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.
It's a fab day out. You get a good feel for what a long voyage would have been like. You can walk "under water" too, I'm sure there are lots of photos on their website.
Amazing how it survived so long, even as a big abandoned rusting hulk (somehow not scrapped/recycled for metal). It was saved and refurbished while in a really derilect state.
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.
“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.
@@Slowcause The sails on steamships back then were there as a precaution. Steam power then was still new when she was built . If a ship ran out of coal, why not have sails as backup
@@panda4247 Yes. I believe this video’s clickbait-y title makes it sound like the ship was too useless to even move itself, regardless of its methods of propulsion.
It's an east mistake to make but giraffes are only referenced by their height, never anything else because only their height defines them. They are 1-dimensional creatures if you will.
@@kaltaron1284 by that reasoning, if you're gonna go by width, I'd suggest elephant or even hippopotamus. How often do you see giraffes laying next to each other head to feet? ;-}
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.
To be fair I think that was a joke. We usually user double-decker buses, the cricket pitches, football pitches, then Wales (the country, not the animal). This is also a joke, though true!
Same for the RMS Titanic. Also, the Titanic's Captain Edward Smith was previously the captain of the Titanic's sister ship the RMS Olympic when she collided with HMS Wolfe while leaving port.
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!
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?
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.
It was the first boat in history to exceed the dimensions of the legendary Noah's Ark. Just years before, a ship that size was thought technically impossible to create. It took a man like Brunel to think the impossible. One of the really striking things about the SS Great Eastern was just how well built its double hull was. The hole in its side caused by the Great Eastern Rock was absolutely mammoth, yet there was no danger of it sinking as a result. Most of the passengers weren't even aware there'd even been an accident. By comparison a much smaller rip in the hull sent the RMS Titanic to the bottom of the Atlantic. Its paddle-wheel/screw propeller combo was also a major success, and gave the ship manoeuvrability that craft a fraction of its size would be envious of. It's true, the SS Great Eastern was built 40 years too soon. It could carry 5X the passenger numbers of its competitors, but there was no demand for 5x the volume of people seeking voyage. It would have been a big hit in 1900 but by that time the SS Great Eastern had long since gone to the breaker's yard. Like a number of Brunel's ideas (such as the Atmospheric Railway which was essentially the same concept as the Hyperloop), he was designing for a future he knew was coming but didn't realise how long it would take to reach it.
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. .
he also didnt mention the story of the deaths during her construction, nor the story of two bodies sealed between the hulls during construction, the skeletons found during her deconstruction... (note: i believe the story is just a legend, but it wouldnt surprise me if it were true... plus its an interesting part of the ships history)
@@spartan09_Oni Its curious cus, When I was a kid like in kiddergarten i was fascinated by titanic and so i shearched by info arround the matter I then discovered ss great eastern, I knew there was the need for two rebitors(?) To be in both sides of a plate to unify them so I questoned myself as a kid *how could they have put the last plate if there would not be a exit* i as a kid believed someone would have needen to sacrifice themsefs for that (a morbid thought) later abandoned that idea but today i got back to the *ss great eastern and find this* . No worry its a legend mutch debunked
I find Brunel to be absolutely fascinating. That man could engineer and design like no one before him. I really think that Brunel was a man born much, much too early. His "atmospheric system" for trains was actually brilliant. Too bad the synthetic materials it required hadn't yet been invented. Even if it had worked, it would have been superceded by things such as mag-lev, but it certainly would have revolutionised railways in Britain. I think his Great Eastern was incredible. Had she been allowed to realise her full potential. she would have been the first means of non-stop travel between the UK and Australia, voyage of at least 10,000 miles--that's almost halfway around the globe. I think it's hard to appreciate such an innovation in an age when nonstop travel from the UK to Australia is done routinely, wich is why some might think that the Great Eastern's size was ridiculous. I don't think it was when you take into account the vast stores of coal and food/water needed to make her voyages non-stop. It's sad that she was never allowed to show what she could do. Only one person here, but I would have been more than happy to have been able to sail non-stop from the UK to Australia. There are a couple of interesting parallels between Brunel and Thomas Andrews of Titanic fame. Both built ships that were the biggest at the time of launch. Both had innovative ideas for ships and both were killed by their ships--Brunel because of the all the stress of getting the Great Eastern built and launched, which resulted in Brunel's Bright's disease (nephritis) and stroke. Yes, he was a heavy smoker but all the stress from the Great Eastern certainly didn't help. And Andrews died during the sinking of the Titanic. he only thing I don't get is why Brunel decided to go with paddlewheels and a single propeller when the SS Great Britain (another Brunel ship) had only a single propeller. Maybe because of the Great Eastern's greatly increased size and displacement? That's the only reason I can think of. Nevertheless, both ships were magnificent and ahead of their time.
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.
Yes. There used to be a display - at Greenwich, I think - of the machines that Marc Brunel developed to produce blocks and sheaves (pulleys) for sailing ships. The Royal Navy of the day used hundreds of thousands of these, and of course they wore out, cracked, or were destroyed by flying chunks of iron fired by rude strangers. Brunel took what had been basically a "one-off every time" device, and built a whole system of machines that formed a uniform production line, each machine doing just one thing. Wood went in one end, and finished pulley blocks came out the other. The models were really interesting, and I hope the display still exists. (Note to Henry Ford: sorry, you didn't invent the idea of an assembly line using machinery). I came across the Marc Brunel display by accident; I had gone to see one of the original Harrison #1 or #2 chronometers. And come to think of it, Harrison's Chronometer really was another engineering masterpiece, and qualifies as a technology Mega-Project. although not physically large. Harrison was truly a wizard.
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.
The Great Eastern may have been "too big to sail," but it turned out to be just the right size to lay the Transatlantic Cable (in fact, no other ship at the time was large enough to carry that much cable.) And, since it was out of service for so long, the cable-laying company was able to get it for a song, which made it economical as well. Which just goes to show that even the most useless-looking of things can still have some uses.
BBC’s “Seven wonders of the industrial world” series (I think it’s from the early to mid-2000’s?) has an excellent episode about this ship. And the sewers designed by Bazalgette, the Hoover Dam, the Bell Rock lighthouse, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and America’s transcontinental railway. Highly recommend watching if you can find it. It used to be on Netflix, but no longer for where I live. (And the DVDs are long out of print!)
To be honest because of great eastern we had Lusitania, Mauretania, the Olympic class and all of he others great ocean liners. Because of this guy that made so much for developing England In the XIX century we have not only the ships as we know today but a huge number of any other things. So thanks so much rich eccentric English engineer.
You beat me to a rant on the rail aqueductics plus the Thames tunnel was surely started by his father Marc, with another engineer credited for the tunneling shield ?
Correction; The gap between the inner and outer hulls was what was 0.86 meters WIDE! Thus the outer hull was NOT 0.86 meters "thick". Annnnd some of the script explaining the "Spec.'s" of the ship are explained wrong, particularly that of "Bulkhead(s)" orientation/placement as affixed to the "Inner Hull"! BUT this channel is still a super fun channel to watch...very informative, the production values are top notch! Carry on...as you were....
As I already mentioned on your SideProjects channel, I love watching things about history. And obviously I love watching your channels. It's a great distraction during these times, so keep up the good work, thank you Simon and your crew :)
I remember a book in our school library when I was a kid. It was about ghosts and the supernatural. There was a story about people that died building this ship, causing knocking sounds from being sealed inside a panel on the ship.
it was on the Titanic,john smitherson. on the great eastern,legend says it was two men,but...not clear,there where reports on newspapers that they found the bodies when scrapped,but...
I did read somewhere that the remains of children were found between the hulls when she was scrapped. They used to use them to distribute rivets. Evidently a corner was cut somewhere and the poor souls found themselves trapped in the darkness off the hull. Sorry for the grim factoid.
When they dismantled this ship they discovered a skeleton of a worker in the keel area.Superstitous people believed it was the cause of the bad luck this ship faced during its years of service.
The story of a riveter and his young helper being trapped inside the double hull and their bodies being found when the ship was scrapped was told, many years ago, on the TV show "Ripley´s Believe it or Not", hosted by Jack Palance. I would be gratful if someone could provide some reference supporting this story.
I recently heard this story on the Dork-O-Motive podcast. Because of the format, the host could go into a lot more detail. The runtime is nearly 1 1/2 hours. Brunel and his creations were and are absolutely fascinating!
This is what is so interesting about 19th century enginnering. They were very forward thinking and their prototypes for all sorts of inventions and megaprojects were startling. One of my favorites is the Beach Pneumatic Subway.
@@russellfitzpatrick503 nah he's mentioned in this one. The ship was his idea, he was in charge of building it. My comment is a reference to another channel.
Is this a Sweet reference? "Alexander Graham Bell he did know darn well that he could find the only way to talk across the USA: Telephone, telephone never be on your own! Many many years ago he started something with his first 'hello, hello'..."
The SS United States would make a great video. One of the last great ocean liners, potential weapon in WW3, fastest passenger ship ever, it's got everything you need!
@Jan Brady she was built to Navy specs in case the government needed a giant troopship in another war, the way the Royal Navy used British liners before. That's why she has such a strong hull and was so crazy fast.
@@Alexanderthe_Ok One detail that's stuck in my memory about her fitting out was her designer's insistence on developing a grand piano made of Aluminum, to save weight. That by itself must have been a challenge.
There was a paranormal twist to the Great Eastern story. Decades ago in high school, i read a ghost book that had about it. Supposedly, the reason for all the bad luck with the ship was that she was haunted/cursed by those who died building her. It was said that one could hear pounding and muffled screams from the double hull. When she was scrapped, two skeletons were found in the space between the double hulls along with shipbuilding tools.
You should know that some books are purely works of fiction written for entertainment and, while taking place at real locations, are not based on facts or even actual rumours.
I read that story too. Given that Simon didn't even mention it I doubt there's any truth to it. Pretty sure that 'worker trapped between the hulls' meme has appeared a lot since the advent of iron and steel shipbuilding.
it is worth noting that Brunel is quite well known if France. Firstly because of his French descent and secondly thanks to Jukes Verne's novel "Ume Ville flottante" ("A Floating Town") set aboard the Great Eastern and describing it at length. Thirdly of course, thanks to its multiple round trips between two French cities on both sides of the pond: Brest and St Pierre...
HMS Dreadnought is a too big/too important project for this channel. Simon should create a new one - RevolutionaryProjects and add it there [maybe with renault FT and Maxim gun]
@@ferky123 Drachinfel has a lot on anything that floated and had gun at any point of time... This guy can take 19th century russian repair ship and make a video about it - and make it so good that it become instant meme.... XD
HMS Dreadnaught had a remarkably short and uneventful career for such a revolutionary deign. The ship was out of date even before WW I began. It was relegated to coastal guard and convoy escort duty, and was one of the first British ships scrapped under the Washington Naval Treaty. She became a victim of her own success, everyone wanted a bigger and better version as soon as they understood how important she was.
fun fact, a piece of her original forward funnel that was blown off by the explosion is still preserved at a museum. Another fact, despite the ship having very weak propulsion mechanisms (propeller, rudder, and paddles) when it came to scrapping the ship, it was discovered that her hull was extremely well built and that the only good methods of breaking her apart was by using an iron wrecking ball. breaking the ship apart was not a clean task and over at the sight where she was broken up you can still find fragments of her hull plates that were disposed poorly years ago.
A Good idea would be an episode of the Ships of State during the Depression Era from 1929-39. This includes Germany’s SS Bremen and SS Europa, Italy’s SS Rex, France’s SS Normandie, and England’s RMS Queen Mary. Each ship was a revolution of ship building and also proved to be symbolic of the world leading up to the Second World War.
Bristolian here, Brunel is our city's hero! Back in the days when you could be an engineer for anything, bridges, rail lines, ships, harbors, hydrolic loch gates. He did it all!
I would say today's modern equivalent to the Great Eastern would be the Airbus A380; an enormous vessel built to carry huge amount of passengers but became a commercial failure.
I have a piece of the great Eastern, as I live near new ferry where the ship was broke up there are still remnants in the mersey you can find at low tide. I have even managed to locate what piece of it I have , it's a piece of the decking plate as it has a 4and half inch angle iron beam which was used to join the deck to the hull. It's in a display case in my garage.
Through out her existence people said to have heard a 'knocking' from her hull. It was always attributed to her steam engine, but when scrapped a skeleton was found between the double hull. It's been assumed that this was why the Great Eastern had been such an unlucky ship.
Sadly, if the 'unsinkable' Titanic had incorporated the Great Eastern's double-hull, things might have turned out much better for her passengers in 1912!
@@TheCaptainSplatter Unlike reports in contemporary newspapers and 1950s movies, expert opinion today is that the Titanic did not suffer a long continuous gash, but most likely a series of punctures, sheared rivets and separated plates. Also, in addition to the double hull, the Great Eastern's watertight bulkheads extended up to the main deck, while many of the Titanic's only went up part-way. After the sinking, Titanic's sister-ship Olympic was pulled from service and internal hull-plating was added to extend the double-bottom into a double hull above the waterline, and several internal bulkheads were increased in height. My sources include the book "Falling Star", a history of the White Star Line, and the 1953 book "The Great Iron Ship" detailing the story of the Great Eastern. Interestingly, the Great Eastern did suffer a deep gash when it struck that uncharted rock off Long Island in 1861. It concluded it's voyage to New York with only a slight list, but might have wound up marooned there indefinitely, as no facilities existed in the US to handle a vessel that size, and with the Civil War raging, no 1-inch iron hull-plate was available to make the repairs. Eventually, some 7/8-inch boiler-plate was found, deemed acceptable, and a very unique method of 'underwater' repair was employed.
I recommend the Bathyscaphe Trieste. First submarine the reach the deepest part of the Ocean. From Bathyspheres to the development of the Trieste is interesting and the mission it's self was quite the undertaking and a great story.
I've watched a lot of Simon's videos and I will keep doing so. He gives off the same vibe as the late '90s and early 2000's History and Science Channel which I watched as a kid religiously. I wish those channels would go back to these types of shows.
On another nautical note, I'd recommend the USN's Los Angeles Class of attack submarines. These were the boats built to hunt Typhoons and outfight any attack submarine or surface vessel the Soviets could put out. They're the most numerous class of nuclear submarine ever built, and enormously capable. They were the quietest, fastest, and smartest submarines of their day, and the later variants are still in their prime, scattered across the world's oceans escorting missile subs, tapping undersea cables, and just generally being the closest thing on this planet to an honest-to-god starship.
At 9:33 Lord I started laughing 😂 because Simon 😆 said, “Sailors, are among other things, a “superstitious bunch”, so while the ship was cruising down the River Thames, she blew 1 of its funnels straight up, into the air!” I immediately pictured this and busted out laughing!!
Great Eastern was built using a system of double plating, to create an inner and outer hull skin arrangement. This was to create strength and had added benefit of reducing the possibilities of sinking in case of outer hull breach.. Had this system been used in the construction of Titanic 60 odd years later......
@@calvingreene90 There was still a problem. Only the Great Eastern had the coal capacity to reach Australia. Which meant that it had the coal capacity to stay on station while laying the cable. It would have been difficult with ships that only had limited coal supplies. They may have needed sailing ships to bring replenishment during the laying process.
The gash in the hull of the Great Eastern was bigger than the gash in the hull of the Titanic but because of the double hull and numerous water tight compartments it was never in danger of sinking. Had the Titanic been built to the same engineering standard it would scarcely be remembered today.
I was waiting for this one! (And was one of undoubtedly many people who requested it). Just one more suggestion from the Victorian age - the London sewerage system of Joseph Bazalgette. This man saved thousands - by getting rid of their s**t!
G'day Simon, Yes, I've seen your great Megaprojects video on the Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable and several other documentaries on I.K. Brunell. (Oddly, the last shot of 'him' in this video was not him, he was just off to the right of the screen.) Regarding the Great Eastern, not all was Brunell's fault. The maritime 'fashion' of the the day were huge paddle wheels. These are great on riverboats, canal boats and close into shore, coastal shipping. Way out at sea, even in a moderately choppy sea state, at various times one paddle wheel will be out of the water, then the one on the other side and so on. This made navigating these ships difficult even in seas that would present no problems to vessels sans paddle wheels. The rougher the seas, as are common in the North Atlantic, present serious problems for paddle wheel vessels. The Admiralty was highly suspicious of not only steam driven ships but particularly paddle wheels and stuck with sails almost to the day of the iron 'Dreadnoughts'. For me, the true genius of I.K. Brunell are his bridges, buildings, tunnels and other structures. You sure could do two or three more videos on this amazing chap. Thank you, and Cheers, BH
I think you should cover the Fletcher class destroyers of the us navy. Although the ships themselfs weren't exactly incredible like the yamato however they were the most mass produced destroyers of ww2. I'd really love to see you make a video about them
You forgot the ghost story. According to legend, she had a non stop clanging coming from the hull. Something loose that was swinging as the ship rocked, they figured. But while she was being scraped, the skeletons of two riveters were found between the hulls, having been accidently sealed in during construction. Both of them holding hammers, of course.
Real glad you covered Great Eastern. I'm not British, but many of the things I admire in life comes from America's birth-country. And Great Eastern is one of them (shoutout to Titanic for introducing me to the world of ships). Sir Brunel is a man I hope to emulate later in life. It's a shame Great Babe didn't end up being the success she was meant to be (she even got reduced to memes now, thx to Titanic: Honor and Glory XD). But you know what, she was still a marvel to behold regardless. I would've loved to see her if I had the chance. :)
i liked before it even started, love Brunel and this ship was amazing. That gash against the rocks was larger than the gash that sank the titanic. That's how strong the ship was. I also remember reading that the reason the ship was so large was that they thought at the time that there was no coal in Australia so it needed enough coal to go there and back without refuelling.
Simon you should make a video about the 1893 Columbian Exposition/the White City in Chicago! It’s a great story about architecture, overcoming engineering challenges, and its sudden tragic end. It would make a perfect video for mega projects
Quick note about the Great Eastern's launch. It was actually the result of uneven winching between the bow and stern, allowing the ship to slide down the slipway at an angle and become stuck. At one point, Brunel, desperate to save his ship and his dwindling reputation (not to mention being in serious danger of needing to sell his house and all worldly possessions to pay for the project's completion) employed every hydraulic ram in the UK at the time and all of the industrial sized chain that the Royal Navy would lend him only to watch the rams explode one by one and the chains snap. Eventually Brunel was forced to send a plea for help to his lifelong engineering rival but otherwise dear friend Robert Stephenson. Rising from his own death bed, Stephenson joined Brunel at Millwall and helped devise the system that would coax the Great Eastern into the Thames tide by tide. It would be the last engineering achievement by either man; Brunel died 15 Sept. 1859, with Stephenson following 12 Oct.
This would be good for two unique Megaprojects reasons: A WWII U.S. aircraft carrier, and how the minds at the time had to "un-mega" several long range bombers in order to accomplish the mission.
I like the ghost stories that supposedly surround the great eastern and her supposed curse. The one that really used to creep me out is the story of passengers and crewmen would hear moaning and banging in the walls at night. A rumor went around that the ship was haunted my a riveter that had gotten trapped inside the hull and had starved to death and his ghost was still screaming for help. The haunting went on for years and supposedly lots of people had claimed to have heard it. Well when she was finally scrapped, a certain section of the ship was cut open to reveal a skeleton on a man inside the hull! Whether it’s true or not, we’ll never know, but it makes for a good story to tell late at night. When I first heard it, it bothered me to think about how that guy must’ve felt alone, in the dark, hardly able to move, no food, no water, probably not a lot of air, and realizing no one was coming to help....not saying I’m claustrophobic but man that’d suck! Lol
It was a bit like Concorde: an technical success, but a financial failure as it had no running mate and came just as jet travel across the Atlantic started.
@@shebbs1 it technically did have a running mate in the ss America but the America was significantly slower so it made it harder to arrange their schedules
I lived in New Ferry on the wirral merseyside next to the great eastern pub, which had some of the ships original wooden figments installed in the pub,, the pub was knocked down quite a few years ago though
I used to live beneath his bridge (The Brunel Bridge...imaginative) across the river Tamar (east of Plymouth and part of the border between Devon and Cornwall) on Saltash Passage right next to the Royal Albert Bridge Inn so as a curious kid I knew about many of his creations even then :) A great place to live
Tomcat, the Java application server? I didn't know that the AOL Instant Messenger ever reached version 54. Neither of them are Megaprojects material... More context please!
@@johnniemiec3286 No real geese anywhere to be found. Google did talk to me and said something about fighter jets. Really? Are we that shallow? Shouldn't Simon consider renaming the channel into "Military Aircraft Projects" first? Go ahead, press the dislike button on my comment...
I read a book on maritime ghost stories when I was a kid, and it mentioned the Great Eastern. According to the story, a basher was trapped between the double hull and sealed in. And throughout its career, passengers and crew reported the sound of a person screaming and banging on the hull to get out.
9:03 The Great Britain did indeed have around 3,500 GRT. But tons in terms of displacement is far different than gross register tons so you can't compare the two. Great Eastern was around 19,000 GRT.
Videos such as this one, which tie to other Megaprojects videos, or even other videos that tie to other Simon Whistler channels/videos, made me realize two things: 1). There is a Simon Whistler Expanded RUclips Universe 2). *"IT IS GLORIOUS!!!"*
Since were in the topic of ships Please cover the SS Normandie the biggest turbo electric Powered ship ever built as well as a former blue riband holder of the atlantic and also one of the biggest transatlantic liners ever built.
Brunel and his boys have epic top hats, quite a mega-project all by themselves.
They look like a Lincoln lookalike competition lol
Love those top hats...any taller and they could have been back ups for the ships funnels.
Stovepipe Chapeau Union #212
@@pickeljarsforhillary102 Epic middle names in those days too. I wish my parents had called me....
👁 👁 👁️ 👁️ 👁 👁
👄 👄 👄
Penis KINGDOM McWhirtar
The epic top hat was a sign of success and greatness.
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.
thats why i need to go to europe
You must go! If u are an USAnian (or how to call an american chitizen) it is not so hard to have a visa to England.
@@Seregium Yeah, you call an American citizen an American...
It's a fab day out. You get a good feel for what a long voyage would have been like. You can walk "under water" too, I'm sure there are lots of photos on their website.
Amazing how it survived so long, even as a big abandoned rusting hulk (somehow not scrapped/recycled for metal). It was saved and refurbished while in a really derilect state.
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.
“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.
well, i doubt they used sails for all that cable laying
@@Slowcause The sails on steamships back then were there as a precaution. Steam power then was still new when she was built . If a ship ran out of coal, why not have sails as backup
Oh, so they meant "sail" in the specific meaning "sail powered by sails", not in the broader meaning "move on water"
@@panda4247 Yes. I believe this video’s clickbait-y title makes it sound like the ship was too useless to even move itself, regardless of its methods of propulsion.
Oh, as wide as the height of two giraffes. I was thinking "damn those are some really thick giraffes".
The giraffe must become the standard unit of measure on all of Simon's channels, I can't think of a more elegant gauge.
But how many bananas has you can have?
I'm sure there is a standard unit of pineapple.
It's an east mistake to make but giraffes are only referenced by their height, never anything else because only their height defines them. They are 1-dimensional creatures if you will.
@@kaltaron1284 by that reasoning, if you're gonna go by width, I'd suggest elephant or even hippopotamus. How often do you see giraffes laying next to each other head to feet? ;-}
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.
British people: Make fun of Americans for using other measuring systems.
British people: Tw0 gIrRaFFes wIDe
2 giraffes = 8 Cheetas
1 cheeta = 6 rabbits
1 rabbit = 53 mice
Ah, the good old animaletric measuring system.
Worked fine till cats started getting fat...
Lllllloooool😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 this had me rolling ahagagagahhaha
He referenced feet first
To be fair I think that was a joke. We usually user double-decker buses, the cricket pitches, football pitches, then Wales (the country, not the animal). This is also a joke, though true!
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.
Hard to top Jeremy Clarkson's program on KB
@Adam Smith Give us all a brake.
This guy and Clarkson both desecrate the name of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
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.
Same for the RMS Titanic.
Also, the Titanic's Captain Edward Smith was previously the captain of the Titanic's sister ship the RMS Olympic when she collided with HMS Wolfe while leaving port.
The SS Principessa Jolanda too, since she was launched fully fitted out without ballast and had sank due this XD
Interestingly, the iconic photo of Brunel with the giant chains behind him was taken at Millwall yard.
Didn’t he collapse just after that photo?
@@Erakius323 i saw a documentary maaany years ago and i do believe you are right
Missed it, was mesmerized by that fascinating eggskull
Yes he did Master Erakius. (great name pal), honestly.
@@scotmac5143 Thank you. It matches my narcissistic and arrogant nature perfectly. :) It was a damm shame what happened to his ship.
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!
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?
I’ve never heard of this one! I’d love to see this too!
I see this so much in the comments. Sounds interesting.
yes please
Ha deep holes!
@@jameszipp6673 We like em deep, we like em holey.
UK: Hey US check out this bigass ship we just made!
US currently undergoing a civil war: Uh neat, kinda busy tho.
Also the US: Hey Everybody! Check out my aircraft carrier!
Yep
@@BlackEpyon my 20 aircraft carriers*
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.
Maersk Triple E class container ships... Not just one ship, but a fleet of 31 monsters
It was the first boat in history to exceed the dimensions of the legendary Noah's Ark. Just years before, a ship that size was thought technically impossible to create. It took a man like Brunel to think the impossible.
One of the really striking things about the SS Great Eastern was just how well built its double hull was. The hole in its side caused by the Great Eastern Rock was absolutely mammoth, yet there was no danger of it sinking as a result. Most of the passengers weren't even aware there'd even been an accident. By comparison a much smaller rip in the hull sent the RMS Titanic to the bottom of the Atlantic.
Its paddle-wheel/screw propeller combo was also a major success, and gave the ship manoeuvrability that craft a fraction of its size would be envious of.
It's true, the SS Great Eastern was built 40 years too soon. It could carry 5X the passenger numbers of its competitors, but there was no demand for 5x the volume of people seeking voyage. It would have been a big hit in 1900 but by that time the SS Great Eastern had long since gone to the breaker's yard. Like a number of Brunel's ideas (such as the Atmospheric Railway which was essentially the same concept as the Hyperloop), he was designing for a future he knew was coming but didn't realise how long it would take to reach it.
Still waiting for the episode on Simon's beard.. the pinnacle, of Mega Projects.
Followed by Simons glasses, and then Simon's joint rolling skills!
Eeeewhat. Yes! The creams the dews. The stuff you talk bout on doller shave club but for your man sail.
@@derrekvanee4567 You forgot the butter. He likes to make sure he is covered in butter first before he lubes up his dry bits.
Simon's wife cancelled the megabeard project.
@@rockets4kids lmao! nice
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 :)
It's said that plates from the Great Eastern can still be found in the mud off Rock Ferry on the Wirral (opposite Liverpool)
I’ve actually seen a documentary where they found a piece. I want to buy some lol
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. .
You forgot about the entire period of the Great Easterns history where it sat idle on the shore, reduced to being a gigantic billboard.
he also didnt mention the story of the deaths during her construction, nor the story of two bodies sealed between the hulls during construction, the skeletons found during her deconstruction... (note: i believe the story is just a legend, but it wouldnt surprise me if it were true... plus its an interesting part of the ships history)
....And, the temporary repair after striking the Great Eastern Rock and opening up the hull. It was done before the ship could return to England.
@@CrazyPetez And the fact that the ship was saved by her double hull.
@@spartan09_Oni Its curious cus,
When I was a kid like in kiddergarten i was fascinated by titanic and so i shearched by info arround the matter I then discovered ss great eastern, I knew there was the need for two rebitors(?) To be in both sides of a plate to unify them so I questoned myself as a kid *how could they have put the last plate if there would not be a exit* i as a kid believed someone would have needen to sacrifice themsefs for that (a morbid thought) later abandoned that idea but today i got back to the *ss great eastern and find this* .
No worry its a legend mutch debunked
I find Brunel to be absolutely fascinating. That man could engineer and design like no one before him. I really think that Brunel was a man born much, much too early. His "atmospheric system" for trains was actually brilliant. Too bad the synthetic materials it required hadn't yet been invented. Even if it had worked, it would have been superceded by things such as mag-lev, but it certainly would have revolutionised railways in Britain.
I think his Great Eastern was incredible. Had she been allowed to realise her full potential. she would have been the first means of non-stop travel between the UK and Australia, voyage of at least 10,000 miles--that's almost halfway around the globe. I think it's hard to appreciate such an innovation in an age when nonstop travel from the UK to Australia is done routinely, wich is why some might think that the Great Eastern's size was ridiculous. I don't think it was when you take into account the vast stores of coal and food/water needed to make her voyages non-stop. It's sad that she was never allowed to show what she could do. Only one person here, but I would have been more than happy to have been able to sail non-stop from the UK to Australia.
There are a couple of interesting parallels between Brunel and Thomas Andrews of Titanic fame. Both built ships that were the biggest at the time of launch. Both had innovative ideas for ships and both were killed by their ships--Brunel because of the all the stress of getting the Great Eastern built and launched, which resulted in Brunel's Bright's disease (nephritis) and stroke. Yes, he was a heavy smoker but all the stress from the Great Eastern certainly didn't help. And Andrews died during the sinking of the Titanic.
he only thing I don't get is why Brunel decided to go with paddlewheels and a single propeller when the SS Great Britain (another Brunel ship) had only a single propeller. Maybe because of the Great Eastern's greatly increased size and displacement? That's the only reason I can think of. Nevertheless, both ships were magnificent and ahead of their time.
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.
He was mentioned during his biographics channel. Only issue was he was crap at finances though a genius on engineering.
Yeah, that’s more of a Biographics detail on Brunel himself. Highly recommend his video. 🙂
Yes. There used to be a display - at Greenwich, I think - of the machines that Marc Brunel developed to produce blocks and sheaves (pulleys) for sailing ships. The Royal Navy of the day used hundreds of thousands of these, and of course they wore out, cracked, or were destroyed by flying chunks of iron fired by rude strangers. Brunel took what had been basically a "one-off every time" device, and built a whole system of machines that formed a uniform production line, each machine doing just one thing. Wood went in one end, and finished pulley blocks came out the other. The models were really interesting, and I hope the display still exists. (Note to Henry Ford: sorry, you didn't invent the idea of an assembly line using machinery).
I came across the Marc Brunel display by accident; I had gone to see one of the original Harrison #1 or #2 chronometers. And come to think of it, Harrison's Chronometer really was another engineering masterpiece, and qualifies as a technology Mega-Project. although not physically large. Harrison was truly a wizard.
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.
The Great Eastern may have been "too big to sail," but it turned out to be just the right size to lay the Transatlantic Cable (in fact, no other ship at the time was large enough to carry that much cable.) And, since it was out of service for so long, the cable-laying company was able to get it for a song, which made it economical as well. Which just goes to show that even the most useless-looking of things can still have some uses.
BBC’s “Seven wonders of the industrial world” series (I think it’s from the early to mid-2000’s?) has an excellent episode about this ship.
And the sewers designed by Bazalgette, the Hoover Dam, the Bell Rock lighthouse, the Panama Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and America’s transcontinental railway. Highly recommend watching if you can find it. It used to be on Netflix, but no longer for where I live. (And the DVDs are long out of print!)
While the ship had problems, the fact it survived them when they surely would have sunk any other is a testament to it's design genius.
To be honest because of great eastern we had Lusitania, Mauretania, the Olympic class and all of he others great ocean liners. Because of this guy that made so much for developing England In the XIX century we have not only the ships as we know today but a huge number of any other things. So thanks so much rich eccentric English engineer.
... of French origins.
@@dinos9607 Father French, mother English.
@@stevenlowe3026 And of course ethnicity comes from father. Granted, Brunel felt British not French so there you have it.
Trains don't ride so well on aquaducts...
Of course they do! You just got to keep the speed up and the course straight... Or freeze them over and do the Polar Express drifting thing! :D
Aquaducts or viaducts?
You beat me to a rant on the rail aqueductics plus the Thames tunnel was surely started by his father Marc, with another engineer credited for the tunneling shield ?
The steam engines needed water to make the steam and for cooling. Where else would you get water if not from an aqueduct.
They ride fine for a short while, but then you get a sinking feeling.
Correction; The gap between the inner and outer hulls was what was 0.86 meters WIDE! Thus the outer hull was NOT 0.86 meters "thick". Annnnd some of the script explaining the "Spec.'s" of the ship are explained wrong, particularly that of "Bulkhead(s)" orientation/placement as affixed to the "Inner Hull"!
BUT this channel is still a super fun channel to watch...very informative, the production values are top notch! Carry on...as you were....
Jules Verne in 1871 wrote a novel after a trip on board the Great Eastern . It's title is a floating city .
As I already mentioned on your SideProjects channel, I love watching things about history. And obviously I love watching your channels. It's a great distraction during these times, so keep up the good work, thank you Simon and your crew :)
I remember a book in our school library when I was a kid. It was about ghosts and the supernatural. There was a story about people that died building this ship, causing knocking sounds from being sealed inside a panel on the ship.
it was on the Titanic,john smitherson.
on the great eastern,legend says it was two men,but...not clear,there where reports on newspapers that they found the bodies when scrapped,but...
I did read somewhere that the remains of children were found between the hulls when she was scrapped. They used to use them to distribute rivets. Evidently a corner was cut somewhere and the poor souls found themselves trapped in the darkness off the hull. Sorry for the grim factoid.
@@jjskn93 yes, 2 workers, a man and his boy assistant went missing. Their remains were found trapped in the double hull when the ship was broken up.
When they dismantled this ship they discovered a skeleton of a worker in the keel area.Superstitous people believed it was the cause of the bad luck this ship faced during its years of service.
The story of a riveter and his young helper being trapped inside the double hull and their bodies being found when the ship was scrapped was told, many years ago, on the TV show "Ripley´s Believe it or Not", hosted by Jack Palance. I would be gratful if someone could provide some reference supporting this story.
This is exactly the type of MegaProject I'm looking for. Lots of cool, important stuff to learn, not too long, and a bittersweet ending.
Would bet most Brits know his name, he did after all win that poll (putting him ahead of Newton, Maxwell and Hawking) and being British im one of them
He didn't win, he came second to Churchill.....
I agree with your name
Rather funny his father was French.
I would bet a good portion of them would only remember him because of his badass middle name.
@@exsappermadman25055 Well, by win i meant came second. Considering theres millions of Brits i would count anyone in the top 100 as winners :)
This is one of your best presentations. Brunel has always fascinated me.
I recently heard this story on the Dork-O-Motive podcast. Because of the format, the host could go into a lot more detail. The runtime is nearly 1 1/2 hours. Brunel and his creations were and are absolutely fascinating!
This is what is so interesting about 19th century enginnering. They were very forward thinking and their prototypes for all sorts of inventions and megaprojects were startling. One of my favorites is the Beach Pneumatic Subway.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
He sure could engineer well
For a Biographics video???
@@russellfitzpatrick503 nah he's mentioned in this one. The ship was his idea, he was in charge of building it. My comment is a reference to another channel.
Is this a Sweet reference?
"Alexander Graham Bell
he did know darn well
that he could find the only way
to talk across the USA:
Telephone, telephone
never be on your own!
Many many years ago
he started something
with his first 'hello, hello'..."
@@vaclav_fejt Nah that's from MrWeebl
Jeremy Clarkson did a great video on Brunel. It was on RUclips. Doesn't shy away from his various issues either, mainly regarding finances.
Wonderful! There’s so little on RUclips about Brunel’s masterpiece. Thank you.
The SS United States would make a great video. One of the last great ocean liners, potential weapon in WW3, fastest passenger ship ever, it's got everything you need!
And a cameo in the movie The Munsters goes to Europe.
@Jan Brady she was built to Navy specs in case the government needed a giant troopship in another war, the way the Royal Navy used British liners before. That's why she has such a strong hull and was so crazy fast.
@@Alexanderthe_Ok One detail that's stuck in my memory about her fitting out was her designer's insistence on developing a grand piano made of Aluminum, to save weight. That by itself must have been a challenge.
It is also the ship which Jules Vernes used to travel to the US in 1867. He wrote a book about it "Une ville flottante" (a floating city)
There was a paranormal twist to the Great Eastern story. Decades ago in high school, i read a ghost book that had about it. Supposedly, the reason for all the bad luck with the ship was that she was haunted/cursed by those who died building her. It was said that one could hear pounding and muffled screams from the double hull. When she was scrapped, two skeletons were found in the space between the double hulls along with shipbuilding tools.
You should know that some books are purely works of fiction written for entertainment and, while taking place at real locations, are not based on facts or even actual rumours.
I read that story too. Given that Simon didn't even mention it I doubt there's any truth to it. Pretty sure that 'worker trapped between the hulls' meme has appeared a lot since the advent of iron and steel shipbuilding.
it is worth noting that Brunel is quite well known if France. Firstly because of his French descent and secondly thanks to Jukes Verne's novel "Ume Ville flottante" ("A Floating Town") set aboard the Great Eastern and describing it at length. Thirdly of course, thanks to its multiple round trips between two French cities on both sides of the pond: Brest and St Pierre...
Speaking of ships, how about making a video about Dreadnaught. It's the kinda first of its kind and the rest is history.
HMS Dreadnought is a too big/too important project for this channel.
Simon should create a new one - RevolutionaryProjects and add it there [maybe with renault FT and Maxim gun]
@@grlt23 ..........and a Citreon 2CV (Lol)
Drachinfel has a whole lot on this.
@@ferky123 Drachinfel has a lot on anything that floated and had gun at any point of time... This guy can take 19th century russian repair ship and make a video about it - and make it so good that it become instant meme.... XD
HMS Dreadnaught had a remarkably short and uneventful career for such a revolutionary deign. The ship was out of date even before WW I began. It was relegated to coastal guard and convoy escort duty, and was one of the first British ships scrapped under the Washington Naval Treaty. She became a victim of her own success, everyone wanted a bigger and better version as soon as they understood how important she was.
Simon, your voice and personality are very comforting my friend! Good job!
Mr Isembard Kingdom Brunel is definitely one of my favorite historic characters ever
fun fact, a piece of her original forward funnel that was blown off by the explosion is still preserved at a museum.
Another fact, despite the ship having very weak propulsion mechanisms (propeller, rudder, and paddles) when it came to scrapping the ship, it was discovered that her hull was extremely well built and that the only good methods of breaking her apart was by using an iron wrecking ball. breaking the ship apart was not a clean task and over at the sight where she was broken up you can still find fragments of her hull plates that were disposed poorly years ago.
A Good idea would be an episode of the Ships of State during the Depression Era from 1929-39. This includes Germany’s SS Bremen and SS Europa, Italy’s SS Rex, France’s SS Normandie, and England’s RMS Queen Mary. Each ship was a revolution of ship building and also proved to be symbolic of the world leading up to the Second World War.
Bristolian here, Brunel is our city's hero! Back in the days when you could be an engineer for anything, bridges, rail lines, ships, harbors, hydrolic loch gates. He did it all!
I would say today's modern equivalent to the Great Eastern would be the Airbus A380; an enormous vessel built to carry huge amount of passengers but became a commercial failure.
I have a piece of the great Eastern, as I live near new ferry where the ship was broke up there are still remnants in the mersey you can find at low tide. I have even managed to locate what piece of it I have , it's a piece of the decking plate as it has a 4and half inch angle iron beam which was used to join the deck to the hull. It's in a display case in my garage.
Now i understand why Jeremy Clarkson used the term extremely "Brunelian" when describing certain Bentleys
Through out her existence people said to have heard a 'knocking' from her hull. It was always attributed to her steam engine, but when scrapped a skeleton was found between the double hull. It's been assumed that this was why the Great Eastern had been such an unlucky ship.
Sadly, if the 'unsinkable' Titanic had incorporated the Great Eastern's double-hull, things might have turned out much better for her passengers in 1912!
The gash was really deep. It might not have mattered.
@@TheCaptainSplatter Unlike reports in contemporary newspapers and 1950s movies, expert opinion today is that the Titanic did not suffer a long continuous gash, but most likely a series of punctures, sheared rivets and separated plates. Also, in addition to the double hull, the Great Eastern's watertight bulkheads extended up to the main deck, while many of the Titanic's only went up part-way.
After the sinking, Titanic's sister-ship Olympic was pulled from service and internal hull-plating was added to extend the double-bottom into a double hull above the waterline, and several internal bulkheads were increased in height.
My sources include the book "Falling Star", a history of the White Star Line, and the 1953 book "The Great Iron Ship" detailing the story of the Great Eastern.
Interestingly, the Great Eastern did suffer a deep gash when it struck that uncharted rock off Long Island in 1861. It concluded it's voyage to New York with only a slight list, but might have wound up marooned there indefinitely, as no facilities existed in the US to handle a vessel that size, and with the Civil War raging, no 1-inch iron hull-plate was available to make the repairs. Eventually, some 7/8-inch boiler-plate was found, deemed acceptable, and a very unique method of 'underwater' repair was employed.
I recommend the Bathyscaphe Trieste. First submarine the reach the deepest part of the Ocean. From Bathyspheres to the development of the Trieste is interesting and the mission it's self was quite the undertaking and a great story.
hey at least she helped in the telecommunication development with her placing the telegraph cables under the sea, that is important too.
Especially seeing how many times they dropped it, lost it, dropped it again then fished it back out again.
I've watched a lot of Simon's videos and I will keep doing so. He gives off the same vibe as the late '90s and early 2000's History and Science Channel which I watched as a kid religiously. I wish those channels would go back to these types of shows.
On another nautical note, I'd recommend the USN's Los Angeles Class of attack submarines. These were the boats built to hunt Typhoons and outfight any attack submarine or surface vessel the Soviets could put out. They're the most numerous class of nuclear submarine ever built, and enormously capable. They were the quietest, fastest, and smartest submarines of their day, and the later variants are still in their prime, scattered across the world's oceans escorting missile subs, tapping undersea cables, and just generally being the closest thing on this planet to an honest-to-god starship.
At 9:33 Lord I started laughing 😂 because Simon 😆 said, “Sailors, are among other things, a “superstitious bunch”, so while the ship was cruising down the River Thames, she blew 1 of its funnels straight up, into the air!” I immediately pictured this and busted out laughing!!
I love how there are still many who know about this truly magnificent vessel
Great Eastern was built using a system of double plating, to create an inner and outer hull skin arrangement. This was to create strength and had added benefit of reducing the possibilities of sinking in case of outer hull breach..
Had this system been used in the construction of Titanic 60 odd years later......
one of the greatest ships ever... how would they have laid the cables without this ship?
Watch their video on the transatlantic cables
By splicing cables carried by multiple ships together.
@@calvingreene90 I imagine using one big ship was more convenient.
@@TheCaptainSplatter
From my reading of laying the initial transatlantic cables that is why they used the Great Eastern.
@@calvingreene90 There was still a problem. Only the Great Eastern had the coal capacity to reach Australia. Which meant that it had the coal capacity to stay on station while laying the cable. It would have been difficult with ships that only had limited coal supplies. They may have needed sailing ships to bring replenishment during the laying process.
The gash in the hull of the Great Eastern was bigger than the gash in the hull of the Titanic but because of the double hull and numerous water tight compartments it was never in danger of sinking. Had the Titanic been built to the same engineering standard it would scarcely be remembered today.
Jesus can’t even Learn about a ship for 5 minutes without RUclips commercials
I was waiting for this one! (And was one of undoubtedly many people who requested it). Just one more suggestion from the Victorian age - the London sewerage system of Joseph Bazalgette. This man saved thousands - by getting rid of their s**t!
.40 seconds that's in my home town, there is a wooden model in the old cable station which is now a museum
G'day Simon, Yes, I've seen your great Megaprojects video on the Trans-Atlantic telegraph cable and several other documentaries on I.K. Brunell. (Oddly, the last shot of 'him' in this video was not him, he was just off to the right of the screen.) Regarding the Great Eastern, not all was Brunell's fault. The maritime 'fashion' of the the day were huge paddle wheels. These are great on riverboats, canal boats and close into shore, coastal shipping. Way out at sea, even in a moderately choppy sea state, at various times one paddle wheel will be out of the water, then the one on the other side and so on. This made navigating these ships difficult even in seas that would present no problems to vessels sans paddle wheels. The rougher the seas, as are common in the North Atlantic, present serious problems for paddle wheel vessels. The Admiralty was highly suspicious of not only steam driven ships but particularly paddle wheels and stuck with sails almost to the day of the iron 'Dreadnoughts'. For me, the true genius of I.K. Brunell are his bridges, buildings, tunnels and other structures. You sure could do two or three more videos on this amazing chap.
Thank you, and Cheers, BH
I think you should cover the Fletcher class destroyers of the us navy. Although the ships themselfs weren't exactly incredible like the yamato however they were the most mass produced destroyers of ww2. I'd really love to see you make a video about them
You forgot the ghost story. According to legend, she had a non stop clanging coming from the hull. Something loose that was swinging as the ship rocked, they figured. But while she was being scraped, the skeletons of two riveters were found between the hulls, having been accidently sealed in during construction. Both of them holding hammers, of course.
10:25 If the first arrival in the U.S. was in 1860, how could the country still be in the grip of a Civil War? The war started in 1861.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- when your parents decide to name you after a random word and darts game with the world map.
You should do a mega project on the Bruckless Footpath. It’s about 20 meters long and 3 meters wide for so reason.
"It took almost 1 men and over 4 kilos of concrete" 🤣
@@khutikhuti aye 😂
Real glad you covered Great Eastern. I'm not British, but many of the things I admire in life comes from America's birth-country. And Great Eastern is one of them (shoutout to Titanic for introducing me to the world of ships). Sir Brunel is a man I hope to emulate later in life. It's a shame Great Babe didn't end up being the success she was meant to be (she even got reduced to memes now, thx to Titanic: Honor and Glory XD). But you know what, she was still a marvel to behold regardless. I would've loved to see her if I had the chance. :)
I don't know why you say his reputation has dimmed. He is immensely famous.
i liked before it even started, love Brunel and this ship was amazing. That gash against the rocks was larger than the gash that sank the titanic. That's how strong the ship was. I also remember reading that the reason the ship was so large was that they thought at the time that there was no coal in Australia so it needed enough coal to go there and back without refuelling.
Please do a Megaprojects video on the Bristol Brabazon.
Simon you should make a video about the 1893 Columbian Exposition/the White City in Chicago! It’s a great story about architecture, overcoming engineering challenges, and its sudden tragic end. It would make a perfect video for mega projects
There's a Jules Verne book about that ship: The floating city.
I'm looking this book up thanks!
Jules Verne sailed on the Great Eastern, experienced the great ship’s tremendous rolling.
Quick note about the Great Eastern's launch. It was actually the result of uneven winching between the bow and stern, allowing the ship to slide down the slipway at an angle and become stuck. At one point, Brunel, desperate to save his ship and his dwindling reputation (not to mention being in serious danger of needing to sell his house and all worldly possessions to pay for the project's completion) employed every hydraulic ram in the UK at the time and all of the industrial sized chain that the Royal Navy would lend him only to watch the rams explode one by one and the chains snap.
Eventually Brunel was forced to send a plea for help to his lifelong engineering rival but otherwise dear friend Robert Stephenson. Rising from his own death bed, Stephenson joined Brunel at Millwall and helped devise the system that would coax the Great Eastern into the Thames tide by tide. It would be the last engineering achievement by either man; Brunel died 15 Sept. 1859, with Stephenson following 12 Oct.
Suggestion for Simon: USS Hornet and the Jimmy Doolittle Raid.
This would be good for two unique Megaprojects reasons: A WWII U.S. aircraft carrier, and how the minds at the time had to "un-mega" several long range bombers in order to accomplish the mission.
b-25 mitchell special
@@spliffburger thanks, I couldn't remember which bomber type it was and wasn't compelled to look it up.
Great documentary. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Brunel was an engineer way ahead of the time.
Thank you for the metric measurement translations! Great video, as always!
When "S.S. Great Eastern" comes up, I think of "transatlantic telegraph cable."
I live near Kentucky just north of the Ohio River and I gotta mention, you say Leviathan like a good ol' boy. ( 8:45 )
Suggestions:
the Messmer-plan in France
the EPR
the Taymyr (or Rosatomflot in general),
the internet,
the british empire,
Windscale/Sellafield
I like the ghost stories that supposedly surround the great eastern and her supposed curse. The one that really used to creep me out is the story of passengers and crewmen would hear moaning and banging in the walls at night. A rumor went around that the ship was haunted my a riveter that had gotten trapped inside the hull and had starved to death and his ghost was still screaming for help. The haunting went on for years and supposedly lots of people had claimed to have heard it. Well when she was finally scrapped, a certain section of the ship was cut open to reveal a skeleton on a man inside the hull!
Whether it’s true or not, we’ll never know, but it makes for a good story to tell late at night. When I first heard it, it bothered me to think about how that guy must’ve felt alone, in the dark, hardly able to move, no food, no water, probably not a lot of air, and realizing no one was coming to help....not saying I’m claustrophobic but man that’d suck! Lol
MEGA PROJECT suggestion: the ss United States, the fastest oceanliner ever put to sail to this day
It was a bit like Concorde: an technical success, but a financial failure as it had no running mate and came just as jet travel across the Atlantic started.
@@shebbs1 it technically did have a running mate in the ss America but the America was significantly slower so it made it harder to arrange their schedules
I lived in New Ferry on the wirral merseyside next to the great eastern pub, which had some of the ships original wooden figments installed in the pub,, the pub was knocked down quite a few years ago though
Him and that damn CIGAR!!!!!!!
I used to live beneath his bridge (The Brunel Bridge...imaginative) across the river Tamar (east of Plymouth and part of the border between Devon and Cornwall) on Saltash Passage right next to the Royal Albert Bridge Inn so as a curious kid I knew about many of his creations even then :) A great place to live
Tomcat and Aim 54 please!!
Tomcat, the Java application server? I didn't know that the AOL Instant Messenger ever reached version 54. Neither of them are Megaprojects material...
More context please!
Talk to me Goose.
@@johnniemiec3286 No real geese anywhere to be found. Google did talk to me and said something about fighter jets.
Really? Are we that shallow? Shouldn't Simon consider renaming the channel into "Military Aircraft Projects" first?
Go ahead, press the dislike button on my comment...
@@johnniemiec3286 MAVERICK!?! PULL UP!!!
Tomcat, Aim-54 and Intel 4004 CPU. All in one variable-sweep wing, supersonic, supersexy fighter aircraft.
I read a book on maritime ghost stories when I was a kid, and it mentioned the Great Eastern. According to the story, a basher was trapped between the double hull and sealed in. And throughout its career, passengers and crew reported the sound of a person screaming and banging on the hull to get out.
Suggestion: The reversal in flow of the Chicago River.
9:03 The Great Britain did indeed have around 3,500 GRT. But tons in terms of displacement is far different than gross register tons so you can't compare the two. Great Eastern was around 19,000 GRT.
Simon: If you've never heard of...
Civil Engineers: Heresy, how dare you not know the name of GOD
Antonym for Modesty
Videos such as this one, which tie to other Megaprojects videos, or even other videos that tie to other Simon Whistler channels/videos, made me realize two things:
1). There is a Simon Whistler Expanded RUclips Universe
2). *"IT IS GLORIOUS!!!"*
Since were in the topic of ships
Please cover the SS Normandie the biggest turbo electric
Powered ship ever built as well as a former blue riband holder of the atlantic and also one of the biggest transatlantic liners ever built.
Really enjoy your delivery and presentation Simon.