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SS Great Eastern

Passenger and Ocean Liner Vessels

SS Great Eastern is an iron hulled steamship launched in 1858, designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel as by far the largest ship built up to that time, intended to carry enough coal and passengers to sail to Australia and back without refueling. Never commercially successful as a passenger liner, she later found lasting purpose laying the first successful permanent transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866.

Facts
Year
1858 1
Significance
By far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, with capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling. 1
Manufacturer or Builder
Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works, London 1
FAQs

What became of the Great Eastern at the end of her career?

She became a floating music hall in Liverpool and was broken up in 1889.

After her years as a cable layer she finished her life as a floating music hall and advertising hoarding for the department store Lewis's in Liverpool. She was broken up on Merseyside in 1889.
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Exemplifies

Invented By

Sources
1. Wikipedia: SS Great Eastern
Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, first sentence
    SS Great Eastern was an iron-hulled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London, England.
  • Lead paragraph, second sentence
    Powered by both sidewheels and a screw propeller, she was by far the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling.
  • In Group: Early Steamships, Lead sentence
    SS Great Eastern was an iron-hulled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co.
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