Editing SS Great Eastern (section)

{{Short description|British sailing steamship launched in 1858}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Great Eastern 1866-crop.jpg
| Ship image size = 325px
| Ship caption = ''Great Eastern'' at [[Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Labrador|Heart's Content]] after laying the first transatlantic cable, July 1866
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| Ship name = ''Great Eastern''
| Ship namesake =
| Ship operator = Eastern Steam Navigation Co. (1858-1864)
| Ship registry = [[Liverpool]], United Kingdom
| Ship route =
| Ship ordered = 1853
| Ship awarded =
| Ship builder = [[Millwall Iron Works|J. Scott Russell & Co.]], [[Millwall]], [[England]]
| Ship original cost =
| Ship yard number =
| Ship way number =
| Ship laid down = 1 May 1854
| Ship launched = 31 January 1858
| Ship christened =
| Ship completed = August 1859
| Ship acquired =
| Ship commissioned =
| Ship recommissioned =
| Ship decommissioned =
| Ship maiden voyage = 30 August 1859
| Ship in service = 1859
| Ship out of service = 1889
| Ship renamed =
| Ship reclassified =
| Ship refit =
| Ship struck = 1889
| Ship reinstated =
| Ship homeport = Liverpool
| Ship identification =
| Ship motto =
| Ship nickname = *''The Great Ship'',
* ''Leviathan'' (Original name),
* ''Great Babe'' (As Brunel called her)
| Ship honours =
| Ship captured =
| Ship fate = Scrapped 1889–90
| Ship notes = Struck rocks on 27 August 1862. No larger ship in all respects until 1901 by the RMS Celtic.
| Ship badge =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Ship class =
| Ship type = Passenger ship
| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|18,915}}, {{NRT|13,344}} <ref>{{cite book |last=Dawson |first=Philip S. |title=The Liner |publisher=Chrysalis Books |year=2005 |page=37 |isbn=978-0-85177-938-6}}</ref>
| Ship displacement = 32,160 tons
| Ship tons burthen =
| Ship length = {{convert|692|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|82|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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| Ship decks = 4 decks
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| Ship power =
| Ship propulsion = Four steam engines for the paddles and an additional engine for the propeller. Total power estimated at {{convert|8000|hp|lk=on|abbr=on}}. [[Fire-tube boiler|Rectangular boilers]]<ref>[[:Image:Oscillating engine, and boilers, of Great Eastern - gteast.gif224kB.png]]</ref>
| Ship sail plan =
| Ship speed = {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}}<ref>{{cite news
|title=Ocean Record Breaking
|work=New York Times
|date=7 July 1895
}}</ref>
| Ship range =
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| Ship boats = 18 lifeboats; after 1860 20 lifeboats
| Ship capacity = 4,000 passengers
| Ship troops =
| Ship complement = 418
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}}
|}

'''SS ''Great Eastern''''' was an [[iron]]-[[hull (watercraft)|hulled]] [[steamship]] designed by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at [[Millwall Iron Works]] on the [[River Thames]], London, England. Powered by both sidewheels and a screw propeller, she was by far the [[largest ship]] ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling. Her length of {{convert|692|ft}} was surpassed only in 1899 by the {{convert|705|ft|m|adj=on}} 17,274-gross-ton {{RMS|Oceanic|1899|6}}, her [[Gross register tonnage|gross tonnage]] of 18,915 was only surpassed in 1901 by the {{convert|701|ft|m|adj=on}} 20,904-gross-ton {{RMS|Celtic|1901|6}} and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,234-passenger {{SS|Imperator}}. The ship having five [[Funnel (ship)|funnels]] (which were later reduced to four) was unusual for the time. The vessel also had the largest set of [[paddle wheels]].

Brunel knew her affectionately as the "Great Babe". He died in 1859 shortly after her maiden voyage, during which she was damaged by an explosion.<ref name=":4" /> After repairs, she plied for several years as a passenger liner between Britain and North America before being converted to a cable-laying ship and laying the first lasting [[transatlantic telegraph cable]] in 1866.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Arthur |year=1994 |title=The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Times and Their Impact on Civilization |publisher=Woodhead Publishing |isbn=978-1-85573-301-5 |page=203 }}</ref> Finishing her life as a floating [[music hall]] and [[Billboard|advertising hoarding]] (for the department store [[Lewis's]]) in [[Liverpool]], she was broken up on [[Merseyside]] in 1889.