Description and History of the Great Eastern

Book excerpt: At the time of her launch in 1858, the iron steam ship Great Eastern was the largest ship ever built. It would take more than forty years until her length of nearly 700 feet and tonnage of 22.550 tons were beaten by another ship. She had been designed by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and became known all over the world for her modern look. Commercially, the Great Eastern was a disappointment. A series of accidents, starting with an explosion during her maiden voyage, ended her short career as passenger liner between Britain and the United States. In the second half of the 1860s she was transformed into a cable-laying ship and placed transatlantic telegraph cables for several years. Afterwards, the Great Eastern became a floating music hall and advertising space in Liverpool before she was broken up in 1889.This little book, descriptive of the >wonder of the worldof the deepThe Great EasternGreat Ship