Editing SS Great Britain (section)

==Service history==

===Transatlantic service===
[[File:SS Great Britain - geograph.org.uk - 1135916.jpg|thumb|The main funnel]]
On 26 July 1845—seven years after the Great Western Steamship Company had decided to build a second ship, and five years overdue—''Great Britain'' embarked on her maiden voyage, from [[Liverpool]] to [[New York City|New York]] under Captain [[James Hosken]], with 45 passengers. The ship made the passage in 14 days and 21 hours, at an average speed of {{convert|9.25|kn}}&nbsp;– almost {{convert|1.5|kn}} slower than the prevailing record. She made the return trip in {{frac|13|1|2}} days, again an unexceptional time.{{sfn|Fox|2003|p=153}}

Brunel, who prior to commencement of service had substituted a six-bladed "windmill" design of his own for Smith's proven four-bladed propeller design, now decided to try to improve the speed by riveting an extra two inches of iron to each propeller blade. On her next crossing to New York, carrying 104 passengers, the ship ran into heavy weather, losing a mast and three propeller blades.{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=68–78}} On 13 October, she ran aground on the Massachusetts Shoals. She was refloated and after obtaining a supply of coal from the American [[schooner]] ''David Coffin'' resumed her voyage.<ref name=MP291045>{{Cite news |title=The Steam-ship Great Britain |newspaper=The Morning Post |location=London |date=29 October 1845 |issue=22345 |page=5 }}</ref> After repairs in New York, she set out for Liverpool with only 28 passengers and lost four propeller blades during the crossing. By this time, another design flaw had become evident. The ship rolled heavily, especially in calm weather without the steadying influence of the sail, causing discomfort to passengers.{{sfn|Fox|2003|p=153}}

The shareholders of the company again provided further funding to try to solve the problems. The six-bladed propeller was dispensed with and replaced with the original four-bladed, cast iron design. The third mast was removed, and the iron rigging, which had proven unsatisfactory, was replaced with conventional rigging. In a major alteration, two {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} [[bilge keel]]s were added to each side in an effort to lessen her tendency to roll.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Britain |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/Greatbritain.shtml |publisher=The Ships List |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303232939/http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/Greatbritain.shtml |archive-date= 3 March 2015 }}</ref> These repairs and alterations delayed her return to service until the following year.{{sfn|Fox|2003|pp=153–154}}

[[File:SS Great Britain stranded in Dundrum Bay.jpg|thumb|left|Stranded in Dundrum Bay, 1846]]

In her second season of service in 1846, ''Great Britain'' successfully completed two round trips to New York at an acceptable speed. 

She left Liverpool on July 6, 1846, for her sixth overall voyage, the second voyage that year, across the Atlantic, which she made in 16 days, arriving in New York on July 21. She took only first-class passengers. Captain Hosken brought 125 crew and 102 passengers among whom was 32-year-old printer Philip Borbeck, born in Gensungen, [[Felsberg, Hesse|Felsberg]], [[Hesse-Cassel]] in 1814, an immigrant who was returning home to Philadelphia from a visit to his birthplace in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain |url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/voyage/9/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org}} </ref> When Borbeck died in Philadelphia in 1897, he left an estate worth $15 million today.<ref>1898 Feb 5, ''[[The Times (Philadelphia)|The Times]]'' (Philadelphia). Contest of the Borbeck Will Begun.</ref><ref>Measuringworth.com. $40,000 in 1897 converted to "relative wealth" held in 2025.</ref> 

The ship was then laid up for repairs to one of her chain drums, which showed an unexpected degree of wear. Embarking on her third passage of the season to New York, her captain made a series of navigational errors that resulted in her being run hard aground in [[Dundrum, County Down#History|Dundrum Bay]] on the northeast coast of Ireland on 22 September. There was no formal inquiry but it has been recently suggested by Dr Helen Doe in her book 'SS Great Britain' that it was mainly due to the captain not having updated charts, so that he mistook the new St John's light for the Calf light on the Isle of Man.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Great Britain Sinks!|journal=Cruising|publisher=[[The Cruising Association]]|author=Ted Osborn|date=June 2010|pages=24–26}}</ref><ref name=Times261046>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=(untitled) |date=26 October 1846 |pages=4–5 |issue=19377 |column= F, A}}</ref><ref name=LM250946>{{Cite news |title=The Great Britain Ashore |newspaper=Liverpool Mercury etc |location=Liverpool |date=25 September 1846 |issue=1847 }}</ref>

She remained aground for almost a year, protected by temporary measures organised by Brunel and [[James Bremner]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Recovery of the SS Great Britain |url=http://www.bremnerroots.co.uk/the-jameses/james-bremner-engineer/recovery-of-the-ss-great-britain/ |publisher=David Bremner |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140349/http://www.bremnerroots.co.uk/the-jameses/james-bremner-engineer/recovery-of-the-ss-great-britain/ |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> On 25 August 1847,<ref name=LWLN050947>{{Cite news |title=Floating of the Great Britain |newspaper=Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper |location=London |date=5 September 1847 |issue=250 }}</ref> she was floated free at a cost of £34,000 and taken back to Liverpool, but this expense exhausted the company's remaining reserves. After languishing in Prince's Dock, Liverpool for some time, she was sold to [[Gibbs, Bright & Co.]], former agents of the Great Western Steamship Company, for a mere £25,000.{{sfn|Fox|2003|pp=154–155}}{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=225–226}}

====Refit and return to service====
[[File:SS Great Britain with four masts 1853.jpg|thumb|''Great Britain'' in 1853, after her refit to four masts]]
The new owners decided not merely to give the vessel a total refit; the keel, badly damaged during the grounding, was completely renewed along a length of {{convert|150|ft|m|adj=off}}, and the owners took the opportunity to further strengthen the hull. The old [[keelson]]s were replaced and 10 new ones laid, which ran the entire length of the keel. Both the bow and stern were also strengthened by heavy frames of double [[angle iron]].{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

Reflecting the rapid advances in propeller engine technology, the original engines were removed and replaced with a pair of smaller, lighter and more modern [[Marine steam engine#Oscillating|oscillating]] engines, with {{convert|82.5|in|cm|adj=on}} cylinders and {{convert|6|ft|cm|adj=on}} stroke, built by [[John Penn (engineer)|John Penn & Sons]] of [[Greenwich]]. They were also provided with more support at the base and supported further by the addition of both iron and wood beams running transversely across the hull, which had the added benefit of reducing engine vibration.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

The cumbersome chain-drive gearing was replaced with a simpler and by now proven cog-wheel arrangement, although the gearing of the engines to the propeller shaft remained at a ratio of one to three. The three large boilers were replaced with six smaller ones, operating at {{convert|10|psi|abbr=on}} or twice the pressure of their predecessors. Along with a new {{convert|300|ft|m|adj=on}} cabin on the main deck, the smaller boilers allowed the cargo capacity to be almost doubled, from 1,200 to 2,200&nbsp;tons.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

The four-bladed propeller was replaced by a slightly smaller three-bladed model, and the bilge keels, previously added to reduce the tendency to roll, were replaced by a heavy external oak keel for the same purpose. The five-masted schooner sail-plan was replaced by four masts, two of which were square-rigged.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}} With the refit complete, ''Great Britain'' went back into service on the New York run. After only one further round trip she was sold again, to [[Antony Gibbs & Sons]], which planned to place her into England–Australia service.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

===Australian service===

Antony Gibbs & Sons may have intended to employ ''Great Britain'' only to exploit a temporary demand for passenger service to the Australian goldfields following [[Victorian gold rush|the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851]],{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|p=227}} but she found long-term employment on this route. For her new role, she was given a third refit. Her passenger accommodation was increased from 360 to 730, and her sail plan altered to a traditional three-masted, square-rigged pattern. She was fitted with a removable propeller, which could be hauled up on deck by chains to reduce drag when under sail power alone.<ref name=nathistships/>

In 1852, ''Great Britain'' made her first voyage to [[Melbourne]], Australia, carrying 630 [[Emigration|emigrants]]. She excited great interest there, with 4,000 people paying a shilling each to inspect her. She operated on the England–Australia route for almost 30 years, interrupted only by two relatively brief sojourns as a [[troopship]] during the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Indian Mutiny]].<ref name=nathistships>{{cite web|title=ss Great Britain |url=http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/76/ss-great-britain |publisher=National Historic Ships UK |access-date=15 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095645/http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/76/ss-great-britain |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> Gradually, she earned a reputation as the most reliable of the emigrant ships to Australia and carried [[English cricket team in Australia in 1861–62|the first English cricket team to tour Australia]] in 1861.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hit for six by elite sporting stars' trip on great iron ship |url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Hit-elite-sporting-stars-trip-great-iron-ship/story-11293374-detail/story.html |access-date=15 March 2015 |work=Bristol Post |date=3 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091725/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Hit-elite-sporting-stars-trip-great-iron-ship/story-11293374-detail/story.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref>

Alexander Reid, writing in 1862, recorded some statistics of a typical voyage. The ship, with a crew of 143, put out from Liverpool on 21 October 1861, carrying 544 passengers (including the English cricket team that was the first to visit Australia), a cow, 36 sheep, 140 pigs, 96 goats and 1,114 chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. The journey to Melbourne (her ninth) occupied 64 days, during which the best day's run was 354&nbsp;miles and the worst 108. With favourable winds the ship travelled under sail alone, the screw being withdrawn from the water. Three passengers died en route. The captain was [[John Gray (master mariner)|John Gray]], a Scot, who had held the post since before the Crimean War.{{sfn|Reid|1862}}

On 8 December 1863, she was reported to have been wrecked on [[Santiago, Cape Verde|Santiago]], [[Cape Verde Islands]] whilst on a voyage from London to [[Nelson, New Zealand]]. All on board were rescued.<ref name=YH020164>{{Cite news |title=Loss of the "Great Britain" Steamship |newspaper=York Herald |location=York |date=2 January 1864 |issue=4756 |page=9 }}</ref>

Her passengers and crew witnessed a [[Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865|total solar eclipse in 1865]] while passing the coastline of Brazil en route from Australia to England;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brunel's SS Great Britain on Instagram: "#OTD in 1865 passengers witnessed a Solar Eclipse. 🌘 "Total eclipse of the sun, a clear sky and stars seen in daytime" –diary extract (author unknown) … #SSGreatBritain #SolarEclipse #Museum #Victorian #Brunel #Bristol #History" |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Crc1Vgat04F/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Instagram |language=en}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2023}} they were able to observe [[Solar eclipse#Totality|stars in the daytime]].

On 8 October 1868 [[The Argus (Melbourne)|''The Argus'']] reported "To-day, at daylight, the fine steamship ''Great Britain'' will leave her anchorage in Hobson's Bay, for Liverpool direct. On this occasion she carries less than her usual complement of passengers, the season not being a favourite one with colonists desiring to visit their native land. ''Great Britain'', however, has a full cargo, and carries gold to the value of about £250,000. As she is in fine trim, we shall probably have, in due time, to congratulate Captain Gray on having achieved another successful voyage."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5829299/222813 |title=Untitled news|newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]|date=October 1868| page=5|via= [[National Library of Australia#Trove|Trove]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5829228 |title=Shipping Intelligence|newspaper=[[The Argus (Australia)]]|date= 8 October 1868| page=4|via= [[Trove]]}}</ref> Gray died under mysterious circumstances, going missing overnight during a return voyage from Melbourne, on the night of 25/26 November 1872.<ref name="Mercury">{{cite news|access-date=3 December 2017|title=Captain Gray of the S.S. Great Britain|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8917534 |work=The Mercury|date=3 January 1873|location=Hobart, Tasmania, Australia}}</ref><ref name="SSGB">{{cite web|title=Captain Gray's Disappearance|url=http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/blog/captain-grays-disapperance|publisher=SS Great Britain Trust|access-date=3 December 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204114520/http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/blog/captain-grays-disapperance|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 22 December, she rescued the crew of the British [[brig]] ''Druid'', which had been abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=S281272>{{Cite news |title=Mercantile Ship News |newspaper=The Standard |location=London |date=28 December 1872 |issue=15105 |page=7 }}</ref> On 19 November 1874, she collided with the British ship ''Mysore'' in the [[Sloyne]], losing an anchor and sustaining hull damage.<ref name=DN211174>{{Cite news |title=Shipping Intelligence |newspaper=Daily News |location=London |date=21 November 1874 |issue=8916 }}</ref> ''Great Britain'' was on a voyage from Melbourne to Liverpool.<ref name=IMT211174>{{Cite news |title=Castletown and the South |newspaper=Isle of Man Times |location=Douglas |date=21 November 1874 |issue=708 |page=5 |volume=14 }}</ref>

===Later history===

[[File:MizzenMast.JPG|thumb|right|The ship's mizzen mast in Port Stanley]] In 1882 ''Great Britain'' was converted into a [[sailing ship]] to transport bulk coal.<ref name=salvage1970>{{cite web|title=Salvage of S.S. Great Britain 1970 |url=http://www.cachalots.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Great-Britain-chapter.pdf |publisher=The Cachalots |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627041607/http://www.cachalots.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Great-Britain-chapter.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2015 }}</ref> The work was done by Messrs. C. & E. Grayson, Liverpool.<ref name=Times301282>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Shipbuilding on the River Mersey |date=30 December 1882 |page=10 |issue=30704 |column=B }}</ref> She made her final voyage in 1886, after loading up with coal and leaving [[Penarth Dock]] in Wales for [[San Francisco]] on 8 February.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Penarth Mysteries: No 2&nbsp;– The Buried Secrets Of Penarth's Plymouth Park |url=https://penarthnews.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/the-rotting-rubbish-beneath-penarth-marinas-green-is-still-costing-us-a-fortune/ |publisher=Penarth Daily News |date=4 July 2013 |access-date=29 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313082644/https://penarthnews.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/the-rotting-rubbish-beneath-penarth-marinas-green-is-still-costing-us-a-fortune/ |archive-date=13 March 2016 }}</ref> After a fire on board en route she was found, on arrival at [[Port Stanley]] in the [[Falkland Islands]] where she ran aground, to be damaged beyond economic repair.<ref name=salvage1970 /><ref name=Times120686>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest Shipping Intelligence |date=12 June 1886 |issue=31784 |page=13 |column=B }}</ref> She was sold to the [[Falkland Islands Company]] and used, afloat, as a storage [[hulk (ship type)|hulk]] (coal bunker) until 1937, when she was towed to [[Sparrow Cove]], {{convert|3.5|mi|km}} from Port Stanley, scuttled and abandoned.<ref>{{cite web|title=SS Great Britain: 1970 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/12/06/pwaod_ship_002_feature.shtml |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428024423/http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2005/12/06/pwaod_ship_002_feature.shtml |archive-date=28 April 2014 }}</ref> As a bunker, she coaled the South Atlantic fleet that defeated Admiral [[Graf Maximilian von Spee]]'s fleet in the First World War [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Battle of the Falkland Islands (8th December 1914) |url=http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/battles/Battle-of-Falkland-Islands.php |publisher=The Wartime Memories Project |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095312/http://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/battles/Battle-of-Falkland-Islands.php |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> In the [[Second World War]], some of her iron was scavenged to repair {{HMS|Exeter|68|6}}, one of the [[Royal Navy]] ships that fought ''[[German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee|Graf Spee]]'' and was badly damaged during the [[Battle of the River Plate]].{{sfn|Haddelsey|Carroll|2014|p=1}}

===Notable passengers and crew===

The ''Great Britain'' carried over 33,000 people during her working life.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/travellers/|title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref> These included:

* [[Gustavus Vaughan Brooke]], Irish stage actor; travelled with Avonia Jones between Melbourne and Liverpool in 1861<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/7481|title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[Fanny Duberly]], author and chronicler of the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]; travelled between [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and [[Mumbai]] in 1857<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/36616/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* Colonel Sir [[George Everest]], British surveyor and geographer; served as Surveyor General of India; namesake of [[Mount Everest]]; travelled between [[Liverpool]] and [[New York City|New York]] in 1845<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/9/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref> 
* [[John Gray (master mariner)|John Gray]], Scottish born seaman; the ''Great Britain''{{'}}s longest serving captain; mysteriously disappeared while at sea; crew member 1852–1872<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/30012/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[James Hosken]], first captain of the ''Great Britain'' and before that the ''[[SS Great Western|Great Western]]'' from her maiden voyage until she ran aground in [[Dundrum Bay]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/29527/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref> 
* [[Avonia Jones]], American actress, travelled with Gustavus Vaughan Brooke between Melbourne and Liverpool in 1861<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/7669|title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[Sister Mary Paul Mulquin]], Roman Catholic nun and educationalist; travelled between Liverpool and Melbourne in 1873<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/26805/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's SS Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Parsons (artist)|Elizabeth Parsons]], English-Australian artist, travelled between Liverpool and Melbourne in 1870.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/22493/|title = SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[Anthony Trollope]], English novelist of the Victorian era; travelled between [[Liverpool]] and [[Melbourne]] in 1871, and wrote ''[[Lady Anna (novel)|Lady Anna]]'' during the voyage<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/24266/|title = SS Great Britain |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust }}</ref>
* [[Augustus Arkwright]], Royal Navy officer and a Conservative Party politician, and great grandson of [[Richard Arkwright]], travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/489|title = SS Great Britain |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust }}</ref>
* [[George Inness]], prominent American landscape painter, travelled with his wife between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/576/|title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain}}</ref>
* [[Henry Arthur Bright]], English merchant and author, and partner in [[Gibbs, Bright & Co.]], travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/508/|title=SS Great Britain |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust }}</ref>
* [[John Simcoe Macaulay]],  businessman and political figure in [[Upper Canada]], travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/590/|title=SS Great Britain |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust }}</ref>
* [[William Charles (fur trader)]], Pacific coast pioneer, [[Hudson's Bay Company]] factor, and a prominent figure in the early history of [[British Columbia]], travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/511|title = SS Great Britain  |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust }}</ref>
* [[Francis Pettit Smith]],  one of the inventors of the [[screw propeller]], travelled between Liverpool and New York in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/traveller/627/|title=Francis Pettit Smith |publisher=SS Great Britain Trust  }}</ref>
* [[James Edward Alexander]], Scottish explorer, author and soldier, travelled between Melbourne and Liverpool in 1862, publishing a weekly newspaper aboard the ship<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-12875072/view?partId=nla.obj-12899464|title=The Albatross : record of voyage of the "Great Britain" steam ship from Victoria to England in 1862}}</ref>