513 tonnes, being the first ship to be built with a double iron hull and driven with both paddles and a screw propellor.

Beset by problems from the outset, the ship was damaged by an explosion on the day the Brunel died. By this time Brunel, whose health had finally broken from the work and worry of his many enterprises, died on the 15 September 1859 having heard of the explosion.

Despite the damage, the Great Estern was used successfully as a troop ship. It's greatest moment, however, was when under the supervision of the great physicist Lord Kelvin, it lay the first successful transatlantic cable.
Great Britain
Great Western