Editing SS Great Eastern (section)

====Construction====
[[File:SS Great Eastern diagram.jpg|thumb|Sectional plan of ''Great Eastern'']]
[[File:The Great Eastern under construction at Millwall (4313594000).jpg|thumb|left|Construction of ''Great Eastern'', August 18, 1855]]
Brunel entered into a partnership with [[John Scott Russell]], an experienced naval architect and ship builder, to build ''Great Eastern''. Unknown to Brunel, Russell was in financial difficulties. The two men disagreed on many details. It was Brunel's final great project, and he collapsed from a stroke after being photographed on her deck, and died only ten days later, a mere four days after ''Great Eastern''{{'}}s first [[sea trial]]s. About the ship, Brunel said "I have never embarked on any one thing to which I have so entirely devoted myself, and to which I have devoted so much time, thought and labour, on the success of which I have staked so much reputation."

''Great Eastern'' was built by Messrs Scott Russell & Co. of [[Millwall]],[[Middlesex]], England, the [[keel]] being [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 1 May 1854. She was {{convert|211|m|ftin}} long, {{convert|25|m|ftin}} wide, with a [[draft (hull)|draught]] of {{convert|6.1|m|ftin}} unloaded and {{convert|9.1|m|ftin}} fully laden, and [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] 32,000 tons fully loaded. In comparison, SS ''[[RMS Persia|Persia]]'', launched in 1856, was {{cvt|119|m|ftin}} long with a {{cvt|14|m|ftin}} [[Beam (nautical)|beam]]. She was at first named ''Leviathan'', but her high building and launching costs ruined the Eastern Steam Navigation Company and so she lay unfinished for a year before being sold to the Great Eastern Ship Company and finally renamed ''Great Eastern''.

The hull was an all-iron construction, a [[double hull]] of {{convert|19|mm|adj=on}} wrought iron in {{cvt|0.86|m|ftin}} plates with ribs every {{cvt|1.8|m|ftin}}. Her roughly 30,000 iron plates weighed {{convert|1/3|LT|kg|disp=flip}} each, and were cut over individually-made wooden templates before being rolled to the required curvature.<ref name=":1" /> Internally the hull was divided by two {{cvt|107|m|ftin}} long, {{cvt|18|m|ftin}} high, longitudinal [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] and further transverse bulkheads dividing the ship into nineteen compartments. ''Great Eastern'' was the first ship to incorporate a double-skinned hull, a feature which would not be seen again in a ship for 100 years, but which would later become compulsory for reasons of safety. To maximize her fuel capacity, stored coal was bunkered around and over her 10 boilers; which provided steam at 172 kPa (25 PSI).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=William Henry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfsOAAAAYAAJ |title=Descriptive Particulars of the "Great Eastern" Steam Ship with Illustrations and Sectional Plans |date=1857 |publisher=Marshall & Sons |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> She had sail, paddle and screw propulsion. The paddle-wheels were {{cvt|17|m|ftin}} in diameter and the four-bladed screw-propeller was {{cvt|7.3|m|ftin}} across. The power came from four [[steam engine]]s for the paddles and an additional engine for the [[propeller]]. The cylinders for the paddle engines measured {{cvt|1.87|m|in}} bore and {{cvt|4.3|m|ft}} stroke. The four cylinders for the screw engine measured {{cvt|2.13|m|in}} bore and {{cvt|1.21|m|ft}} stroke.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zP9MAQAAMAAJ&q=Great%20Eastern | title=The Progress of Marine Engineering: From the Time of Watt Until the Present Day | last1=Main | first1=Thomas | date=7 August 1893 }}</ref> Total power was estimated at {{convert|8,000|hp|order=flip}}. She had six [[Mast (sailing)|masts]] (said to be named after the days of a week – Monday being the fore mast and Saturday the [[Spanker (sail)|spanker mast]]), providing space for {{convert|1,686|m2}} of sails (7 gaff and maximum 9 (usually 4) square sails), rigged similar to a topsail schooner with a main gaff sail ([[fore-and-aft]] sail) on each mast, one "jib" on the fore mast and three square sails on masts no. 2 and no. 3 (Tuesday & Wednesday); for a time mast no. 4 was also fitted with 3 yards. In later years, some of the yards were removed. According to some sources she would have carried {{cvt|5,435|m2}} in sails.{{who|date=September 2021}} Setting sails turned out to be unusable at the same time as the paddles and screw were under steam, because the hot exhaust from the five (later four) [[Funnel (ship)|funnels]] would set them on fire. Her maximum speed was {{convert|13|kn}}. She was involved in a series of accidents during construction, with 6 workers being killed.<ref>"Brunel's ships p147"</ref>