The SS Great Western - Brunel's Atlantic Steamship

The SS Great Western was the first of Brunel's three great ships. Built in 1838 by the master engineer, the Great Western led a short but productive life on the Atlantic routes, first as a passenger ship and then a mail carrier. Eclipsed in the public eye by his later ships, the Great Britain and the Great Eastern, the Great Western was Brunel's most conventional vessel. She sailed until 1856 when she was decommissioned and scrapped.

The Great Western was Isambard Kingdom Brunel's first ship, built in 1838. That the name is so similar to his famous railway is no co-incidence.

Speed to the West, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Wales GWR
Buy This Allposters.com

The story goes that Brunel revealed his plans for the London to Bristol railway, which would then have been one of the longest stretches in the country, to general disbelief. Brunel retorted "Why not make it longer, and have a steamboat go from Bristol to New York and call it the Great Western?". There was uneasy laughter, but Brunel was not joking. In due course he created the Great Western Steamship company and built the SS Great Western.

As his first ship, the Great Western was the most conventional. With a wooden hull reinforced with iron, and driven by two paddle wheels, Brunel pushed the standard ship design to the limit. She even had masts to hold auxilary sails for extra speed - and to save fuel on long voyages. He also made her the largest ship then afloat, believing correctly that larger ships were more fuel-efficient.

One of the few ships to sail before completion, she was built with the sails first and then in 1837 sailed to the engineers who fitted the paddles and completed Brunel's design. Taking to the water, her hull painted in black, relieved by the gilt and white decoration that stood out in stark contrast, she was a magnificent sight.

Highly successful in service she was capable of great speeds and record-breaking voyages. Profitable in almost every year of her operation, her design was widely copied; For example in the 1840's Cunard liner Britannia.

The Great Western at Dock in New York - Figuier
Buy This Allposters.com

he SS Great Western did forty-five Atlantic round trips. The term Blue Riband was not widely used until 1910, long after she had been decommissioned, but she was regularly one of the fastest ships to make the crossing. On her maiden voyage she averaged 8.66 knots, and was only beaten to New York by the Sirius (a rival liner) because the Sirius had a four day head start and on the route burned all their fuel, their furniture, fittings and even a mast! The Great Western arrived in port only one day after their rivals, fixtures and fittings intact.

The Great Western was so popular, and profitable, that the owners requested a sister ship for her. However Brunel had moved on in his ideas for ship design - and in fact had begun designing her replacement before the Great Western had completed her second voyage. Abandoning conventional designs his next ship would be the revolutionary SS Great Britain - the first all-iron propellor-driven ocean liner. Her brand new design meant that the SS Great Britain would not enter service until 1845, and in 1846 her owners went bankrupt.

SS 'Great Western' in a Heavy Gale, North Atlantic, 1846
Buy This Allposters.com

Both ships were sold. The SS Great Western became a mail carrier to the West Indies, bought by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. For the next ten years it continued to give exemplary service.

Chartered by the Admiralty in 1856 to do two runs of men and resources to the Crimean War and the Black Sea, her speed and reliability served well in the new role as a troop ship, but this would be the SS Great Western's last hurrah.

Built of wood and not iron, the strains created by her great size meant that her working life was short. A prototype from the outset, she was one of Brunel's projects not destined to outlive the engineer. The SS Great Western was decommissioned in 1856 and broken up in 1857. In her eighteen years afloat, and three different roles, she had been successful in every one.

Brunel visited her while she was awaiting decomissioning in the docks at Vauxhall. History does not record his thoughts, but by then the SS Great Britain was successfully plying the waves, and his final and greatest ship, the SS Great Eastern was already taking shape.

The Great Eastern 1858 by spfino
Browse other Ship Posters