BBC Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World
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Here we are gentlemen, we are at last able to commence work on The Great Eastern.
This is the true story of the greatest ship the world had ever seen.
The Great Eastern.
l have conceived her as a giant bridge.
A ship that bankrupted and ruined the men who built her.
l mean l`ve never built ships under such punitive financial arrangements.
Sending many to an early grave.
The Great Eastern was the final engineering triumph of
that most brilliant of engineers lsambard Kingdom Brunel.
A monstrous creation that would consume him.
1852, Brunel and his personal assistant
William Jacomb are in London trying to raise finance for The Great Eastern.
l had the idea to build a ship that could circumnavigate the globe,
and be big enough to carry coal for the entire journey.
A project of these ambitions is bound to raise eyebrows.
Oh l`d hope so, that`s the general idea.
l would be very disappointed if they didn`t.
My ship will be the largest moving man made object ever built.
A floating city, five times the size of any vessel that has sailed the ocean.
She will carry fifteen thousand tonnes of coal,
it will require two hundred stokers
working around the clock to feed her immense steam engine.
These engines will be higher than a four storey house
and will harness the power equivalent of over eight thousand horses.
l have designed her to provide the ultimate in luxury.
Other ships can carry four hundred passengers, she will carry four thousand.
l want her to be the engineering marvel of the world, a Crystal Palace of the sea.
A fitting symbol for our mighty empire. Though it will be expensive, yes...
...there`s no doubt about that, but um l`ve always found the,
the wisest and safest plans go straight in the direction
that you believe to be right, and to plan without fear or compromise.
But many say Brunel`s vision goes beyond what either man or machine can achieve.
We`ve put this project to The Eastern Steam Navigation Company,
and er we`re waiting for their response.
Look at this.
Brunel hopes Eastern Steam will finance his great ship.
Gentlemen, gentlemen how much deliberation do we need?
But heated arguments
about whether she will even float are threatening the project.
Sir l`m not prepared to stay here and...
The entire project is a fantasy, it could never be built,
and if it were under that enormous weight it would sink, and with it my money.
How does the man know
that the ship won`t snap like a twig at the first sign of a storm?
And the size of the ship
is matched only by the size of Mr Brunel`s opinion of himself.
Six directors walk out.
They don`t want to risk financial ruin,
the fate of many who invested in Brunel`s grand designs.
Brunel is famous with the public but he is not popular with financiers.
He is described as the Napoleon of Engineers.
Thinking more of glory than profit.
Yet if one man can be said to have created the modern industrial world,
that man is Brunel.
His visions and designs ignite a revolution
that gives the world its first global transport system.
His railways compress time transporting people at unimaginable speeds.
His bridges are radical in their innovation
spanning distances never before achieved.
Brunel`s ships crisscross the Atlantic.
With The Great Britain,
the first all iron steam ship, his designs look modern, futuristic.
The most radical engineer the world has ever seen smoked forty cigars a day
and thrives on just four hours sleep.
But Brunel is suffering from an incurable kidney disease
that he fears will cheat him of his greatest challenge.
This is the greatest technical challenge of my career.
l have never embarked upon any one thing to which l`m devoting so much time,
thought and labour.
And on the success of which l am staking so much reputation.
At, at my age you do consider your legacy to the world.
l want this to be a fitting epitaph.
Brunel`s proposal carries the day, just.
The remaining directors gambled that maybe this time his ship will make them rich.
We`ve had a very heated debate, and yes there are detractors,
but they`re outnumbered l`m pleased to say by those
who will be proud to be associated with any project
with the name Brunel stamped on it.
Here we are gentlemen,
two priceless porcelain figurines packed for safe storage.
And stores for the coal.
Another great idea from Mr Brunel.
The ship enters the design phase.
Brunel supervises every detail of the work,
he has chosen Britain`s most brilliant marine engineer,
John Scott Russell, as his naval architect.
Russell has revolutionized the design of ships hulls,
turning the old stuffy traditions of ship building in to a modern science.
That`s six hundred and ninety two feet,
the hull will be double the length of the largest ship
with that of course being Mr Brunel`s Great Britain.
The entire vessel will be constructed in iron,
er that`s more than eight thousand tonnes of it if l`m correct.
Eight thousand six hundred.
Well still four times more than has been fashioned recently on any project,
be it ship building or bridge.
Now as to the methods of construction,
by these at will averages with a new screw method of propulsion.
Well it`s l who will be indebted to Mr Brunel`s considerable expertise
and structural engineering.
There are no two more qualified men in the world for this project,
even so the task ahead will test their talent to the limit.
They will have to devise new tools, new technologies and methods of construction.
They are moving in to un-chartered waters.
The vast outline of the Great Eastern is marked in to the mud.
The hull is to be built here at Russell`s ship yard
on the lsle of Dogs in London`s Eastend.
Most vexing uncertainty is how do we get this monstrous beast in to the water.
Both men agree over most of the technical detail,
but a disagreement has begun about how to launch the ship.
Mr Russell favours building her in dry dock and then er floating her out,
whereas er Mr Brunel has a rather novel plan of er constructing her alongside
the Thames here and then er sliding her down sideways in to the water,
which er l think Mr Russell will see the benefit of this er in due course.
lt`s our custom that the ship builder devises the means of the launch,
and er l`ve no doubt Mr Brunel will be so occupied with questions of engineering
as to leave the matter to Mr Russell.
But er as it is it will be a mighty endeavour,
for the newspapermen have calculated
and given the dimensions in the bible our ship will be bigger than Noah`s Ark.
Optimism abounds, however would they even be able to launch the great ship
or will her eight thousand, six hundred tonnes sink in to the estuary mud?
There`s a huge tonnage,
l`ve calculated the required tonnage er would outweigh
the hundred and ninety seven English ships
that fought the Spanish Armada, that`s gigantic.
We do not take Brunel for a rogue or a fool but an engineering knight errant.
Never so happy as when engaged, regardless of costs, in conquering.
The newspapers,
especially The Times can be quite cutting in their remarks about my husband.
He gives everything to a project,
his undivided attention, his energy, his reputation.
And were it possibly even more to this project
there`s little time left for the family.
Construction was just about to start.
When fire sweeps through Russell`s shipyard.
The timber yard containing a thousand tonnes of deck
planking provided irresistible fuel for the flames,
which in two hours engulfed the premises.
With it went a tragic inventory of some of the most choice and valuable plans,
models and templates, including those of the projected great ship.
Russell is in a desperate situation,
he has no insurance and will have to borrow heavily
from the bank to repair his yard.
He decides not to tell Brunel
even though his debts could threaten the entire project.
lt is, it is terrible news, but Mr Russell has given me his assurance,
as a gentlemen, that he can repair the yard in the matter of a few months.
So, en avant.
Mr Brunel.
Gentlemen we are at last able to commence work on the Great Eastern.
These chains behind me will form part of the restraining apparatus
that will control the launch of my ship.
l can see the look of disapproval on Mr Russell`s face,
we`re not yet in agreement over the launch.
But l`m sure in this matter the engineer`s creed of acceleration,
inertia, momentum, load and friction will prevail.
Go, come on.
The great work starts.
The Great Eastern is to be the first ship almost entirely constructed of metal.
Heave.
Each plate weighs a third of a tonne and takes six men to lift it
and the ship will need thirty thousand plates.
Then two hundred gangs of riveters known
as bashers fix the plates to the ship`s superstructure.
lnside the ship`s hull children squeeze between the walls of the metal.
Handling white hot rivets of temperatures of over a thousand degrees.
lt will take three million rivets to complete the job.
Twelve thousand men are employed at Russell`s shipyard.
My name`s John Donovan, l`m a basher, age seventy five,
l grew up when Carpenters were the top men.
Now it`s all gone from wood to iron, mind you there`s some who`ll say
there`s not the skill in it these days just a lot of bashing,
but, don`t make no difference to me.
Come on lad, this is my grandson Jack, yeah l give him a few pennies each week.
Here show `em your scar.
He got that from a rivet.
Here we are gentlemen.
For the first time a ship without ribs.
The hull comprises of two layers of seven eighths
of an inch metal plate set approximately three feet apart.
Why you may ask gentlemen.
l have conceived her as a giant bridge.
Now, if she were made of single plates
she would bend and buckle in heavy seas, like this.
But l`ve brought my considerable knowledge of bridge building to her design,
which l can demonstrate on this model.
As you can see this is not solid.
lt gains its strength and rigidity from its cellular construction.
Also very light.
But solid and rigid enough to hold my weight.
And this gentleman`s too.
Feel safe?
Yes sir.
Are you sure?
Yes sir.
Onward.
Now the double hull also serves a double purpose.
Should the outer skin be ripped the inner plates ensure that she remains watertight.
ln these ways gentlemen this great ship is without parallel.
Where is a man to go for a new sight?
To the midst of those dreary regions known as East Greenwich and Millwall.
Where the atmosphere is tiring and everything seems slimy and amphibious,
where a gigantic scheme is in progress.
Russell`s shipyard is the biggest attraction in Europe.
Tempting even some of the crowned heads to visit.
Here they can marvel at hull plates that could have formed shields for the gods.
And a ship`s screw that looks like the blade bones of some huge animal
before the time of Adam and Eve.
l will not put up with this.
lt`s perfectly clear in the contract with us, all parts of the ship,
all details of construction and those of procedural work
to be at the complete satisfaction of the engineer.
By the end of the first year all is not going well.
Mr Brunel, he insists that every detail,
no matter how small, receives his personal scrutiny.
l think er Mr Russell has some difficulties with this arrangement.
Mr Brunel`s insistence on pondering
every detail of construction`s causing terrible delays and financial problems.
l mean you must understand that we are,
we only receive funds
when certain stages of construction have been completed.
l mean l`ve never built ships under such punitive financial arrangements.
Brunel starts to suspect Russell of hiding something
when he refuses to give accurate information
on the amount of iron used in the ship.
Russell`s reply to my long list of complaint does not satisfy
one single honest craving for information.
The figures he`s supplied on the wait, which l need,
are like the attempt of writing of a two year old child.
Well as l`ve said that he thinks that l`m indifferent to the weight of the ship
l have thoroughly satisfied myself of the weight.
How the devil can he say he`s satisfied with the weight
when the figures his clerk gave him are a thousand times less than l make them,
or in fact what he made them a month ago.
Not withstanding l remain his obedient servant.
l wish he was my obedient servant, start with a little flogging.
Will you stop that.
With the escalating conflict Brunel`s health deteriorates.
l make the quantity of iron in the yard about one thousand, four hundred tonnes.
But this would still leave eight hundred or nine hundred tonnes unaccounted for.
l am totally at a loss to suggest even a probable explanation.
ln an extraordinary meeting of the board Brunel all
but accuses Russell of stealing the iron.
He proposes measures to force Russell to comply.
My duty to the company compels me to state
that l see no means of obtaining proper attention to the terms of the contract
other than by refusing the advance of any more money.
Thank you gentlemen.
Just three weeks later Russell orders Ned Hepworth to close down the yard.
A possible explanation emerges for the missing iron.
Mr Russell has no option but to call a complete halt to work on the ship.
Matters of a financial nature, l`ll say no more.
Rumours abound that
Russell has been using the iron to help pay off his debts from the fire.
But now he has run out of money and iron, and he is on the verge of bankruptcy.
We paid him the majority of the contract price,
yet only a quarter of the work has been done on the hull,
and the ship`s engines haven`t been built.
The bank has seized his shipyard and with it our ship.
Good morning gentlemen.
Good morning sir.
l`m ready for your questions.
Deadlock, and the press has got hold of the story.
Resolve Mr Russell`s financial situation.
l believe the only step
that can save him from bankruptcy would be an arrangement with his creditors.
l believe that your relationship with Mr Russell is not that harmonious.
We have a working relationship.
lt is a grave concern of mine to see my husband so wholly consumed by his work,
he`s always untiring in his efforts, but...
...though the work prays upon his mind and because he is a gentleman at heart
and he`s easily wounded by the mischief of others and l have to say that er,
the relationship between Mr Russell and my husband has not been an easy one.
l fear it is much to be regretted that Mr Russell does not seem to have a friend
about him to give him strong advice.
l have tried several times but was not listened to, otherwise l`d freely give it.
This time there is a change in him.
l fear that with his Great Ship he has overreached himself
and has in some ways affected his health.
ls this true?
My health is fine.
The Great Eastern l think has been so far the,
the hardest work that l`ve undertaken.
l seem to have been beset with concatenation of evils.
The work restarts, the bank agrees to give back the yard
but on condition the ship is launched in record time.
The race is on.
Come on lads, come on.
l`m standing here watching you, it`s like watching dead people, so get on with it.
You move, you Figgers come here, come here.
l feel a much heavier responsibility now thrown upon me.
Consequently l intend to be very cautious and keep everything tightly under control.
As a result of the recent upheavals l intend to keep the services of Mr Russell
but in the capacity of my assistant.
From now on he will work directly to me.
Down your eyes the lot of you.
Understand Donovan?
Then move it man, get on with it.
There`s still a great deal to be done, a great deal.
The tension between the two men increases.
Their differences over how to launch the ship erupt in to a bitter row.
Brunel wants to winch her in to the water,
Russell argues that they should stick to the tried and tested method,
letting the hull slip freely.
Mr Russell prefers a free launch, no.
l can not risk the chance that er she might break up, however remote.
l mean sifting we attach chains to the hull
so we can control her descent in to the water.
Well Mr Brunel feels he knows better than the country`s foremost naval architects
who have launched oh some hundreds of ships while he has launcher er not one.
Let him have his controlled launch.
The sooner that ship is out of my yard the better.
With less than a week to go a riveter is killed when he falls from a gantry.
Many are starting to believe the ship must be jinxed.
With just a few days to go even Brunel is worried about the launch.
He makes it clear that he must have no distractions to interfere
with this complex and dangerous task.
l have requested that the launch is not made public.
lts success depends entirely upon the absence of all haste
or confusion at each part of the proceeding.
Simple, simple orders being given, nothing is more essential than perfect silence.
Desperate for money Eastern Steam ignore Brunel`s plea
and sell three thousand tickets for the launch.
Together with other spectators
over a hundred thousand make their way to the lsle of Dogs.
For two years London and we may add the people of England
have been kept in expectation of the advent of this gigantic experiment.
Their excitement and determination to be present at any cost are not to be wondered
at when we consider what a splendid chance presents itself of a fearful catastrophe.
Er Mr Brunel plans to accommodate er four thousand passengers
on the Great Eastern in the finest luxury imaginable.
Now listen very carefully this is very important.
When l wave the white flag l want you to release the break,
and then when l wave the red flag l want you to apply the break immediately.
Do you understand?
Yes sir.
Total chaos reins.
To add to the confusion minutes before the launch directors of Eastern Steam
decide to change the ship`s name to Leviathan.
You can call her Tom Thumb if you like.
One of Brunel`s launch drums has spun out of control,
lashing in to the workers around it.
The ship moved and the chains tightened and er,
er the, the drum spun around very quickly.
Er some of the men were er, were thrown back by the force.
lt was er, it was like an explosion.
To the anger of the crowd Brunel suspends the launch.
Leviathan, leave her high and dry-athon.
The Great Ship lies jammed on the slipway, it has moved just four feet.
Five men are badly injured, one critically.
You do know you are dying.
Dying?
Nah not me, nah.
Try to say the lord`s prayer with me.
Our father which art in heaven.
l can`t understand it at all.
Hallowed be thy name, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The death certificate from the London hospital recalls
that John Donovan died from internal injuries.
That we forgive them that trespass against us.
One month later and Brunel has only been able to move the ship
another thirty feet towards the water.
With two hundred feet to go Brunel is publicly humiliated.
Why do great companies continue to believe in Mr Brunel?
lf great engineering consists in building huge monuments of folly
then Mr Brunel is surely the greatest of engineers.
l have an immense stake in the success of this enterprise.
And although many will share with me the credit of our success,
l should have to bare solely and very heavily the blame of failure.
One of the worries concerning the ship have to be dealt with by my husband.
l, l, l don`t say anything at all because l don`t think he would listen to me.
But l`m so afraid.
Despite the pounding and pushing of hydraulic rams a hundred feet still lie
between the ship and the water.
Well we borrowed additional chains from the admiralty to, to wincher in.
Um we`ve also borrowed hydraulic ram we can find in the country,
but so far to, to no avail.
One after the other the rams explode under the extreme pressure,
but the ship hardly budges.
Could l have foreseen the work l`ve had to go through
and the labour l`ve had to discharge l would never have entered upon it.
the work often continues through the night
with the ship slipping just an inch at a time.
Brunel catches sleep when he can.
There is talk of scrapping The Great Ship, and selling the iron.
The pushing and pulling goes on for ninety days.
Mr Brunel sir, Mr Brunel.
Then a breakthrough.
On the high tide of the 31st January 1858 The Great Ship floats for the first time.
Brunel`s ship is registered as The Great Eastern.
The name Leviathan has been, been dropped.
lt was decided it wasn`t a, a happy choice.
The er, the image of a sea monster beyond human control.
l had the idea to build a ship that could circumnavigate the globe.
A project of these ambitions is bound to raise eyebrows.
l, l have an immense stake in the success of this enterprise.
The whole project is four times over budget.
The financial and physical stress has finally taken its toll on Brunel.
Few people know that in the last few months
my husband has personally born the financial costs of that ship.
And these gentlemen are making inventories less
we need to sell anything to raise more capital.
His present illness does however provide us with one blessing,
l shall at last see something of him.
We are to take a restorative sojourn in Egypt.
While Brunel is abroad Russell will complete the interior of the ship.
Eighteen months later The Great Eastern is ready.
As the pressure builds in the boilers for the first time no one could be certain
that it would be enough to turn the largest marine engines ever built.
The boat shuddered as the screw and paddle engines came to life.
lt is quite impossible by mere verbal description
to convey an adequate idea of the colossal proportions of these engines.
Brunel goes bellow decks to select his cabin for the maiden voyage.
l`m always proud of my work,
to create something that`s never been done before l have immense pride in the work.
Mr Brunel, Mr Brunel sir.
What about a second one sir, perhaps on,
on the other side of the funnel do you think, Mr Brunel, Mr Brunel.
Brunel collapses with a stroke, paralysed but conscious he is taken to his home.
Without Brunel on board his Great Ship sets off on its maiden voyage to Holyhead.
Russell is left in charge.
She met the rolling waves, the foaming surge seemed
but sported elements of joy over
which the new mistress of the ocean held her undisputed sway.
Well so far she`s performing very smoothly,
there`s good power translation from both the screw
and the paddle engines and this of course is a,
a sea trial so we`re looking for the problem, but well l mean just,
just feel the way she`s moving through the water, she`s just, just made for it.
At six p.m. on the 9th September The Great Eastern passes off Hastings.
lt appears that there`s been an explosion in the water tank on funnel number one.
And tragically we`ve lost five members of the crew
One of them`s walking around unaware that the flesh on his thighs,
it`s burnt a deep holes, er the flesh is boiled white by the, by the steam.
One of the crew members tried to help him but his, he took hold of him,
his skin on his arm and his hand, it came away like a glove.
But l must stress that er at the moment we have perfect way on the ship,
none of the passengers is injured, and the ship is under full control.
We should like to know who was in charge,
and whose want of caution was the cause of the catastrophe
which has consigned several of our fellow creatures to a horrible death.
l had to break the news to him,
um l think he was holding on for a, for a happier conclusion to,
and er l`m afraid he, he, his condition just deteriorated rapidly.
We regret to announce the demise of Mr Brunel
who died at his residence in Duke Street,
Westminster, at half past ten on Thursday night.
He expired at the comparatively early age of fifty three.
l have nothing to say.
At the coroner`s inquest it was found that a safety valve had caused the explosion.
l have nothing to say.
Many believe that
Russell was to blame for lack of supervision yet charges were not pressed.
But Russell never built another ship.
As for The Great Eastern she never took on her four thousand passengers,
never took the least, there was never the demand,
The Great Eastern was a commercial disaster.
But she was an engineering triumph.
Her combination of screw and paddle made her extremely manoeuvrable
and the ideal choice to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable.
Her strength was legendary.
When she gashed her outer skin
along eighty five feet the passengers never even noticed,
a smaller rip sank the Titanic.
Too far ahead of her time, it was fifty years
and a new century before anyone would attempt to build such a gigantic ship.
On the first day of 1889 just thirty years
after her maiden voyage the wreckers started to tear her apart.
Come here.
What?
When they smashed through her famous double hull
it was rumoured they made a gruesome discovery.
Two bodies, one only a child,
riveters trapped alive in the ship`s hull when she was being built.
lt was said their deaths jinxed The Great Eastern.
And as for Brunel, well history has judged him the greatest engineer of all time.
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