Collection: SS Great Britain

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Cornucopia)

  Maritime Collection

  The SS Great Britain was the first sizeable ship to be constructed of iron and driven by a propeller. Designed by I K Brunel, the SS Great Britain was the first of the great steamships when launched from Bristol in 1843. Brunel’s bold concept was a revolutionary departure in ship design which affected all subsequent marine architecture. As the world’s largest ship, she embarked on a varied career, first as a luxury liner carrying passengers to New York and Melbourne, then as a ferry carrying troops to the Crimea and India, and finally, as a emigrant and cargo ship when she played an important role in building the nascent nation of Australia. The ship was abandoned in the Falklands Islands in 1886 and declined to become a storage hulk until 1933. The SS Great Britain was finally beached there on April 12 1937. The ship had travelled 1.25 million nautical miles. The SS Great Britain Project was formed to rescue the ship in 1968 and in 1970, she was returned to Bristol. The SS Great Britain could carry 252 passengers with berths, and a crew of 130. Brunel’s original engine was the most powerful in the world when constructed, replica engines are being constructed. The ships’ dining room has been restored to its 1845 splendour and the carpet there is a reproduction of the original which was specially designed by C and F Mogg of Clare Street, Bristol. The iron ship, the SS Great Britain, was recovered from the Falklands Islands in 1970, is the major strength of this Project. The SS Great Britain Project is also responsible for the Great Western Dockyard and dry dock created in the last century in order to build the Great Britain, and the ancillary equipment and fittings relating to this dock and its surrounding industrial context. The conjunction of the ship with its original dockyard is of particular significance. There is a small collection of artefacts which relate to I K Brunel or his other ships, the Great Western and the Great Eastern; and material relating to wrought iron ship construction.

  Subjects

  Military Transport (naval); Maritime (cargo); Maritime (delete); Maritime; Maritime (passenger transport)

  Social History Collection

  The social history material comprises ship fittings and equipment including ceramic ware, bells, whistles and furniture from Brunel’s ships.

  Subjects

  Social History

  Archives Collection

  This is an important archive collection of around 200 items including personal passenger letters and diaries relating to the SS Great Britain and Brunel’s other ships and their journeys; accounts for ships, including Brunel’s famous report on the adoption of the screw propeller; around 25 paintings including works by Witham and Walter, and other illustrative material; a reference library of published material; and records of the restoration and conservation of the SS Great Britain from 1970 to date.

  Subjects

  Archives

  Source: Cornucopia

  Date: Not known, but before 2015

  Licence: CC BY-NC