The preparations for the new presses were pushed on vigorously, but it was not till the afternoon of Thursday, December 3, that things were again ready for a start.
The pumps were set to work and the tackle hauled upon. The ship made several short slips of a foot or so, and then moved more than 5 feet at one slide. When darkness set in she had moved about 14 feet, in slips of greater or less length.[168]
On Friday, December 4, all was ready early, and during the morning everything went as well as on the day before; but in the afternoon increased difficulty was found in getting the ship to move, and the 14-inch press at the after cradle burst, as did also a 7-inch cylinder of one of the coupled presses.
Notwithstanding the delay due to the bursting of the presses, the ship was moved some 30 feet; but there was no longer any chance of getting her afloat at the spring-tides, and the increased adhesion gave cause for the fear that still more power would have to be applied.
On the next day, Saturday, December 5, the ship made a short slip; but, although the pressure was kept constantly on, no further advance was made until late in the afternoon. Mr. Brunel then tried suddenly letting go the strain on the stern tackle. The sudden relief of the side-way strain on the end of the ship sent a tremor through the hull, which served to destroy the adhesion, and she slid several inches. This operation was several times repeated, and although there were a number of vexatious delays from pushing-pieces giving way and other mishaps, she was moved by the evening a distance of about 7 feet, the resistance due to adhesion being very great.
On Sunday some of the presses farthest from the cradles were moved down the ways nearer to the ship, so as to avoid the necessity of using long pushing-pieces, which required much attention to prevent their bulging sideways. The river tackle now consisted of the bow and stern steam-engine purchases, and two crabs and tackle, one at each end of the ship. The moorings opposite the centre of the ship having proved worthless, it was necessary to lay down new moorings, and it was found more convenient to lay them opposite the ends of the ship.
The next day, Monday the 7th, after the commencement of operations, considerable delay was caused by the failure of some of the feed pipes of the presses. These defects were not cured till after dinner-time, when the operations were resumed, and before dark the ship was moved about 6 feet.
On the following morning several short slips were made, and the ship had been moved about 4½ feet; but, at 10 o’clock, a dense fog came on, and rendered it impossible to proceed. The next day was occupied in re-arranging the tackle and presses.
These were not ready till the morning of Thursday, December 10; when, on the presses being again set to work, and one of the chains being as before suddenly slackened, the ship made one slip of a little over a foot; but, on the strain being again applied, two of the anchors began to drag. As it was now essential to have the river tackle, in order by shaking the ship to destroy the adhesion, and by the drag of the catenaries to increase the length of the slides, Mr. Brunel determined to dispense with the anchors, and to attach the chain cables to piles connected by framework. These abutments or pulling points for the chains were now constructed on the other side of the river, opposite the bow and stern of the ship.
The launching operations last described, namely, from December 3 to December 10, were full of incident. Nor was the scene wanting in that animation which agreeably interests a bystander, the more so if he is not thoroughly conversant with the meaning of all he sees and hears, so that he mistakes a loudly spoken word, loudly spoken merely that it may be plainly heard, for a prompt and urgent command.