The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer Part 44

The transverse section shows the arrangement of the cabins.

Mr. Brunel intended that the upper saloons (T) should be used as sitting-rooms, and the lower saloons (S and U) as dining-rooms. These were to be lit and ventilated by shafts on either side of the upper saloons, rising up to the skylights on deck. The smell of dinner was thus to be kept away from the sitting-rooms. The cabins (Z) on either side were to be approached from the saloons by pa.s.sages and steps, as shown on the section. The saloon marked (Q) is the first-cla.s.s, and (R) the ladies' saloon.

The ship is rigged with six masts. The arrangements of the masts and rigging were especially intended for the Eastern voyages. At the extreme bow and stern are low masts, which carry trysails and staysails. The sails on these masts were chiefly intended for manuvring the ship.

She also has three large masts, the lower masts being of iron. The two foremost of these are square-rigged, and all three of them have trysails and staysails. The aftermost of the three was also made strong enough to be fitted with square yards, in the event of its being desirable to rig it in that manner. Aft of the three princ.i.p.al masts is a large mast, only intended to be rigged with fore-and-aft canvas. The ship has no bowsprit, the stay of the foremost mast being attached to the stem inside the bulwarks.

In the beginning of June 1860, the ship made a trip from Southampton down the Channel, as far as the Start Lighthouse and back, to try her engines; and on June 17 she sailed for New York, under the command of Captain Vine Hall, who had succeeded Captain Harrison. She arrived there, after a prosperous voyage, on June 28, and was received with great enthusiasm. The ship left New York on August 16, and, having called at Halifax, arrived at Milford Haven on August 26.

In the course of these two voyages the stern-bearing of the screw-shaft, which was in white metal, had worn down between two and three inches.

With the view of allowing for any depression of the stern-bearing, the lengths of the screw-shaft were not rigidly connected throughout, but the end length, attached to the screw, was coupled to the remainder of the shaft by a universal joint, consisting of two double cranks. Thus the two shafts might be, to a considerable extent, out of line, and yet revolve efficiently.

When the ship returned to Milford Haven, a gridiron was prepared on the beach, and she was grounded on it; and the screw-shaft was drawn in. By this time it had become the general opinion that a shaft cased with bra.s.s, and running in lignum-vitae bearings, was the best. A lathe and machinery for making the shaft revolve were provided, and fixed in the stern of the ship; the shaft was turned, and bra.s.s collars shrunk on.

The bearing was made with lignum-vitae, and the bra.s.s-covered shaft replaced in it. It has since worked well, and has shown no signs of wear.

The ship, commanded by Captain William Thompson, left Milford Haven for New York on May 1, 1861, and returned to Liverpool from New York on June 4, having made an average speed of 13 knots on the outward and 14 knots on the homeward voyage.

At this time the Government determined to send her out with troops to Quebec, and she was fitted up for that purpose. She took upwards of 2,500 troops, and about 40 pa.s.sengers. There were, altogether, about 3,000 persons on board, and 200 artillery horses. Scarcely any of the troops were placed in the regular pa.s.senger part of the ship, as they were accommodated in the cargo departments (H, X). Thus a much greater number of men might have been carried in her with perfect comfort. She was commanded on this voyage by Captain James Kennedy, of the Inman service. She left Liverpool on June 27, and arrived at Quebec on July 7.

She returned to Liverpool with about 500 pa.s.sengers in August.

By this time her superiority had become recognised by the regular travellers between England and America. Those who had been in her found that, while they pa.s.sed other ships rolling and pitching in the sea, the deck of the 'Great Eastern' was so steady that it was difficult to believe that there was a gale blowing;[174] and when, after a continuance of heavy weather, she began to roll, the motion was so slow and easy as to be comparatively unimportant.

When she left Liverpool again, there were a considerable number of pa.s.sengers, and it seemed as if her success was ensured. She started under the command of Captain James Walker, on September 10, and three days afterwards encountered a severe Atlantic gale.

The ship was behaving well, when one of the boats, which hung on davits outside the ship forward of the paddlewheels, got adrift on the weather side. Fears were entertained that it might foul the paddlewheel, and the captain determined to cut it away. The direction of the ship was altered, in order that the boat might float clear. The ship then resumed her course; but shortly afterwards fell off, with her broadside to the sea.

Relieving tackles having been put to a.s.sist the men at the wheel, the tiller was kept hard over, to bring the ship's head to the wind; but with no effect. Towards evening, as the seas beat heavily against her side, first one paddlewheel and then the other was destroyed, being completely torn away from the central bosses. During the night she lay in a helpless condition. The gale had been of some duration, and the waves being large and long, the ship was placed in a very unfavourable position to receive them; and she rolled considerably.

The next morning, when an officer went to examine the auxiliary tiller on the lower deck, he discovered that the rudder-head was twisted short off, just above the point where it entered the ship. The rudder was still in its place. The accident had most likely happened on the previous evening, when the ship fell off her course. It had not been noticed by the men at the helm, perhaps because there were so many of them at the wheel and relieving-tackles that they held one against the other; and the broken parts of the rudder-head, grinding together, threw jerks on to the tiller. The fracture of the rudder-head was caused by the badness of the workmanship in the interior of the forging.

Attempts were made to get sail on the ship, but without much success; and with the hope of bringing her head to wind, the screw engines were reversed.

As soon as the ship was driven astern by the screw, the rudder, being uncontrolled, was forced round by the rush of water, and it knocked away the after stern-post.[175] No other harm was done, as the rudder is secured by a pin into the heel of the ship, and by a collar round the rudder-head, attached to the hull above water.

Steps were then taken to get command over the rudder. Chains were wrapped round the stump of the rudder-head inside the ship, and a certain amount of control was thus obtained. A more effective plan was at the same time carried into execution. A man was lowered by a rope from the stern of the ship, who hove a piece of wood, with a line attached to it, through the screw-opening. The wood with the end of the line was caught with a boat-hook; and a rope, and afterwards a hawser, and then a piece of the ship's chain cable were pa.s.sed through behind the rudder. The two ends of the chain cable were brought together at the stern of the ship, and a large shackle put round both parts of the chain, and shaken down till it held them together. In the edge of the rudder-blade a notch had been made by the rudder striking against the screw, and into this notch the shackle was made to drop. In this way two chains or pennants had been attached to the back of the rudder. One of these was brought to each side of the ship, and they were hauled on by means of the stern capstan.

The ship then turned homeward, and the weather having moderated, she arrived off Cork harbour on the afternoon of September 17. By this time the chains round the rudder had shifted, and were of little service; and before night it began to blow heavily towards the sh.o.r.e. It was dangerous for the ship to remain on a lee sh.o.r.e; and, although the steering-gear was out of order, the captain wisely determined to take advantage of the ship's head pointing in the right direction, and steamed out to sea.

Three days afterwards the ship, a.s.sisted by several small steamers, was got safely into Cork harbour, a temporary tiller was attached to the stump of the rudder-head, and she proceeded to Milford Haven, where she was placed on the gridiron, and her after stern-post and paddlewheels replaced. The accident had proved that the original paddlewheels might with advantage have been made stronger, and in the new wheels the bracing was increased.

The ship, under the command of Captain Walter Paton, left Milford Haven for New York on May 7, 1862, and returned to Liverpool on June 11. She left again on July 1, and returned on August 6. Besides the number of pa.s.sengers the ship accommodated, she carried a considerable amount of cargo; she brought over large quant.i.ties of grain and provisions. The custom of carrying this cla.s.s of freight in steam-ships received a great impulse from the success of the 'Great Eastern' in the traffic. As it was found that the shallowness of the bar at Sandy Hook prevented her taking full advantage of her carrying power, she had on this voyage followed the route along Long Island Sound, so as to arrive close to New York in deep water, and on her return voyage she brought as much as 5,300 tons of cargo in bulk, which with 4,350 tons of coal gave her a mean draught of 28 feet.

She left Liverpool on August 17, and arrived off Montauk Point, at the entrance to Long Island Sound, at about two in the morning of the 27th, to take in the pilot. While stopping, a loud rumbling noise was heard, and presently the ship heeled slightly over to one side. The pilot, when he came on board, said that the ship had pa.s.sed over a reef of sunken rocks, which was not marked on the charts.

It was at the same time found that many of the s.p.a.ces between the double skins were full of water. The ship went on to New York, and most of the pa.s.sengers landed in ignorance of an accident which in any other vessel would have been fatal.

Steps were at once taken to examine the damage, and the divers reported a large fracture in the outer skin 80 feet long and about 10 feet broad.

They also discovered afterwards several smaller fractures. It was considered that this damage might be mended while the vessel was afloat, and a very skilful arrangement, contrived by Messrs. Renwick, of New York, was adopted. A large wooden barge was made with a gunwale shaped to fit the ship's side, and two wooden pa.s.sages leading down into the barge. It was placed so as to cover the large fracture, and was secured by chains pa.s.sed round the bottom of the ship. The joint between the gunwale of the barge and the ship's side was made water-tight; the water was pumped out, and men and materials pa.s.sed down through the shafts. By the exertions of those engaged in this difficult operation, the great fracture was repaired, and the ship returned to England in the beginning of 1863.

A gridiron was made at Birkenhead; the ship was placed on it, and the repairs were proceeded with under the direction of Mr. Brereton, who at Mr. Brunel's death succeeded him as engineer to the Great Ship Company.

On examination, it was found that fractures had been made in ten separate places in the outer skin.

The ship started again in May 1863, and made three voyages to New York and home. At this time, however, there was a severe compet.i.tion with other vessels, and the Company could not afford to run the ship unremuneratively for any length of time. In 1864 she pa.s.sed into the hands of a new company, which consisted almost entirely of those who, from their belief in the capabilities of the ship, had found the money for starting her again after each of her successive misfortunes.

The ship lay idle for some months, and was then chartered by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company.

The 'Great Eastern' had in the course of the four years from 1860 to 1863 made nine voyages across the Atlantic and back. Though this was not the route for which she had been intended, it had given her many opportunities of showing her merits. Adverse fortune had added to these opportunities, and had at the same time demonstrated the necessity of many of the precautions which Mr. Brunel had taken to ensure her safety.

The construction of the hull of the ship has been proved by experience to possess the advantages antic.i.p.ated by Mr. Brunel.

Its strength as a whole has been proved by the absence of all signs of weakness in the heavy weather she encountered on several occasions, and especially in the gale of 1861, when her rudder was disabled. The strength of the ship has since been fully tested by the enormous loads she has carried while on telegraph cable expeditions.

The importance of the double skin was shown on the occasion of her grinding over the rocks at Montauk Point, when so large a number of leaks were made in all parts of her bottom that no ordinary system of bulkheads would have saved her from foundering. Moreover, the s.p.a.ce between the two skins was sufficient to allow of the outer skin and the webs being crushed to the extent of three feet, while they at the same time acted as a buffer and prevented the inner skin from coming in contact with the rock.

The engines have not had any opportunity of working at high speed in the long voyages for which they were intended, but in the rapid and comparatively short pa.s.sages made by the ship across the Atlantic they worked with great regularity and success. Although they were commenced seventeen years ago, they are still fine specimens of marine engines, and bear witness to the care taken by their builders in their design and manufacture.

Of the points on which Mr. Brunel laid stress, and which, as he remarked, 'involve no other risk than that of being useless; they cannot do mischief,' many have now come to be considered essential parts of good marine engines. He thought it of great importance that the steam cylinders should be jacketed, especially at the ends; and it was intended that the high-pressure steam for this purpose should be taken from the auxiliary boilers. This plan was, however, not adopted.

Mr. Brunel was also anxious that the steam should be heated immediately before it entered the cylinders, and that fresh water should be supplied for the boilers by using the same water over again. Arrangements for effecting these objects have since been brought into general use.

The advantage of having several cylinders to each engine was shown while the ship was running to America. Part of the valve-gear of one of the paddle-engine cylinders gave way, the engines were stopped for four hours, and the ship was propelled by the screw alone. The cylinder was disconnected and turned back out of the way, and the engines worked efficiently with three cylinders for four pa.s.sages across the Atlantic.

The average speed of the ship on those voyages in which her performances were fairly tested was about 13 knots. On two occasions she made the voyage from New York to Liverpool at an average speed of 14 knots; and she maintained her speed in rough weather and head winds to a much greater extent than is the case in smaller vessels.

By having two sets of engines, the ship was saved from serious disaster at Holyhead, and again in the gale of September 1861.

The great handiness of the ship is one of the many beneficial results of the use of both paddles and screw. By working the paddlewheels astern and the screw ahead, she can be kept from moving forward or backward, and at the same time the stream of water from the screw, acting on the rudder, makes her answer her helm and turn round on her centre. By modifying the speed of the two engines, she may be made to creep slowly forward; and as the rudder is in the full rush of the water driven back by the screw, the ship has practically as much steering power as she has when moving rapidly. The importance of this power of controlling her when pa.s.sing through narrow channels, in entering and leaving port, can scarcely be over-estimated.

The career of the 'Great Eastern' since the formation of the present Great Eastern Steam-Ship Company, has been prosperous.

In the commencement of the year 1864, when Mr. Cyrus Field had succeeded in reviving the project of laying the Atlantic cable, the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company took the contract for laying it, and hired the 'Great Eastern.' She was brought round to Sheerness, where the cable tanks were fitted into her. One tank was placed in the forward cargo compartment, and another in the after cargo compartment; and the largest tank was placed over the middle screw boiler room, the funnel being removed. Therefore, during the cable-laying expeditions, the ship only used eight of her boilers.

The history of the laying of the Atlantic cable is well known. The 'Great Eastern' started from Valentia on June 23, 1865, under the command of Captain (now Sir James) Anderson, and the cable was laid more than half way across the Atlantic; but, on hauling in to recover a fault, it was broken, and dropped to the bottom of the sea.

The grappling tackle was not sufficiently strong. The cable was three times partially raised, and each time lost; and the expedition returned to England defeated, but with the knowledge that ultimate success was certain.