“Ah,” I replied, “that is quite a different matter;” and, seeing that I did not care to answer his question, he repeated it, adding, “If she belonged to you in what trade would you place her?” “Turn her into a show,” I said, with a laugh, “something attractive to the masses; for, if you insist on having my opinion about her commercial capabilities, it is only in that direction where you can look for profit. She will never pay as a ship. Send her to Brighton, dig out a hole in the beach and bed her stern in it, and if well set she would make a substantial pier and her deck a splendid promenade; her hold would make magnificent salt-water baths and her ’tween decks a grand hotel, with restaurant, smoking and dancing saloons, and I know not what all. She would be a marvellous attraction for the cockneys, who would flock to her in thousands.” And, as I saw he was far from pleased with my answer—no wonder—though given half in joke and half in earnest, I added, “As you would insist on having my opinion, I have given it to you candidly, for I really do not know any other trade, at present, in which she will be likely to pay so well.” Stephenson laughed, but Brunel never forgave me.
CHAPTER XIV.
Commencement of launch of the Great Eastern, November 3rd, 1857—Christened by Miss Hope—Comparative failure—Renewed efforts scarcely more successful—Hydraulic ram bursts—Floats of her own accord, January 31st, 1858—The whole scheme of this launch a thorough mistake—Difficulties of the company—Offer to Government wisely declined—Further proposal to employ her as a cable layer—Makes her first sea trip, September 9th, 1859—Accident off Hastings, and the opinion of the pilot—Reaches Holyhead; and details of her voyage—Makes her first voyage across the Atlantic, June 1860—Second voyage, May 1861—Third voyage to Quebec, July 1861—Fourth voyage, September 1861—Heavy gale off S.W. coast of Ireland, and compelled to return to Cork—General remarks on the sea-going qualities of different ships, and on the effect of wind in causing “rollers”—Real truth about “momentum”—Very large ships not so safe as smaller ones, as their damages are less easily repaired—Chief later use of the Great Eastern as a cable layer, but, not even here, remunerative—Concluding remarks.
Commencement of launch of the Great Eastern, November 3rd, 1857.
After various unavoidable delays rendered necessary by such an unexampled experiment, the day for the launching of the Great Eastern was fixed for the 3rd of November, 1857.
A vast concourse of people assembled on land and river to witness the launch. Crowds of naval and scientific men from all parts of the world were there, and, in spite of the inclement season of the year, numerous members of the aristocracy came to see this marvellous feat; nor indeed was royalty, itself, unrepresented. Probably no such multitude had on any previous occasion congregated on the banks of the Thames. It was a magnificent sight, but one, also, the practised eye could not survey without apprehension of danger. The preparations for her launch were, it is true, made with the object of lowering the vessel slowly into the water by means of cradles erected on the launching ways, but if the huge mass had received the impetus which in all similar cases is given to vessels when the retaining and supporting shores are removed, the cables, though of unusual strength, would have proved altogether insufficient to restrain so ponderous a weight when once in motion; they must have snapped asunder like hempen cords, and, considering the number of small boats and steamers full of people at the time on the river, and the crowds on its banks, no one can contemplate without a shudder the loss of life which, under such circumstances, would have probably occurred.
By reference to the following illustration the reader will better understand the nature of the danger apprehended, and, also, see at a glance the position of the great ship as she lay on the cradles ready for launching.
Christened by Miss Hope.
The ceremony of christening the vessel was performed by Miss Hope (now Duchess of Newcastle), daughter of the Chairman of the Great Eastern Steam Navigation Company. When the moment for launching arrived, the interest of the vast assembly of people who had gathered together to witness the operation became intense, increasing as the shores were one by one struck from under her and the last cable fastenings loosened. But the leviathan did not seem to move, and it was, only, when the stationary engines tightened the chains which passed from the vessel to the opposite shore, that any motion became perceptible. A tremendous cheer then burst from the excited multitude. Immediately afterwards, however, there was a pause: silent suspense again prevailed, with increased anxiety blended now with evil forebodings. A whisper passed along the dense crowd that the slide down the inclined plane of 3½ feet at the stem and 7 feet at the stern thus effected, was of an alarming character. It was one, too, which had not been anticipated; and, when it became known that the rapid revolution of the drum and fly-wheels caused by the sudden motion of the vessel had seriously injured several of the men employed upon these ponderous machines, there were grave apprehensions of further danger.