Great Eastern (1858)
Builder:
John Scott Russell & Company
Millwall, London, England
Keel laid:
May 1, 1854 (a)
Launched:
January 31, 1858
Year built:
1858
Completed:
September 1859
Fate:
Sold Nov. 1887 for £16,000 to Henry Bath & Sons and scrapped in Liverpool in 1889.
Notes
(a):
Beginning of construction date, ship was flat bottomed, no keel.
Owner
Eastern Steam Navigation Company
London, England
1858:
Great Ship Company Ltd.
London, England
Dimensions, machinery and performance
Length:
692'
Hull:
Iron
Beam:
83'
Engines:
1 four cylinder (paddlewheel) by J. Scott Russell
1 four cylinder (screw) by James Watt
Across wheels:
120'
Boilers:
10 (4 paddle, 6 screw) 25 psi (c)
Wheel diameter:
Propeller:
56' (a)
24'
Speed:
13 knots
9 knots (screw only)
Draft:
30' (full)
HP:
1,000 (paddle)
1,600 (screw)
Gross tons:
22,500 (32,000 displacement)
Funnels:
5 (d)
Crew:
400
Masts:
6 (rigged for sail)
Passengers:
4,000 (b)
Sail:
18,148 sq. ft.
Construction notes
(a):
52' after replacement following the storm of Sept. 1861.
(b):
Was never fitted for more than 3,000 passengers.
Designed to carry up to 10,000 troops in wartime.
(c):
2 removed to lay the Atlantic cable, replaced in 1867.
(d):
4th funnel removed to lay the Atlantic cable, replaced in 1867.
12 watertight compartments, 3 million 1" rivits all hand driven, 30,000 7/8" thick plates.
Carried 20 lifeboats, original concept called for two 100' steamers to be carried alongside,
but this idea was abandoned after the collapse of the Eastern SN Co.