SS Great Eastern was an iron sailing steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Brunel’s sailing steamship eventually launched in 1858 after a number of failed attempts. She had a pretty chequered history before eventually succeeding as a transatlantic cable layer with cables she laid still in use today. Key fact - it could not be launched down a slipway as normal because it was longer than the river was wide!

Tom Reynolds

August 27, 2020

Cycling

Brunel’s sailing steamship eventually launched in 1858 after a number of failed attempts. She had a pretty chequered history before eventually succeeding as a transatlantic cable layer with cables she laid still in use today. Key fact - it could not be launched down a slipway as normal because it was longer than the river was wide!

T1pkp

February 13, 2021

Hiking

These are the remains of the SS Great Eastern’s launch ramp. The SS Great Eastern was built to carry passengers and cargo between England and Australia, and at the time of her launch in 1858 was the largest ship the world had ever seen. She was also the first ship of her time to be constructed almost entirely of metal.

Read the full story here:
historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/SS-Great-Easterns-Launch-Ramp

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Elevation 10 m

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Thursday 19 March

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Max wind speed: 11.0 km/h

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Location: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

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SS Great Eastern Launch Ramp

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