Amazing Facts and Figures about the ss Great
Britain
She was
the first screw-propeller-driven iron ship to cross the Atlantic, and the first
to include the combination of waterproof bulkheads, iron wire rigging, a
balanced rudder, iron lifeboats, and a ‘patent log’ for measuring the distance
she travelled. She was also the
first ship to employ a six-masted schooner-rigged configuration.
The
ship carried one of the earliest ‘clipper’ bows ever built, and it is probably
the earliest surviving example of the type.
She originally carried 120
first class passengers (26 of whom were in single cabins), 132 second class
passengers, and 130 officers and crew.
In 1852, however, she had an
extra ‘hurricane’ deck added, to increase her passenger carrying capacity to
730.
On one voyage in 1854 between Malta and the Crimea, the ship carried
1600 French Troops, as well as 30 horses.
In all, she carried over 45000 troops to and from the Crimea.
She
is over 320 feet long, 50 feet wide and originally weighed 1930 tons. She has 165 wrought iron frames,
arranged in 20 overlapping ‘strakes’ with each strake fabricated from
butt-jointed wrought iron plates around 180 cm x 60cm.
The ss Great
Britain travelled the world for nearly 45 years and covered over a million
miles. She carried over 16000
emigrants to Australia, and was known in her time as one of the fastest, most
elegant and luxurious emigrant clipper ships – the ‘Greyhound of the seas’.
The average time she took on the return journey to Australia was 120
days - a very competitive time for the mid-nineteenth century. Passage on the ship could virtually
guarantee that a passenger would arrive on time, well ahead of the ship’s sail
powered rivals.
One of the ship’s captains, Captain Gray, used to climb
each mast at least once a week. Captain Gray interrupted one voyage to Australia
to claim the uninhabited island of St. Martin for the Empire. That evening he
held a banquet to celebrate.
The ship had at least 25 accidents entered
in her logs – ranging from collisions with other vessels, running aground, lost
spars and mast damage, to losing Captain Gray in mysterious circumstances.
The ship was fitted with a
wrought iron main mast yard in 1860 that weighed 4 tonnes and was 104 feet in
length. The yard can still be seen
today in Bristol. It is believed to
be one of the largest yards ever built, and certainly the largest still in
existence.
Her fresh water tanks held 35,338 gallons of water, and she
was fitted with two condensers capable of supplying 1,500 gallons a
day.
In 1865 the ship’s carpenter, Mr Morgan, kept a koala bear on board
as a pet. As reported in the ship’s
newspaper, the ‘Great Britain Times’, the marsupial died of ‘pulmonary
consumption’ on 25 October 1865, much to the sadness of crew and
passengers.
In 1861 the ss
Great Britain carried the first ever English cricket side to tour Australia.
This was not an ‘official’ touring side, being made up of a combination of
professional players from the All-England XI and the United England XI. Each
player received £150 plus their expenses.
The tour was immensely successful in a number of different ways, not
least of which was the enthusiasm with which the party was received, as evidence
by the 15,000 crowd that attended the opening match against Eighteen of
Victoria, which was played at Melbourne.
The tourists played 12 games, winning 6, drawing 4 and losing 2. The 2
defeats were by Castlemaine and a combined NSW/Victoria team.
As meat
went off quite easily on long voyages, large numbers of live animals were
carried for food, giving the ship the appearance of Noah's Ark, rather than an
emigrant ship. On one voyage in
1859, the ship carried 133 live sheep, 38 pigs, 2 bullocks, 1 cow, 420 fowl, 300
ducks, 400 geese and 30 turkeys. 2 tons of freshly killed beef were also
carried. Passenger diaries
frequently cite the ship as smelling and sounding like a barnyard
Despite spending nearly 100 years suffering in the harsh South Atlantic
weather, the Great Britain was able to float up the River Avon herself! The 155
year old iron hull had stood the test of time superbly.