Monday, July 18, 2011

SS Great Britain

July 19, 1843 – The SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller also becoming the world's largest ship.

This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or fewer. In this case William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877)

William Henry Fox Talbot [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877) British photographer. Date of birth / death: 11 November 1800 - 17 September 1877. Location of birth / death: Melbury, Dorset, England - Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, England

Fitting out in the Cumberland Basin, SS Great Britain shortly after her launch April 1844. This historic photograph by William Fox Talbot is believed to be the first ever taken of a ship.(the negative of this photograph is held by the National Maritime Museum)

The passenger steamship SS Great Britain was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's service between Bristol and New York. Previous ships had been built of iron or equipped with screw propeller but Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean going ship. when she crossed the Atlantic in 1845 in the then-record time of 14 days (one day faster than the previous record holder, the SS Great Western) she was the first screw steamer to do so.

SS Great Britain

TEXT RESOURCE: SS Great Britain From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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