The ship that changed Australia’s history
07 Mar 2017
Discover what life aboard the ss Great Britain was really like, and exactly why she spawned the term ‘ship-shape and Bristol fashion’.
Engineer extraordinaire Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s revolutionary ship, ss Great Britain was aptly-named. She epitomised the cutting-edge steam-age technology that was the hallmark of the Victorian Britain. She was also the largest ship in the world when launched by Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert at the very dockyard in Bristol in 1843 where she was born. Bristol, on the river Avon, was famous for building sturdy ships and its reputation spawned the term ‘ship-shape and Bristol fashion’.
SS Great Britain was “the grandest, fastest, longest, steam ocean-liner in the world”. During her multi-faceted career, she sailed around the world 32 times – a distance greater than 1,000,000 miles (or 1,609,344 kilometres) at sea. In her heyday as a luxury liner, she carried 252 first and second-class passengers and crossed the Atlantic seven times.
Later, she was commandeered as a troop carrier for the Crimean War, then emigrant clipper transporting more than 15,000 emigrants to Australia to try their fortune in the rich pickings of Victoria’s goldfields in the 1850s. Estimates suggest that 500,000 Australians and New Zealanders are descendants of these 19th century ‘gold diggers’. More importantly for some, she brought the first England cricket team to visit Australia in 1865.
Brunel’s visionary ship was the first large iron-hulled ship and passenger vessel to have a screw propeller, which replaced the traditional paddles of the age.
She was unceremoniously beached in the Falklands, but her career was far from washed up. A group of ardent enthusiasts mounted a rescue campaign, and in the 1970s she made the long journey home to Bristol.
The pint-sized, cigar-chomping Brunel – who was never without his top hat which resembled a ship’s funnel – not only built ships, but also railway infrastructure: The Great Western railway line to southwest England, Paddington Station (London) and some of Britain’s finest bridges including the spectacular Clifton Suspension Bridge which is another of Bristol’s attractions. Brunel was astonishingly prolific in his short life. In a recent survey, he ranked second most popular Briton after Winston Churchill.
SS Great Britain has been superbly restored to her former glory as a luxury liner and is now a museum ship which delivers an authentic 19th century, life at sea experience that appeals to all ages.
On first encounter at dockside, she is a magnificent sight, resplendent in black, with her name and trim beautifully etched in gold, pennants flying crisply from the rigging. She literally rests on a ‘sea of glass’. A waterline glass plate flooded with a shallow layer of water creates the illusion of being afloat, helps protect the hull from corrosion, and allows visitors to view her from the bottom up!
Within are the very opulent first-class dining rooms, complete with chandeliers, marbled columns and perfectly set tables with wax food displays. In the galley you can see the overworked cook, bubbling pots and even scurrying animatronic rats. First and second-class cabins are on view, again with wax figures in period costume, as are steerage passengers. There is also a bakery and infirmary, and a horse and buggy. Other livestock noises and visual effects recreate life on board. Most importantly, you can view the fantastic steam engine in operation or climb the rigging for exhilarating views of Bristol.
Nearby is the Brunel Institute, one of the world’s leading maritime collections. It houses 67,000 items from artefacts, ship plans, photographs, original sketches by Brunel, to diaries and letters written by passengers and crew travelling on the ss Great Britain who may be forebears of Australians.
The Museum shop is brimful of Brunel mementos and posters advertising passage to Melbourne on ss Great Britain in the1860s.
Time now to explore other aspects of Bristol’s maritime heritage: Underfall Yard – a working 19th century boatyard where William Jessop and Brunel were among its famous engineers, or follow the ‘harbour walk’ to the M Shed museum of Bristol life, and see The Matthew – a reconstruction of John Cabot’s ship that discovered America.
There is a magnificent cathedral, and world-renowned Bristol Old Vic theatre – where many famous name actors trained and performed. More conspicuously are the amazing murals of street artist Banksy, who like Brunel, is a Bristol boy.
Maggy Oehlbeck travelled courtesy Rail Europe, Visit Britain and Visit Bristol.
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