CHAPTER XIII.

_STEAM NAVIGATION--THE ‘GREAT EASTERN’ STEAM-SHIP._

_COMPLETION AND SUBSEQUENT HISTORY._

A.D. 1858-1859: ÆTATIS 52-54.

A.D. 1859-1870.

PREPARATIONS FOR COMPLETING THE SHIP--FORMATION OF THE GREAT SHIP COMPANY--MR. BRUNEL’S ABSENCE FROM ENGLAND--PROGRESS OF THE WORKS FROM HIS RETURN TO HIS LAST ILLNESS--VOYAGE TO WEYMOUTH--EXPLOSION OF WATER-HEATER--STORM AT HOLYHEAD--DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIP--HER FIRST VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, JUNE 1860--SECOND VOYAGE TO NEW YORK, MAY 1861--VOYAGE WITH TROOPS TO QUEBEC, JUNE 1861--FRACTURE OF RUDDER-HEAD AND DESTRUCTION OF PADDLEWHEELS, SEPTEMBER 1861--VOYAGES IN 1862--ACCIDENT OFF MONTAUK POINT, AUGUST 27, 1862--VOYAGES IN 1863--FORMATION OF THE GREAT EASTERN STEAM-SHIP COMPANY--REMARKS ON THE HISTORY OF THE ‘GREAT EASTERN’ PREVIOUS TO HER EMPLOYMENT IN LAYING SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES--TELEGRAPH EXPEDITIONS OF 1865 AND 1866--FRENCH CABLE EXPEDITION OF 1869--VOYAGE TO BOMBAY AND ADEN, 1869-70--CONCLUDING REMARKS--_NOTE_: DIMENSIONS OF THE SHIP AND ENGINES.

Soon after the launch of the ‘Great Eastern,’ efforts were made to obtain funds for finishing her, and Mr. Brunel proceeded to prepare designs with the view of obtaining tenders for the execution of the decks, skylights, fittings, rigging, &c. He obtained advice from persons thoroughly conversant with this class of work; and a specification was carefully prepared, providing for the completion of the ship in a perfect manner.

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Meanwhile it had been considered that, large as the ship was, she might be profitably employed in the American trade, and that it might be expedient to run her on that line for a few voyages before placing her on the Eastern route. Captain Harrison went to America to examine the harbour at Portland, and brought back a favourable report of it.

All efforts to raise the funds for finishing the ship proved unavailing; and it was determined to reconstitute the company.

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The new company, which was called the ‘Great Ship Company,’ was formed towards the end of the year 1858. In the beginning of December, Mr. Brunel was compelled by ill-health to go to Egypt for the winter. On leaving England, he strongly urged the Directors on no account to fail to make a strict contract, distinctly defining the work to be done, and the manner of its execution, as provided for by the specifications he had drawn out. But his advice was not followed.

After Mr. Brunel’s return to England in May 1859, he continued to give the greater part of his time to the ship. The difficulties which he had to encounter were certainly neither fewer nor less vexatious than those which had arisen at earlier periods in her history; but they were the last with which he had to contend.

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On September 5 he left her in the morning, feeling the commencement of the illness which ten days afterwards terminated fatally.

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The ship left her moorings on September 7, and with the assistance of several tugs steamed down the river. She stopped for a night at Purfleet, and again at the Nore, and then left for Weymouth.

On the voyage a serious accident happened, which was made the subject of much misrepresentation.

Round each of the funnels of the paddle engines was what was termed a water-casing, or jacket, consisting of an outer cylinder, about 6 inches from the inner cylinder which formed the funnel. The top of the annular space between the cylinders was at about the level of the deck. From it a stand-pipe was carried up, which, after rising to a certain height, was turned over, and the end brought down into the stokehole. The object of this arrangement was to heat the feed-water before it entered the boiler, and at the same time to keep the saloons cool, through which the funnels passed. The arrangement of the stand-pipe gave this advantage, that when the head of water in the heater and stand-pipe together became equivalent to the pressure in the boiler, the water could be run into the boiler by gravitation. The stand-pipe at the same time, being open to the air at the top, formed a safety-valve to the water-heater.

For the purpose of testing the joints of the jacket with water pressure, while the ship was being finished, a stop-cock had been placed on the stand-pipe, which unfortunately had not been afterwards removed. While the ship was proceeding down Channel, the donkey feed-pumps were not working well, and to ease them it was thought better to cut off the water-heater, and to force the water direct into the boiler. The communication of the water-heater with the boiler was therefore cut off; and, as was afterwards ascertained, the stop-cock at the top of the water-heater had been also closed. The water confined in the heater soon produced steam, and when the ship was off Hastings the casing exploded. The funnel was thrown up on to the deck, and a body of boiling water and steam was driven down into the boiler room, severely injuring several of the firemen, who afterwards died.

That the effects of this accident were confined to one compartment of the ship, was due to the complete protection afforded by the transverse bulkheads.

After she arrived at Weymouth the funnel was repaired; but as an outcry was raised against the water-heaters, it was thought desirable, from deference to public opinion, to discontinue their use; although this accident had not in any way proved them to be objectionable, and they are now generally adopted.

While the ‘Great Eastern’ was at Weymouth Mr. Brunel died.

Many visitors went in the ship when she left Weymouth on a trial trip to Holyhead. At Holyhead she lay in a somewhat exposed situation; and the sudden storm came on in which the ‘Royal Charter’ was lost. The great advantage of having both paddle and screw was now, for the first time, felt. A portion of the temporary staging erected by the contractor at the breakwater was carried away, and drifted down upon the ship. During the gale her engines were kept going, in order to relieve the strain on the cables. The timbers of the staging got foul of both paddlewheels and screw; but, as it was always possible to keep one of the engines at work, the ship was saved from drifting.

The season being now too far advanced for a profitable voyage to America, the ship left Holyhead and went to Southampton Water for the winter, where several alterations and additions were made.

In Mr. Brunel’s report of February 5, 1855, printed above, at p. 315, he describes the leading features of the ‘Great Eastern’ as she was then being constructed, but a more detailed account of them will fitly precede the history of her career as a passenger-ship.

The main arrangements of the ship are shown in the woodcut (fig. 16, p. 397).[173]

The ship is 680 feet long, 83 feet wide, and 58 feet deep. Her gross tonnage is 18,915 tons. She is divided into water-tight compartments by ten bulkheads (_a_ and _b_), all of which, except two (_b_), extend completely across the ship, and up to the upper deck. These two are complete to 6 feet above the 28-foot water line. In addition there are partial bulkheads (_c_), which form the ends of coal bunkers, and aid materially in strengthening the flat bottom of the ship. The more remarkable parts of the construction of the ship will be understood by means of the transverse section. The bottom is made double, and between the two skins are webs, running longitudinally. Mr. Brunel considered that the double skin would greatly diminish the chance of such an accident occurring as would cause any of the compartments to be filled with water. The material being arranged in the direction of the length of the ship is all capable of taking part in the strains that are thrown on the bottom, as well as on the top, by forces tending to bend the ship.

Mr. Brunel also made the upper deck cellular, in order to resist the compressive strain that would come on it when the ship was heavily loaded in the middle of her length. Great additional strength to the ship, considered as a girder, is given by two longitudinal bulkheads, 36 feet apart, extending for 350 feet. These bulkheads, with the sides of the ship, form the vertical web plates of the girder. Her structure resembles the tubes of the Britannia bridge; the cellular top flange being connected with the cellular bottom flange by plate-iron webs.

The two skins of the ship, with the web plates between them, forming the cellular bottom of the great girder, may also be considered as a number of smaller girders placed side by side, each resisting the excess of the pressure of the water over the load that may happen to be resting on it inside the ship. The difference of pressure or upward strain is transmitted by the cross bulkheads (_a_, _b_, _c_) from the bottom of the ship to the sides and longitudinal bulkheads.

The double skin extends up to about 6 feet above the water level throughout the whole length of the ship, with the exception of the extreme ends.

The foremost compartment next the bow has two cable decks (E), with capstans and all the necessary riding-bitts, stoppers, and other appliances for working the cables. These arrangements answer well, and the 3-inch chain cables are worked with great facility. The capstans were originally driven by a shaft from the paddle auxiliary engines, but this was found inconvenient, and a small independent engine has been put to work them. The cables are stowed in chain lockers on a deck (F) below the cable decks, and below this (G) are ice-houses and store-rooms. The next compartment of the ship (H) is intended for cargo. It is at present occupied by the forward cable tank.

The main part of the ship, 350 feet in length, up to the level of the lower deck, 34 feet above the bottom, is occupied with her engines, boilers, and coal bunkers. The space above the lower deck was occupied with saloons and cabins for passengers, except at the paddle engine room (J). The boilers, four in number, two in each boiler room (I), which supply steam to the paddle engines, are placed forward of the engines; and forward of the boiler rooms is a coal bunker (K), 20 feet long; and abaft of the paddle engines are the six boilers, two in each boiler room (M), that supply steam to the screw engines (N). These three boiler rooms are separated by coal bunkers (K), 20 feet long. On either side of the boilers and engines, and also upon plate iron arches above the boilers, are bunkers for coal. This will be seen on the transverse section of the ship. Between the paddle engines and boilers is a water-tight compartment, 10 feet long (L), in which are placed a pair of auxiliary engines of sixty horse-power, which pump water out of the ship and also work fire-pumps. There are two other auxiliary engines of sixty horse-power in a compartment (O) aft of the screw engines, intended to keep the screw propeller turning round, either when the ship is at anchor, to relieve the strain on the cables, or when, for any reason, she is only using her paddle engines. They also work bilge-pumps and fire-pumps. Each set of auxiliary engines has two independent high-pressure boilers. Throughout the bottom of the ship there are two bilge-pipes, fitted with valves, with branch-pipes leading to the various compartments of the double skin. These bilge-pipes can be connected with either of the auxiliary engines, and so the water can be pumped out of any part of the ship.

The paddle engines, of 1,000 nominal horse-power, consist of four inclined oscillating cylinders, 14 feet stroke and 6 feet 2 inches diameter, each pair of which work on to a single crank. There are means for disengaging either paddlewheel from the engines.

The screw engines, of 1,600 nominal horse-power, consist of four fixed horizontal cylinders, 4 feet stroke and 7 feet diameter, the two cylinders of each pair working opposite to each other on one crank.

In each boiler room are two donkey engines for supplying the boilers with water, and the main engines are also fitted with feed-pumps. Each of the donkey engines is capable of pumping water out of the ship, and of being used in case of fire.

The screw shaft passes along what is termed a screw alley (P). The weight of the screw rests on the bearing where the screw shaft passes out through the stern-post of the ship. To prevent the water that leaks in through this bearing from penetrating into the screw alley, there is a bulkhead with a stuffing-box round the screw shaft, a short distance forward of the stern-post. To enable access to be gained to the bearing, a tube was provided leading down from the main-deck. This was intended to be fitted with appliances for pumping air in so as to drive the water out, and to admit men to get at the bearing under air pressure.

Another arrangement was also provided for the same purpose. On the after side of the stern-post was placed a ring of india-rubber; and, by pulling in the screw-shaft, the screw was pressed tightly against the india-rubber ring, which prevented the water from entering. By means of this arrangement the stern-bearing was examined and repaired at Southampton.

The screw propeller has four blades, and is 24 feet in diameter and 44 feet pitch. The paddlewheels were 56 feet in diameter, with 30 floats, each 13 feet broad and 3 feet deep.

Over the boiler rooms run two tunnels; one of them (V) serves as a passage to enable the engineers to pass from one compartment to another throughout the part of the ship occupied by the boilers and engines. The openings leading from the tunnel to the engine or boiler rooms are provided with watertight doors, which can be shut in the event of any of the compartments getting full of water. The other tunnel (W) serves as a passage for the steampipe, which leads from the boilers to the engines. Though the boilers are divided into two sets, one for the paddle engines and one for the screw, the steampipes are connected, so that the whole of the ten boilers, or any of them, may be used to supply steam for either of the engines.

In one point a deviation was made from Mr. Brunel’s arrangements. It was his intention that there should be no apertures in the water-tight bulkheads except at the tunnel (V), from which the various boiler and engine rooms were to be entered by openings, to be closed by water-tight doors. The tunnel was placed high up, so that in the event of a leak there might be ample time to close the door. The inconvenience of ascending and descending by ladders was, however, considered an evil; and it was found necessary at times to carry coals from one compartment to another. For these reasons, upon the requirement of the Board of Trade, doorways, fitted with sliding doors, which can be closed by handles on the upper deck, have been cut in the bulkheads between the boiler rooms. This arrangement exists in other ships; and in the ‘Great Eastern,’ even without closing these doors, there are eight watertight compartments.

At the stern of the ship (Y) on the main-deck are arrangements for working cables, similar to those at the bow.

These appliances are required when the ship has to be moored so as not to swing with the tide; and they would allow of the ship’s riding by the stern instead of by the bow, which it might often be useful for her to do in narrow waters. On the lower deck (Y), at the stern of the ship, is a spare tiller and wheel for working the rudder, in case anything goes wrong with the main tiller, which is on the upper deck. The weight of the rudder is carried on the lower deck by a grooved collar, resting on a ring of cannon balls.

The compartment (X) immediately aft of the screw engine room is for cargo.

The saloons and cabins are all in the middle of the length of the ship, where there is least motion. The usual plan of putting the first-class passengers at the stern was not adopted, and they were placed forward. As the smoke generally drifts towards the stern of a ship, the first-class passengers in the ‘Great Eastern’ are not annoyed by the smoke, or by the dust and smell from the boiler and engine rooms.

The transverse section shows the arrangement of the cabins.

Mr. Brunel intended that the upper saloons (T) should be used as sitting-rooms, and the lower saloons (S and U) as dining-rooms. These were to be lit and ventilated by shafts on either side of the upper saloons, rising up to the skylights on deck. The smell of dinner was thus to be kept away from the sitting-rooms. The cabins (Z) on either side were to be approached from the saloons by passages and steps, as shown on the section. The saloon marked (Q) is the first-class, and (R) the ladies’ saloon.

The ship is rigged with six masts. The arrangements of the masts and rigging were especially intended for the Eastern voyages. At the extreme bow and stern are low masts, which carry trysails and staysails. The sails on these masts were chiefly intended for manœuvring the ship. She also has three large masts, the lower masts being of iron. The two foremost of these are square-rigged, and all three of them have trysails and staysails. The aftermost of the three was also made strong enough to be fitted with square yards, in the event of its being desirable to rig it in that manner. Aft of the three principal masts is a large mast, only intended to be rigged with fore-and-aft canvas. The ship has no bowsprit, the stay of the foremost mast being attached to the stem inside the bulwarks.

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In the beginning of June 1860, the ship made a trip from Southampton down the Channel, as far as the Start Lighthouse and back, to try her engines; and on June 17 she sailed for New York, under the command of Captain Vine Hall, who had succeeded Captain Harrison. She arrived there, after a prosperous voyage, on June 28, and was received with great enthusiasm. The ship left New York on August 16, and, having called at Halifax, arrived at Milford Haven on August 26.

In the course of these two voyages the stern-bearing of the screw-shaft, which was in white metal, had worn down between two and three inches. With the view of allowing for any depression of the stern-bearing, the lengths of the screw-shaft were not rigidly connected throughout, but the end length, attached to the screw, was coupled to the remainder of the shaft by a universal joint, consisting of two double cranks. Thus the two shafts might be, to a considerable extent, out of line, and yet revolve efficiently.

When the ship returned to Milford Haven, a gridiron was prepared on the beach, and she was grounded on it; and the screw-shaft was drawn in. By this time it had become the general opinion that a shaft cased with brass, and running in lignum-vitæ bearings, was the best. A lathe and machinery for making the shaft revolve were provided, and fixed in the stern of the ship; the shaft was turned, and brass collars shrunk on. The bearing was made with lignum-vitæ, and the brass-covered shaft replaced in it. It has since worked well, and has shown no signs of wear.

The ship, commanded by Captain William Thompson, left Milford Haven for New York on May 1, 1861, and returned to Liverpool from New York on June 4, having made an average speed of 13¾ knots on the outward and 14 knots on the homeward voyage.

At this time the Government determined to send her out with troops to Quebec, and she was fitted up for that purpose. She took upwards of 2,500 troops, and about 40 passengers. There were, altogether, about 3,000 persons on board, and 200 artillery horses. Scarcely any of the troops were placed in the regular passenger part of the ship, as they were accommodated in the cargo departments (H, X). Thus a much greater number of men might have been carried in her with perfect comfort. She was commanded on this voyage by Captain James Kennedy, of the Inman service. She left Liverpool on June 27, and arrived at Quebec on July 7. She returned to Liverpool with about 500 passengers in August.

By this time her superiority had become recognised by the regular travellers between England and America. Those who had been in her found that, while they passed other ships rolling and pitching in the sea, the deck of the ‘Great Eastern’ was so steady that it was difficult to believe that there was a gale blowing;[174] and when, after a continuance of heavy weather, she began to roll, the motion was so slow and easy as to be comparatively unimportant.

When she left Liverpool again, there were a considerable number of passengers, and it seemed as if her success was ensured. She started under the command of Captain James Walker, on September 10, and three days afterwards encountered a severe Atlantic gale.

The ship was behaving well, when one of the boats, which hung on davits outside the ship forward of the paddlewheels, got adrift on the weather side. Fears were entertained that it might foul the paddlewheel, and the captain determined to cut it away. The direction of the ship was altered, in order that the boat might float clear. The ship then resumed her course; but shortly afterwards fell off, with her broadside to the sea.

Relieving tackles having been put to assist the men at the wheel, the tiller was kept hard over, to bring the ship’s head to the wind; but with no effect. Towards evening, as the seas beat heavily against her side, first one paddlewheel and then the other was destroyed, being completely torn away from the central bosses. During the night she lay in a helpless condition. The gale had been of some duration, and the waves being large and long, the ship was placed in a very unfavourable position to receive them; and she rolled considerably.

The next morning, when an officer went to examine the auxiliary tiller on the lower deck, he discovered that the rudder-head was twisted short off, just above the point where it entered the ship. The rudder was still in its place. The accident had most likely happened on the previous evening, when the ship fell off her course. It had not been noticed by the men at the helm, perhaps because there were so many of them at the wheel and relieving-tackles that they held one against the other; and the broken parts of the rudder-head, grinding together, threw jerks on to the tiller. The fracture of the rudder-head was caused by the badness of the workmanship in the interior of the forging.

Attempts were made to get sail on the ship, but without much success; and with the hope of bringing her head to wind, the screw engines were reversed.

As soon as the ship was driven astern by the screw, the rudder, being uncontrolled, was forced round by the rush of water, and it knocked away the after stern-post.[175] No other harm was done, as the rudder is secured by a pin into the heel of the ship, and by a collar round the rudder-head, attached to the hull above water.

Steps were then taken to get command over the rudder. Chains were wrapped round the stump of the rudder-head inside the ship, and a certain amount of control was thus obtained. A more effective plan was at the same time carried into execution. A man was lowered by a rope from the stern of the ship, who hove a piece of wood, with a line attached to it, through the screw-opening. The wood with the end of the line was caught with a boat-hook; and a rope, and afterwards a hawser, and then a piece of the ship’s chain cable were passed through behind the rudder. The two ends of the chain cable were brought together at the stern of the ship, and a large shackle put round both parts of the chain, and shaken down till it held them together. In the edge of the rudder-blade a notch had been made by the rudder striking against the screw, and into this notch the shackle was made to drop. In this way two chains or pennants had been attached to the back of the rudder. One of these was brought to each side of the ship, and they were hauled on by means of the stern capstan.

The ship then turned homeward, and the weather having moderated, she arrived off Cork harbour on the afternoon of September 17. By this time the chains round the rudder had shifted, and were of little service; and before night it began to blow heavily towards the shore. It was dangerous for the ship to remain on a lee shore; and, although the steering-gear was out of order, the captain wisely determined to take advantage of the ship’s head pointing in the right direction, and steamed out to sea.

Three days afterwards the ship, assisted by several small steamers, was got safely into Cork harbour, a temporary tiller was attached to the stump of the rudder-head, and she proceeded to Milford Haven, where she was placed on the gridiron, and her after stern-post and paddlewheels replaced. The accident had proved that the original paddlewheels might with advantage have been made stronger, and in the new wheels the bracing was increased.

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The ship, under the command of Captain Walter Paton, left Milford Haven for New York on May 7, 1862, and returned to Liverpool on June 11. She left again on July 1, and returned on August 6. Besides the number of passengers the ship accommodated, she carried a considerable amount of cargo; she brought over large quantities of grain and provisions. The custom of carrying this class of freight in steam-ships received a great impulse from the success of the ‘Great Eastern’ in the traffic. As it was found that the shallowness of the bar at Sandy Hook prevented her taking full advantage of her carrying power, she had on this voyage followed the route along Long Island Sound, so as to arrive close to New York in deep water, and on her return voyage she brought as much as 5,300 tons of cargo in bulk, which with 4,350 tons of coal gave her a mean draught of 28 feet.

She left Liverpool on August 17, and arrived off Montauk Point, at the entrance to Long Island Sound, at about two in the morning of the 27th, to take in the pilot. While stopping, a loud rumbling noise was heard, and presently the ship heeled slightly over to one side. The pilot, when he came on board, said that the ship had passed over a reef of sunken rocks, which was not marked on the charts.

It was at the same time found that many of the spaces between the double skins were full of water. The ship went on to New York, and most of the passengers landed in ignorance of an accident which in any other vessel would have been fatal.

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Steps were at once taken to examine the damage, and the divers reported a large fracture in the outer skin 80 feet long and about 10 feet broad. They also discovered afterwards several smaller fractures. It was considered that this damage might be mended while the vessel was afloat, and a very skilful arrangement, contrived by Messrs. Renwick, of New York, was adopted. A large wooden barge was made with a gunwale shaped to fit the ship’s side, and two wooden passages leading down into the barge. It was placed so as to cover the large fracture, and was secured by chains passed round the bottom of the ship. The joint between the gunwale of the barge and the ship’s side was made water-tight; the water was pumped out, and men and materials passed down through the shafts. By the exertions of those engaged in this difficult operation, the great fracture was repaired, and the ship returned to England in the beginning of 1863.

A gridiron was made at Birkenhead; the ship was placed on it, and the repairs were proceeded with under the direction of Mr. Brereton, who at Mr. Brunel’s death succeeded him as engineer to the Great Ship Company. On examination, it was found that fractures had been made in ten separate places in the outer skin.

The ship started again in May 1863, and made three voyages to New York and home. At this time, however, there was a severe competition with other vessels, and the Company could not afford to run the ship unremuneratively for any length of time. In 1864 she passed into the hands of a new company, which consisted almost entirely of those who, from their belief in the capabilities of the ship, had found the money for starting her again after each of her successive misfortunes.

The ship lay idle for some months, and was then chartered by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company.

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The ‘Great Eastern’ had in the course of the four years from 1860 to 1863 made nine voyages across the Atlantic and back. Though this was not the route for which she had been intended, it had given her many opportunities of showing her merits. Adverse fortune had added to these opportunities, and had at the same time demonstrated the necessity of many of the precautions which Mr. Brunel had taken to ensure her safety.

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The construction of the hull of the ship has been proved by experience to possess the advantages anticipated by Mr. Brunel.

Its strength as a whole has been proved by the absence of all signs of weakness in the heavy weather she encountered on several occasions, and especially in the gale of 1861, when her rudder was disabled. The strength of the ship has since been fully tested by the enormous loads she has carried while on telegraph cable expeditions.

The importance of the double skin was shown on the occasion of her grinding over the rocks at Montauk Point, when so large a number of leaks were made in all parts of her bottom that no ordinary system of bulkheads would have saved her from foundering. Moreover, the space between the two skins was sufficient to allow of the outer skin and the webs being crushed to the extent of three feet, while they at the same time acted as a buffer and prevented the inner skin from coming in contact with the rock.

The engines have not had any opportunity of working at high speed in the long voyages for which they were intended, but in the rapid and comparatively short passages made by the ship across the Atlantic they worked with great regularity and success. Although they were commenced seventeen years ago, they are still fine specimens of marine engines, and bear witness to the care taken by their builders in their design and manufacture.

Of the points on which Mr. Brunel laid stress, and which, as he remarked, ‘involve no other risk than that of being useless; they cannot do mischief,’ many have now come to be considered essential parts of good marine engines. He thought it of great importance that the steam cylinders should be jacketed, especially at the ends; and it was intended that the high-pressure steam for this purpose should be taken from the auxiliary boilers. This plan was, however, not adopted.

Mr. Brunel was also anxious that the steam should be heated immediately before it entered the cylinders, and that fresh water should be supplied for the boilers by using the same water over again. Arrangements for effecting these objects have since been brought into general use.

The advantage of having several cylinders to each engine was shown while the ship was running to America. Part of the valve-gear of one of the paddle-engine cylinders gave way, the engines were stopped for four hours, and the ship was propelled by the screw alone. The cylinder was disconnected and turned back out of the way, and the engines worked efficiently with three cylinders for four passages across the Atlantic.

The average speed of the ship on those voyages in which her performances were fairly tested was about 13½ knots. On two occasions she made the voyage from New York to Liverpool at an average speed of 14 knots; and she maintained her speed in rough weather and head winds to a much greater extent than is the case in smaller vessels.

By having two sets of engines, the ship was saved from serious disaster at Holyhead, and again in the gale of September 1861.

The great handiness of the ship is one of the many beneficial results of the use of both paddles and screw. By working the paddlewheels astern and the screw ahead, she can be kept from moving forward or backward, and at the same time the stream of water from the screw, acting on the rudder, makes her answer her helm and turn round on her centre. By modifying the speed of the two engines, she may be made to creep slowly forward; and as the rudder is in the full rush of the water driven back by the screw, the ship has practically as much steering power as she has when moving rapidly. The importance of this power of controlling her when passing through narrow channels, in entering and leaving port, can scarcely be over-estimated.

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The career of the ‘Great Eastern’ since the formation of the present Great Eastern Steam-Ship Company, has been prosperous.

In the commencement of the year 1864, when Mr. Cyrus Field had succeeded in reviving the project of laying the Atlantic cable, the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company took the contract for laying it, and hired the ‘Great Eastern.’ She was brought round to Sheerness, where the cable tanks were fitted into her. One tank was placed in the forward cargo compartment, and another in the after cargo compartment; and the largest tank was placed over the middle screw boiler room, the funnel being removed. Therefore, during the cable-laying expeditions, the ship only used eight of her boilers.

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The history of the laying of the Atlantic cable is well known. The ‘Great Eastern’ started from Valentia on June 23, 1865, under the command of Captain (now Sir James) Anderson, and the cable was laid more than half way across the Atlantic; but, on hauling in to recover a fault, it was broken, and dropped to the bottom of the sea.

The grappling tackle was not sufficiently strong. The cable was three times partially raised, and each time lost; and the expedition returned to England defeated, but with the knowledge that ultimate success was certain.

The engineers and scientific men on board the ‘Great Eastern’ drew up a memorandum as to the results of this expedition, and, among other things, stated--‘That the steam-ship “Great Eastern,” from her size and constant steadiness, and from the control over her afforded by the joint use of paddles and screw, renders it safe to lay an Atlantic cable in any weather.’[176]

Sufficient additional cable was made to lay a second one and to finish the old cable when it should be recovered. The ship started again on July 13, 1866, and laid the cable across the Atlantic without the slightest mishap. She then returned, and after three weeks of hard work, the end of the cable which had been lost the year before was picked up, and completed to Newfoundland.

On her return to England there did not seem to be any immediate employment for her in cable laying, and the tanks were taken out. In the following year a company was formed in France to charter the ship, and to work her between New York and Brest during the French Exhibition. She made one voyage from Liverpool to New York and back to Brest and Liverpool; but the undertaking was a commercial failure.

She remained at Liverpool till October 1868, when it was proposed to lay a cable from France to America; and she came round to her former berth at Sheerness. Tanks were made in the fore and aft cargo spaces, and a very large tank, 75 feet in diameter, was placed amidships. The bulkheads were cut partially away to make room for it, the ship being strengthened above and below. She started on this expedition from Brest under the command of Captain Robert Halpin, and encountered very heavy weather. The cable was laid successfully.

* * * * *

The ship then returned to England, and was fitted out for the greatest adventure she has yet undertaken. She was to proceed with a full cargo of cable round the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay, to lay it thence to Aden, and from Aden a portion of the way up the Red Sea. With her cable and coals, on leaving England, she drew 34 feet 6 inches, with the enormous displacement of 32,724 tons. She laid the cable with perfect success, and returned to England.

* * * * *

Throughout all these cable-laying expeditions, and especially in the work of picking up the Atlantic cable of 1865, the good qualities of the ship have been fully exhibited.

* * * * *

The later voyages of the ‘Great Eastern’ were undertaken for the accomplishment of a work in which Mr. Brunel had felt a great interest.

In 1856, Mr. Cyrus Field came over to this country in order to consult English engineers and scientific men upon his project of an Atlantic cable. It is stated in a work written by Dr. Field,[177] that--

From the beginning Mr. Brunel showed the warmest interest in the undertaking, and made many suggestions in regard to the form of the cable and the manner in which it should be laid. He was then building the ‘Great Eastern,’ and one day he took Mr. Field down to Blackwall to see it, and said, ‘There is the ship to lay the Atlantic cable.’

It appears, however, from drawings in Mr. Brunel’s sketch-books that at this time, and again in 1858, he thought that it would be better to have a vessel specially built for the work.

He was throughout sanguine as to the ultimate success of the undertaking, as is shown by the following extract from a letter written in December 1856:--

I would suggest a more moderate expression of doubts of the successful results of the American cable. The impossibility of running steamers profitably over the surface of the same sea was, though it is now denied, asserted and proved from established facts just as clearly as the impossibility asserted now to exist in respect of the electric telegraph. It is a pity in these days to lay down any such dogma. Every day’s experience proves that nine-tenths of them are refuted; that the circumstances do not prove to be such as are assumed, or the difficulties are overcome; and however correct the arguments may have been, the result is not as predicted.

The ‘Great Eastern’ has not yet been engaged on the work for which she was originally designed by Mr. Brunel; but her employment in the promotion of great scientific enterprises has been an occupation worthy of her connection with his name.

NOTE (p. 395).

_Dimensions of the ‘Great Eastern’ Steam-ship._

Extreme length, 693 feet

Length between perpendiculars, 680 "

Breadth, 83 "

Depth, 58 "

Greatest draught of water, 30 "

Registered tonnage, 13,343 tons

Gross tonnage, 18,915 "

Displacement at 30 feet draught, 27,419 "

DIMENSIONS OF PADDLE-ENGINES.

(1,000 nominal horse-power.)

Number of cylinders, 4

Diameter of cylinders, 6 feet 2 inches

Length of stroke, 14 feet

Number of boilers, 4

DIMENSIONS OF SCREW-ENGINES.

(1,600 nominal horse-power.)

Number of cylinders, 4

Diameter of cylinders, 7 feet

Length of stroke, 4 "

Number of boilers, 6