SS Great Western

The Great Western was a passenger steamer, which was designed by railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( 1806-1859 ). She was the largest steamship of its time and won in 1838 on the West and the East Course in each case the Blue Riband.

The ship was operated by the Great Western Steamship Company, and was the first steamboat that was built for the transatlantic passenger service. Her hull was built in a traditional setting, and reinforced with iron plates.

The Great Western had two paddle wheels. These were powered by two Seitenbalanciermaschinen with a nominal output of 225 hp ( 2-cylinder Maudslay steam engine ). The cylinder had a diameter of 1,867 mm and a stroke of 2,134 mm.

The steam was produced in four smoke tube boilers, ship with three furnaces. The coal bunker preconceived 800 tons of coal and could be flooded when the coal was consumed. The paddle wheels had four split joint blades. These were immersed with a Zykloidensteuerung vertically into the water, and therefore ran quieter than radial vanes.

On April 8, 1838, the Great Western ran in Bristol, England, on her maiden voyage to New York. With only 24 first-class passengers on board the ship was clearly underutilized. After 15 days at sea, the ship reached New York. On this trip she hit with an average speed of 8.66 knots Sirius and won the Blue Riband.

Until 1846, the Great Western Atlantic traffic was a passenger ship. During the Crimean War she served as a troop transport, until it was finally broken up in 1856 in London.

Trivia

The plastic model manufacturer Airfix produced in the 1970s, a kit of the SS Great Western in scale 1: 180 The model was reissued on the 200th birthday of Brunel in 2006 with part number 08252G. It seems that both versions are out of print.