SS Great Eastern: Too Big To Sail

Look, we get that Isambard Kingdom Brunel wanted a big ship, but this was just silly.

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[thecommissaruk]

I have a rivet head from the Great Eastern sitting on my mantlepiece from when she was broken up. My great great grandfather was one of the men who oversaw her being broken her up.

[mrvikingmcall]

“Too Big To Sail”

Operated for thirty years, laid the first transatlantic cable, and generally still had a more successful career than most steamships of the time, not to mention much more remembrance of its existence.

[robertf]

Just a quick note, the SS Great Britain is still around after a long existence. She's on display in the drydock where she was originally built in Bristol England.

[jfrankcarr]

Brunel and his boys have epic top hats, quite a mega-project all by themselves.

[danielrehn]

Maybe you should do an entire episode on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his life and the projects he worked on.
He really was an amazing engineer.

[glenchapman]

Time Team did an episode on the Great Eastern. They studied the remains of the slipway (still there) and found an error had been made when the slipway was built which caused the vessel not to be launched as planned. Basically there was a high point and the ships total weight was resting on one spot.

[anarchyantz]

Megaproject Suggestion. Longest deep bore ice core in Antarctica. Took years, loads of drama with it and they found some cool stuff like a fresh water lake under the ice containing previously unknown lifeforms. Would go Well with the other hole projects that are popular
Speaking of deep holes, how about the Kidd Mine as well?

[seanc]

Oh, as wide as the height of two giraffes. I was thinking "damn those are some really thick giraffes".

[SparkBerry]

Maersk Triple E class container ships... Not just one ship, but a fleet of 31 monsters

[ThePinkus]

9:55 "This was about as bad a start as You can imagine!"
The Vasa puts on its best "I'm not here, don't look at me, I never happened!" expression.

[Rbobbe]

Brunel has been one of my engineering heroes my whole life. The innovations he made set the path for many of the standards and practices today. The fact that a number of his feats stand tall and proud today are a testament to his skill!

[caseytodd]

Still waiting for the episode on Simon's beard.. the pinnacle, of Mega Projects.

[rjfaber]

Excellent introduction to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, but you did rather forget to mention that his father, Marc Brunel, was an absolute titan in the world of engineering himself. It really did run in the family.

[hoof]

Interestingly, the iconic photo of Brunel with the giant chains behind him was taken at Millwall yard.

[russellfitzpatrick]

It's said that plates from the Great Eastern can still be found in the mud off Rock Ferry on the Wirral (opposite Liverpool)

[sigvar]

This ship sounds a lot like another in a maritime story I read as a child some 50 years ago. Most of this ships life sounds just like that story with a few details changed though. 1st the cause of the disasters was attributed to the ghost of a worker inadvertently sealed between the hulls, his hammer could be heard tapping inside the hulls, he was never retrieved. Preceding each disaster the tapping of the hammer was heard throughout the ship. The boiler explosion rings a bell and an incident related to the cable laying operation, specifically the failure of the ship to stop in time to make a splice from one cable coil to the next before losing the end over the stern. Retrieving the cable end took weeks of activity. Finally during ship breaking the skeleton of the riveter was found between the hulls.
Thanks for another great video. Really enjoyed it.

[generalripper]

I suggested this a few weeks ago! So happy that you finally got around to make a Megaprojects video about this ship. Thank you - love the channel :)

[geoffk]

The story of Brunel's death is a bit more tragic than you let on. The boiler explosion and deaths upset him so much that he suffered a fatal heart attack. So, in a way, the Great Eastern killed him, although his design was eventually largely vindicated.

[MaxwellAerialPhotography]

You forgot about the entire period of the Great Easterns history where it sat idle on the shore, reduced to being a gigantic billboard.

[darlac]

My 2nd Great Uncle, Capt. John F. Clooney began his ship-building career in Boston, MA. and later was employed on the SS Great Eastern, which helped lay the first telegraph cable beneath the Atlantic Ocean. He later had his own ship-building company in Moss Bluff, Louisiana and became one of the most prominent ship-builders of the area. He was well known to the traders all along the Gulf and Atlantic coast and was praised for his workmanship. He was presented with a piece of the Trans Atlantic cable as a souvenir, which he always treasured. He has an island on the Calcasieu River and a street named in his honor in Lake Charles, LA. .