Isambard Kingdom Brunel

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Bob

The tunnel that caved in was the Thames tunnel at Rotherhithe

And so we are led to believe that Brunel himself stripped off and dived to the bottom of the Thames and found the leak!

Somehow, he plugged it with Faggots….No, not loose women……But bundles of willow etc

He must have been a very special person to do that?

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Changing the subject slightly to GREAT BRITAIN. Here is an extract from my last book

concerning the ship:

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I was fortunate, however, to come across the following account of this ship in The Pictorial

Gallery of Arts, 1847, and feel it is worth repeating, exactly as it appeared in print, 163 years ago.

 

“Perhaps there could not be a more appropriate ending to the present chapter than a slight

notice of that mighty specimen of steam-ship engineering, the Great Britain, which is

proceeding on her first voyage to America while this sheet is passing through the press. This

vessel is 289 feet long at the keel and 332 total length; the greatest width 51 feet, and the

depth 32; it displaces 16 feet of water when laden; its tonnage is 3,443 tons; the sheet iron

with which the water-surface is formed varies from half an inch to an inch thickness; the

boilers, weighing 200 tons, and capable of holding 200 tons of water, are supported upon

ten cast-iron beams, or girders, more than three feet in depth; the power is 1,000 horse;

the engines weigh 340 tons; the main shaft is upwards of 24 inches in diameter; the

vessel is propelled by a screw instead of paddle wheels, the screw having six arms,

15 ½ feet in diameter, 25 feet pitch, and weighs four tons; there are five water-tight

partitions in the hull; there is stowage for 1,500 tons of coal; there are four cylinders

to give the working power, each of 88 inches in diameter, and having a stroke of six feet.

In respect of the sailing arrangements, this mighty vessel has six masts, fitted with

wire-rope rigging; and it is provided, among other fittings, the new “swivel anchors”

alluded to on a former page. The passenger accommodations are on a scale compatible

with everything else. There are no less than two hundred and fifty berths, arranged

round two complete decks.

If this vessel, in respect to safety and speed (for commercial success depends on

many points beyond the reach of the shipbuilder), should equal the expectations of the

owners to the same degree as her predecessor the Great Western, she will indeed be

a fortunate vessel. From 1834 to 1844, that ship made seventy passages across the

Atlantic, comprising a distance of 256,000 miles. The average speed of the outward j

ourneys was 9 ½ miles an hour, and the homeward, 11 ¼ miles (the difference being

due to the effect of the “Gulf Stream” in the Atlantic, which retards the outward voyage

and hastens the homeward). The shortest outward passage was 12 days and 18 hours;

and the longest (in stormy weather) 22 days 6 hours. The shortest homeward voyage

was 12 days 7 hours; and the longest 15 days 8 hours. The average for the whole of t

he outward trips was 15 days 12 hours, and for the homeward, 13 days 9 hours. The

distance of each voyage was rather more than 3,000 miles. The greatest number of passengers taken at once was 152.

Can there be any doubt of the vast influence which the connection of steam, the press, the

ship and the railway carriage must exercise upon the future destinies of mankind; or is

there a more magnificent subject for speculation than the triumphs of civilization and

knowledge which will be the result of this confederation of the highest elements of

social progress – knowledge, commerce, and the facilities of intercourse – over all the

kingdoms of the earth?”

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I am more than a bit disapointed though, to discover that Brunel did not design the

engines – but we live & learn.

Bob

Edited By Bob Wilson on 22/06/2012 07:05:28

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Don't despair, Robert!

The engines for SS great Britain were designed by Thomas Guppy and Brunel himself, based on an earlier design by his father Marc Brunel. I would love to see the machine tools that made the various parts!

It was a fine piece of Victorian quality engineering and very innovative and had a happy sailing career, for most of it's working life

Your description is very informative

Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Thanks Bob,

Glad to know he did participate in the engine design. The above is not my description, it is copied word for word from the the "Pictorial Gallery of Arts, 1847", a book that I picked up on a car boot sale for £5 several years ago.

I have been aboard GREAT BRITAIN, but that was early on when only the outside was more-or-less complete. Inside, it was still an empty shell!

Bob

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Colin / Bob / Bob

No one can break the laws of physics but Brunel knew how to push the physical limits of the materials from that time and unlike the armament manufacturers he didn't do intermediate designs intended to create more profit but went straight to the 'cutting edge' of what could be done.

Working from the premiss that Brunel had built such a thing the desktop study would then only establish if the design constraints could have been met.

Of course this is all conjecture but it does give the old grey matter something to do.

Bob the sides of the machine would have been circular so as not to present any large flat surface to either the sea, weather or attacking ships, imagine it as one very big round turret with the guns sticking out of the middle top at 60deg. looking a bit like 2 frisbees glued together.

Paul

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