ss Great Britain
The Somerset-based company Haynes, famous for its car manuals, has branched out to launch a special version for Bristol’s most famous ship – the ss Great Britain.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ss Great Britain was a world first when she was launched in 1843. As the world’s largest ship and the first iron-hulled passenger vessel she was hugely ambitious and thousands flocked to her launch in Bristol, with many doubting she would even float. She became a huge success, travelling 32 times around the globe and clocking up nearly 1 millionmiles at sea. Now in the Haynes ss Great Britain Enthusiasts’ Manual, Brian Lavery shows how this iconic ship was created and tells the story of her passengers and crew in compelling detail.
In classic Haynes style the ss Great Britain Enthusiasts’ Manual examines the engineering background of this extraordinary ship. The book gives rare insights into the design and construction process that Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his partners and investors went through. Details as to why they chose iron, the innovative screw propeller instead of paddles, and her great size – 322 feet long and 55 feet wide – are all covered. Every decision was brave and ahead of its time. The ship’s history is described and illustrated in impressive detail using archive illustrations from the ss Great Britain Trust’s collection and specially commissioned photographs of the ship’s anatomy.
The boat made her inaugural voyage to New York in 1845 and was the world’s first luxury passenger ship. But her New York crossings came to an end when she ran aground at Dundrum Bay, in Ireland in 1846. The resulting high cost of salvage and repair finished off the Great Western Steamship Company and the Great Britain was sold to Gibbs and Bright & Co, to capitalise on the Australian gold rush and carry gold prospectors. The voyage from Liverpool to Australia took two months and the resulting isolation of the Victorian passengers has provided us with a wonderful archive of diaries. The Haynes ss Great Britain Enthusiasts’ Manual uses these diaries to paint a vivid picture of life on board ship, the concerts, amateur dramatics and romances that blossomed. After working as a troop ship in the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny (Sepoy Wars), she ended her working life moored in the Falkland Islands and used as a storage hulk before being abandoned in 1937. In 1970 an ambitious salvage and rescue operation brought her home to Bristol where today she is conserved and is one of the UK’s top visitor attractions.
The ss Great Britain Enthusiasts’ Manual, by Brian Lavery, is available from May 3 from all good bookshops, at Brunel’s ss Great Britain, and direct from Haynes at www.haynes.co.uk or call 01963 442030, priced £21.99.
