SS Great Western
Oak-hulled paddle-wheel steamship / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SS Great Western was a wooden-hulled paddle-wheel steamship with four masts,[2] the first steamship purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic, and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company.[3] Completed in 1838, she was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1837 to 1839, the year the SS British Queen went into service.
PS Great Western in 1838 | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Great Western |
Namesake | Great Western Railway |
Operator | Great Western Steamship Company |
Route | Bristol – New York |
Builder | William Patterson, Bristol, England |
Laid down | 26 June 1836 |
Launched | 19 July 1837 |
Completed | 31 March 1838 |
Maiden voyage |
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Out of service | December 1846 in Liverpool |
Notes |
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Operator | Royal Mail Steam Packet Company |
Acquired | 24 April 1847 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1856 |
Notes | Transatlantic mail service Southampton – West Indies[1] |
Operator | British Government |
Acquired | 1855 |
Fate | Scrapped October 1856 |
Notes | Operated as troop transport in the Crimean War |
General characteristics | |
Type | Oak-hulled paddle-wheel steamship |
Tonnage | 1,340 GRT[citation needed], later 1,700 GRT |
Displacement | 2300 ton |
Length | 71.6 m (234 ft 11 in), later 76.8 m (252 ft 0 in) long |
Beam | 17.59 m (57 ft 9 in) across wheels |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | Two paddle-wheels |
Speed | 8.5 knots |
Capacity | 128 passengers in 1st class + 20 servants |
Crew | 60 |
Designed by British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Great Western proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful wooden Atlantic paddle-steamers.[4] She was capable of making record Blue Riband voyages as late as 1843.[4] Great Western worked to New York for eight years until her owners went out of business.[5] She was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and was scrapped in 1856 after serving as a troopship during the Crimean War.[3]