Part 26 (1/2)
A.D. 1835--1847. aeTATIS 30--42.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CHAPTERS ON STEAM NAVIGATION--FORMATION OF THE GREAT WESTERN STEAM-s.h.i.+P COMPANY--COMMENCEMENT OF THE BUILDING OF THE 'GREAT WESTERN'--REPORT ON SELECTION OF THE BUILDERS OF THE ENGINES (JUNE 18, 1836)--STATEMENTS OF DR. LARDNER ON THE PROBABLE FAILURE OF A LINE OF STEAM-s.h.i.+PS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND AMERICA--VOYAGE OF THE 'GREAT WESTERN' TO LONDON--COMPLETION OF THE ENGINES--HER RETURN TO BRISTOL--FIRE ON BOARD AND ACCIDENT TO MR.
BRUNEL--VOYAGE TO NEW YORK--COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PERFORMANCES OF THE 'GREAT WESTERN' AND THE 'SIRIUS'--SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF THE 'GREAT WESTERN'--NOTE: DIMENSIONS OF THE s.h.i.+P AND ENGINES.
It will readily be conceded that Mr. Brunel's railway works, which have formed the subject of the five preceding chapters, would have given him ample employment for the thirty years of his professional life.
Nevertheless, during almost the whole of that period--namely, from 1835, the year of the pa.s.sing of the Great Western Railway Bill, to his death in 1859--he was also engaged in the accomplishment of undertakings which had for their object the systematic development of Ocean Steam Navigation.[116]
The 'Great Western,' the first steam-s.h.i.+p which made regular voyages across the Atlantic, the 'Great Britain,' the first large iron steam-s.h.i.+p, and the first large s.h.i.+p in which the screw propeller was used, and, lastly, the 'Great Eastern,' were Mr. Brunel's works, built under his direction, in the midst of his other engrossing occupations, and at the sacrifice of his health and life.
The history of these projects will contain records of many disappointments as well as of success; for no great and novel undertaking can be perfected at once and without changes of plan and arrangement. As engineer to the Companies which built these steam-s.h.i.+ps, Mr. Brunel advised the adoption of measures strongly in opposition to current popular opinion, and far bolder and more daring than even his recommendation of the broad gauge and the atmospheric system. The results obtained have verified his calculations, and the conclusions he sought to establish are now so generally accepted that it is difficult to believe that they were ever questioned. No one now has any doubt that large vessels can with safety be built of iron, or that the screw propeller can be advantageously employed in s.h.i.+ps of war and the mercantile navy; no one can now deny that it is practicable for steam-s.h.i.+ps to make long voyages across the ocean with regularity and speed.
A detailed account will now be given of the s.h.i.+ps whose performances first demonstrated the truth of these propositions.
Although the 'Great Western' was the first steamer which was built for regular voyages between Europe and America, the first attempt to use steam in the direct voyage across the Atlantic was made by an American s.h.i.+p of 300 tons burden, called the 'Savannah,' and built at New York.
Her engines were of small power, with paddles made to s.h.i.+p and uns.h.i.+p.
She made only two voyages to and from Europe: in the first of these she left the port of Savannah on May 25, and anch.o.r.ed at Liverpool on June 20, 1819.
No further advance in Ocean Steam Navigation seems to have been attempted until 1835. In the October of that year, at a meeting of the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company, at Radley's Hotel, in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, one of the party spoke of the enormous length, as it then appeared, of the proposed railway from London to Bristol. Mr. Brunel exclaimed, 'Why not make it longer, and have a steamboat to go from Bristol to New York, and call it the ”Great Western?”' This suggestion was treated as a joke by most of those who heard it; but at night Mr. Brunel and Mr. T. R. Guppy, one of the Directors, talked it over, and afterwards consulted three of the leading members of the Board--Mr. Scott, Mr. Pycroft, and Mr. Robert Bright.
They took up the idea warmly, and a committee was formed to carry out the project.
As a preliminary measure, Mr. Guppy and Captain Christopher Claxton, R.N., made a tour of the great s.h.i.+p-building ports of the kingdom, in order to collect information. The results of their inquiries were embodied in a report, dated January 1, 1836, which describes at great length the advantages to be gained in large vessels. The ma.n.u.script was submitted to Mr. Brunel previously to its publication, and he inserted the following pa.s.sage:--
The resistance of vessels in the water does not increase in direct proportion to their tonnage. This is easily explained; the tonnage increases as the cubes of their dimensions, while the resistance increases about as their squares; so that a vessel of double the tonnage of another, capable of containing an engine of twice the power, does not really meet with double the resistance. Speed therefore will be greater with the large vessel, or the proportionate power of the engine and consumption of fuel may be reduced.
This was an important addition to the report, for it enunciates the principle which governed Mr. Brunel in determining the dimensions and power, not only of the 'Great Western,' but also of the 'Great Britain'
and 'Great Eastern' steam-s.h.i.+ps.
Immediately after the publication of this report a Company was formed in Bristol called 'The Great Western Steam-s.h.i.+p Company,' Mr. Peter Maze being the Chairman, and Captain Claxton the Managing Director. Captain Claxton's exertions in the service of the Company from its formation to its dissolution were unremitting and invaluable. He was also, from the date of Mr. Brunel's first connection with Bristol, one of his most intimate friends, and his confidential adviser on all points on which nautical experience was of value.[117]
Mr. Patterson (an eminent s.h.i.+p-builder of Bristol) was selected to superintend the building of the first s.h.i.+p, under the direction of a 'Building Committee' consisting of Captain Claxton, Mr. Guppy, and Mr.
Brunel. Whenever railway business called Mr. Brunel to Bristol, which at this time was at least once in every week, the Committee and Mr.
Patterson used to meet at the office, or at Captain Claxton's or Mr.
Guppy's house, and often sat far into the night discussing the details of the design of the s.h.i.+p.[118]
One of the most important questions which occupied Mr. Brunel's attention was the selection of the builders of the engines. Tenders were invited; and on receiving them, he addressed the following report to Captain Claxton, the Managing Director:--
June 18, 1836.
In considering the three tenders for the supply of marine engines for your first vessel, which you have submitted to me for my opinion, I have a.s.sumed that the interests of the company are paramount, and that all feelings of partiality towards any particular manufacturer or any local interest must yield to the absolute necessity, in this the first and the boldest attempt of the kind yet made, of not merely satisfying yourselves that you will obtain a good engine, but also of taking all those means of securing the best which in the eyes of the public may be unquestionable. In this view of the case, if you agree with me, I think you will consider that, provided the prices are fair individually, the relative amount of the tenders is a secondary consideration.
I a.s.sume, also, that the high respectability of all these parties would ensure equally from either the best materials and workmans.h.i.+p, and I shall confine myself simply to pointing out a few of the conditions peculiar to the engines which you require, and the means which the different parties have of complying with these conditions.
I need hardly remind you that, owing to the lateness of the season, you will require that the vessel should be prepared to run her first voyage almost immediately after the engines are fixed. You will remember, also, that it will be the longest voyage yet run; that in the event of unfavourable weather a total failure might be the result of the engine not working to its full power, or consuming too great a quant.i.ty of coals--a very common occurrence with engines apparently well made, after six or eight days'
constant work; and, lastly, that the future success of the boat as a pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p--nay, even of the company's boats generally, and, to a great extent, and for some time, the reputation of Bristol as an American steamboat station, may depend upon the success of this first voyage. It is indispensable, therefore, to secure as far as possible a machine which shall be perfect in all its details from the moment of its completion. There may be time for a few trials for ascertaining the fact of its completion, but there will be none for effecting any alterations should they be found necessary, or for making any experiments. The machinery which you require to be so perfect is by no means an ordinary steam-engine.