Brunel's Three Ships

BRUNEL’S THREE SHIPS BERNARD DUMPLETON

AND

MURIEL MILLER

ISBN 1-84150-800-4/Electronic ISBN 1-84150-858-6 COPYRIGHT NOTICE BERNARD DUMPLETON A N D MURIEL MILLER All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission.

Set 12 on 13 point IntertypeBaskerville Printed and bound by Antony Rowe Ltd., Eastbourne

LIST OF CONTENTS Chapter INTRODUCTION PROLOGUE - ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL

BOOK ONE - THE GREAT WESTERN 1 2 3

BIRTH OF AN IDEA ‘SHE MOVES’ DESTINATION NEW YORK

BOOK TWO - THE GREAT BRITAIN 1 2 3 4

INNOVATIONS MAJESTY AND MISHAPS THE ISLAND THAT GOT IN THE WAY THE HALCYON DAYS

BOOK THREE - THE GREAT EASTERN 1 2 3

Page 9 11

26 27 34 41

52 53 62 75 84

93

A LEVIATHAN ON THE THAMES A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS CABLES, CARNIVALS - AND COMMINUTION

94 114 130

EPILOGUE - ONE CAME HOME DIMENSIONS AND TECHNICAL DETAILS OF THE THREE SHIPS BIBLIOGRAPHY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS INDEX

149 162 163 164 165

BRUNEL’S THREE SHIPS BERNARD DUMPLETON

AND

MURIEL MILLER

Few men have rightly earned the title of genius, but one must surely be Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In his short lifetime he pioneered the railways, built bridges, tunnels and termini. He also built three ships – the Great Western, Great Britain and Great Eastern – and each one contributed more to the development of maritime engineering than any other vessel built, either before or since. With Brunel's enthusiasm for new ideas naval technology did not merely progress, it leapt forward with great strides. He poured innovation upon innovation into each design and defied and disproved accepted theories of the day. Each ship was a triumph of engineering, yet each one brought its share of frustration and tragedy to its creator, and the disappointments coupled with overwork associated with the building of the Great Eastern contributed to his death at the age of 53. This book tells the story of Brunel and his three ships, from the time that the Great Western developed from a dream to a reality until the present day as the story continues. In 1970 the Great Britain, the only one of the three still surviving, was rescued from a windswept cove in the Falkland Islands and brought home to Britain. She was restored in Bristol, in the same dock in which she was built, and she now looks exactly as she did in 1843.There she will stay, a proud example of British engineering in the nineteenth century and a fitting memorial to her brilliant designer. Authors BERNARD DUMPLETON is a technical journalist whose first book, "The Story of the Paddle Steamer", was published by Colin Venton in 1973. Part of that story mentioned Brunel's ships, Great Western and Great Eastern; this book tells their story more fully and includes the famous Great Britain. MURIEL MILLER was born in North Wales. She writes features and articles for a number of magazines, including a leading shipping journal. Her interest in ships stems from the fact that she is the granddaughter of a Clipper Master. Her other great interest is Victorian crime.

ISBN 1-84150-800-4

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