SS GREAT EASTERN: Brunel's Great Babe (1859)

This is an updated old video.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a brilliant, British engineer whose works included railways, tunnels, bridges, and ships constructed in the first half of the 19th Century. His career consisted of endless innovation during the height of the industrial revolution. He never allowed himself to be encumbered by the limits of the current technology. He dared to make the impossible a reality. His last great project was the building of the colossal GREAT EASTERN. Her immense size would make her capable of reaching Australia without refueling. Brunel himself died after her maiden voyage. This was a bit of a blessing as much of his ”Great Babe’s” life as a passenger ship was unsuccessful. Her owners pressed her into service as a transatlantic liner for which she was ill-suited (making EASTbound voyages to Australia was the entire point of her vast dimensions). After her disastrous career as a passenger ship she eventually found success laying the transatlantic telegraph cable. Such an operation demanded a vessel of immense size, and as a result the Great Eastern finally found her calling. Despite her troubles she is remembered as an engineering triumph due to her size and innovation. Her unique combination of 6 masts, 5 funnels, side paddle-wheels, and a single screw guarantees her a distinct place in maritime history. The nearly 700ft long vessel would remain the largest ever built until White Star's RMS CELTIC of 1901.