拍品專文
Arguably the most famous steamship ever built, the Great Britain may be said to have spanned the entire history of the ocean liner. Designed by the visionary Isambard Kingdom Brunel for his Great Western Steam Ship Company of Bristol, she fulfilled all his ambitions to set new standards on the North Atlantic passenger route and proved remarkably successful in every respect. The first ocean-going screw-powered passenger liner in the modern sense, she was also the very first iron-hulled ship of any significant size and was, in fact, the largest vessel in the world (3,450 tons) when she was completed.
All this innovation took time however, and even though work began on her in July 1839, she was not ready for sea until January 1845 by which time she had become the object of great public interest. After several more months in London for minor alterations, the giant steamship finally cleared Liverpool for her maiden voyage to New York on 26 July 1845 and made the crossing in just under 15 days. Her luxurious appointments and consistent reliability made her an extremely popular ship amongst the travelling public but, partly as the result of her failure to secure a government mail subsidy, her owners were beset by financial problems from the start and Great Britain had to be sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co. of Liverpool in December 1850. Her new owners altered her extensively, removing two masts and giving her an additional funnel, and after only one return passage to New York, she was put to work on their profitable Australia run which she continued to sail for the rest of her service life. Laid up in 1876 after completing thirty-two round trips, Gibbs, Bright eventually sold her and, shortly afterwards, her engines were removed and she was converted to a full-rigged sailing ship. Damaged rounding Cape Horn in 1886, she limped into the Falkland Islands where she was deemed not worth repairing and relegated to a wool and then coal hulk until finally scuttled in 1937. The remarkable strength of her iron-hulled construction ensured her survival however, and in 1970, she was refloated and brought home to Bristol where she can still be viewed in the same dry-dock that built her.
All this innovation took time however, and even though work began on her in July 1839, she was not ready for sea until January 1845 by which time she had become the object of great public interest. After several more months in London for minor alterations, the giant steamship finally cleared Liverpool for her maiden voyage to New York on 26 July 1845 and made the crossing in just under 15 days. Her luxurious appointments and consistent reliability made her an extremely popular ship amongst the travelling public but, partly as the result of her failure to secure a government mail subsidy, her owners were beset by financial problems from the start and Great Britain had to be sold to Gibbs, Bright & Co. of Liverpool in December 1850. Her new owners altered her extensively, removing two masts and giving her an additional funnel, and after only one return passage to New York, she was put to work on their profitable Australia run which she continued to sail for the rest of her service life. Laid up in 1876 after completing thirty-two round trips, Gibbs, Bright eventually sold her and, shortly afterwards, her engines were removed and she was converted to a full-rigged sailing ship. Damaged rounding Cape Horn in 1886, she limped into the Falkland Islands where she was deemed not worth repairing and relegated to a wool and then coal hulk until finally scuttled in 1937. The remarkable strength of her iron-hulled construction ensured her survival however, and in 1970, she was refloated and brought home to Bristol where she can still be viewed in the same dry-dock that built her.