FOOTNOTES:
[426] Mr. Brunel’s estimate to the directors of the cost of the launch was 14,000l.
[427] “What fleet (exclaims the writer of a leading article in one of the London daily papers) could stand in the way of such a mass, weighing some 30,000 tons, and driven through the water by 12,000 horse-power at the rate of 22 or 23 miles an hour?”
[428] See Mr. Griffiths’ speech in the House of Commons, 9th July, 1858.
[429] Extract from the pilot’s report:
“On arriving at Sea Reach I found the vessel so completely under command with the use of her own paddle-wheels and steam-engines, that I decided on casting off the steam-tugs altogether, and proceeding afterwards without any assistance. On reaching the North Foreland, we experienced a stiff double-reefed topsail breeze, during which other vessels were pitching and tossing a good deal, and, on passing the Downs, the wind increased to a close-reefed breeze, and many large vessels were lying with two anchors down. Throughout, the vessel steered with the greatest ease, and, literally, without any perceptible motion, and for some time I have no hesitation in stating that, computing our distance by points on land, which admit of no mistake as to distance, we were making fully 14 knots an hour with both paddle-wheels and screw-engines working fully one-third under their pressure. The misadventure, which occurred off Hastings, in no way interfered with the working or progress of the vessel, and, with the single engineering accident in question, we made the voyage from Deptford to Portland without any check or interference of any kind. The vessel is, in every respect, an excellent sea-boat, and I may state without any hesitation that, with sufficient sea-room, she is even more easily handled and under command than an ordinary ship, either sailing-vessel or steam.”
[430] Her daily performances were as follows:
| 17th June | 285 | knots |
| 18th June | 296 | knots |
| 19th June | 296 | knots |
| 20th June | 276 | knots |
| 21st June | 304 | knots |
| 22nd June | 280 | knots |
| 23rd June | 302 | knots |
| 24th June | 299 | knots |
| 25th June | 325 | knots |
| 26th June | 333 | knots |
| 27th June | 254 | knots |
[431] Letter from passenger in the Great Eastern.
[432] 14th October, 1860.
[433] In the various newspapers and reports I have searched for information about this ship, and other inquiries, I have never had any reason assigned for the Great Eastern not having been placed, when ready for sea, on the India line, from which so much was expected of her, and for which she was specially built; or why her new directors sent her, on hap-hazard and expensive cruises, down channel and across the Atlantic, when every trip showed a ruinous loss. But I suppose the true reason is to be found in the fact, that they could not obtain for either India or Australia sufficient goods and passengers to justify the heavy outlay necessary for such long voyages (the cost of outfit may in itself have been an obstacle), and that, in truth, there was no branch of maritime commerce wherein she could then be profitably employed.
[434] “Thursday.—This morning we have a fresh gale, with a good sea. Noon: A heavy gale; wind, from north to west; sea, tremendous. We roll very heavily, and ship many seas. I now begin to understand the true meaning of a gale in the Atlantic. The captain looks anxious, but the passengers have faith in the ‘big ship.’ The ‘rolling’ is fearful, and quite upsets all persons’ notions of the steadiness of the Great Eastern. Two o’clock: Things look worse. The captain tries to put our head to the wind. The port paddle gives way with a great crash in the attempt. The jib is set, I presume to aid in steering, but it is blown to ribands in a few moments. The rolling increases; the deck presents an angle of 45 degrees, and none but experienced seamen can walk about. Attention is suddenly drawn to the boats; they are suspended on either side, but mostly on fixed davits. The heavy rolling brings the boats in violent contact with the waves. The tackling of the long boat becomes deranged; a man and a boy enter it to remedy the evil, but the wind strikes the boat, and gives the occupants forcible ejectment, happily upon the deck, and in a moment it is floating far away from us. Four other boats share a similar fate in rapid succession. Continued efforts are made to bring the ship to the wind. I watch the men at the wheel—there is almost an army of them. 5.45.—Our position is indeed critical. A tremendous sea has just struck our stern. It has broken her rudder head. Still, we are not quite at the mercy of the waves; we have our screw, and we have our starboard paddle. The wind is now getting to the south-west.
“Friday, 6 A.M.—We are drifting before the wind at the rate of 3 or 4 knots an hour. We have never been more than 300 miles from land. We are drifting eastward now; but, even if the wind does not change, it will be many days before we can reach land in this manner. The pumps are all going. I do not like the sound, but am assured they have complete mastery over the water. The water has got in through the ports and by way of the deck.
“There is scarcely a cabin in the ship to which the water has not found its way. Many require a change of clothes, and the hatchways of the baggage stores are opened. The scene that presents itself defies all description. The water has got in, and in sufficient force to float even many of the larger articles. The rocking of the ship has set the whole mass in motion.”
[435] “From a paper of great interest it would seem that, approximately, the cube of the height of the waves is proportional to the square of the velocity of the wind. Most of the conclusions drawn in this paper are from observations made during the voyages of the Bonite and Astrolabe.” (“Naval Science,” October 1874, Part II., p. 159.)
[436] See paper on “The Difficulties of Speed Calculations,” by Mr. Denny, read at the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 23rd March, 1875, pp. 2, 3, and 4.
[437] See [Appendices Nos. 10] and [17], pp. 606 and 617.
[438] 1000l. per month was paid for the use of the ship alone. When the agreement expired in 1867, she was chartered by a French Company to carry passengers between New York and Brest for the Paris exhibition. Her cabins were then altered and redecorated, and new boilers fitted to the screw engines. But the French Company was unsuccessful, and the Great Eastern only made one voyage in its service.
[439] Towards the close of the year 1857, when the prospects of the Great Eastern were exciting much public attention, the author ventured to offer to his constituents at Tynemouth, nearly all of whom were interested in ships, the following remarks (reported in the newspapers of the period) with regard to her:
“Very shortly there will be launched a ship of vast and hitherto unparalleled dimensions: I allude to the Great Eastern. If that ship answers, I do not know where we shall be with our small vessels. As this is a subject, upon which opinions have been greatly at variance, perhaps you would like to hear mine. It must be a matter of deep interest to all present, because you are all directly or indirectly interested in the shipping trade, to know whether such a ship as the Great Eastern is, or is not, likely to answer in a commercial point of view, and I venture on this topic because I have heard strong opinions expressed to the effect that, commercially, she will be a great triumph. For my part, I believe her to be a great triumph of mechanical skill, I believe that no finer or stronger vessel has ever been put together: so far as regards her formation, I think she is a very splendid model: but, with reference to the speed she is expected to attain, I doubt very much whether she will ever realise the anticipation of her builder, though I think that we, as a nation, ought to be proud of having men who can produce so marvellous a piece of mechanism. But we must look, also, to the commercial element, because in this, I, and most of you are deeply interested. If such a ship as the Great Eastern be found to answer commercially, most of our property will go to the wall, for, in a short time, our small vessels will be of very little use to us. The course of commerce is this: If a Manchester merchant has 1000 bales of a particular description of goods to send to Calcutta, he does not send the whole of them in one bottom, because he might thus overstock the market. On the contrary, he sends them in from four to six different vessels, and he does this for two reasons: first, that by so doing he feeds the market; and, secondly, that he gets, thereby, quicker returns. The principle of commerce is to send out supplies in relays. Then again, we find that passengers do not go out in masses, but, at such intervals, as suit them best. And, in times of war, statesmen find it the wisest plan to send out not 1000, much less 10,000 men in one bottom, but from 400 to 600, at the utmost, in one ship. And this must appear to be sound policy, when we picture to ourselves what might be the result of sending out a whole army in the Great Eastern. I do not take into consideration the contingency of the ship going to the bottom. I shall not ask you to imagine so fearful a calamity, but, supposing anything happened to her machinery and occasioned a serious stoppage, when expedition was necessary to the attainment of a certain object, the effect would be that the whole army would be detained. No Government would dare to send so large a force in one vessel. Therefore, looking at the question, politically as well as from a commercial point of view, I am of opinion that we have nothing to fear from the competition of leviathans such as the Great Eastern.”
[440] If any further proof was required that the Great Eastern proved a failure in the two points, speed and comfort at sea, on which her protectors mainly built their hopes, it will be found in a small and amusing book by M. Jules Verne, translated from the French, and published by Messrs. Sampson Low and Co. (1875), entitled “The Floating City.” M. Verne, who made a voyage in this ship in 1867 from Liverpool to New York, records, from the official returns, her speed as not exceeding 250 nautical miles each day on the average, and he describes her movements during strong winds as “rolling frightfully, her bare masts describing immense circles in the air.”
[441] It has been stated that the loss upon the Great Eastern up to this period amounted to close upon 1,000,000l. sterling!