SS Great Britain

Birthday present - part 2.

The SS Great Britain has been top of my list of "things to visit in the south" for a very long time. I'm not sure what fascinates me most; the fact she is the first iron ship, & the first with a propellor rather than paddle-wheels - the grand dame of all modern ships, the fact that she traveled a million miles in her service-life, that she played her part in both world wars, or that she was successfully recovered from the Falkland Islands and brought home to Bristol for restoration. Whichever bit of her history you look at she's a real trooper.

In WWI she provided coal to the South Atlantic Fleet, notably HMS Inflexible and HMS Invincible, prior to the Battle of the Falklands.

In WWII, following the Battle of the River Plate and the sinking of the Graf Spee, HMS Exeter limped back to the Falklands and repaired her damage with plates taken from the Great Britain

Since the Great Britain was rescued and returned to Bristol in 1970, she has been partly restored and opened to the public. She resides in the Bristol dry dock where she was originally built. The hull is sealed below a glass "sea" in a controlled atmosphere to preserve her - it's almost like diving!

At her launch in 1845 she was the largest and fastest ship in the world, her 4 cylinder, steam engine pushed her along at 12 knots. She was a marvel of the Victorian age, carrying 252 passengers and 130 crew.

By comparison the cruisers of the WW1 German Grand Fleet were capable of 28 knots. Cunard's current flagship, the Queen Mary 2 which entered service in 2004, is capable of 28 knots, she carries 2620 passengers and 1253 crew.

If we ever reach the "Star Trek" age, I'd like to think we'd call the first one SS Great Britain - ss meaning star ship in this case, of course.

Thanks B for another fantastic birthday present :)

Clockwise from top left;
Looking up through the glass sea
The engine plate
The stern
One of the six masts.