The SS Great Eastern Launch Site

In the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, close to the Thames are a set of  old timbers which are the remains of the slipway from which  the SS Great Eastern  was launched.  This was Isambard Kingdom Brunel's very ambitious but ill fated vessel. It was the first double skinned iron hulled ship and  the first to have steam powering paddle wheels as well as a propeller.  The paddle wheels were meant to allow it to turn on the spot in tight harbours by  rotating them in opposite directions. It also had six sail-carrying masts.

The intention was  that with this combination of power and sail  she would sail round the world without refuelling but the discovery of coal in Australia quickly made this capability redundant. The ship had  a displacement of 32,000 tons. When launched she was the largest ship in the world and would remain so  for another forty one years. Her huge size created  serious problems at the launch because of the width of the river. Even with the sideways launch used it took 13 attempts to launch her using steam powered rams.

Initially she served largely as a floating tourist attraction but  eventually found a role laying transatlantic telegraph cables with her large provision for coal storage providing capacity for the great volume of cable.