What Was It Like Aboard The Largest Passenger Ship Of 1850? | SS Great Britain With Dan Snow
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- čas přidán 2. 01. 2022
- 'Inside The World's First Great Ocean Liner | SS Great Britain With Dan Snow'
Dan Snow steps aboard the SS Great Britain in Bristol to tell the story of one of history's most important ships.
Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, SS Great Britain is one of the most important historic ships in the world. When she was launched in 1843, she was dubbed by contemporaries as ‘the greatest experiment since the creation’.
SS Great Britain changed history. As well as being built of iron and steam powered, Brunel rejected using conventional paddle wheels to drive his ship. Instead, his revolutionary screw propeller was the newest invention in maritime technology.
Dan also explores how passengers spent their time aboard ship during transatlantic voyages, where they ate and slept, and how the experience of upper class passengers differed from that of the crew.
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#SSGreatBritain #DanSnow #HistoryHit
Rescuing the SS G.B from the Falkland Islands was an incredible engineering accomplishment. They patched her up and pumped the water out, and secured her onto a huge floating pontoon, and slowly towed it from the Southern Atlantic, nine thousand miles ,back to Bristol. Every day, the TV news would report on her travel progress. After halting at Avonmouth Docks to check her over, she was floated and towed up the twisting Avon River, by two Tugs ,one each end, passing under Brunels other famous creation, 'The Clifton Suspension Bridge'', ( which wasn't there when she first passed that way,) and the Duke of Edinburgh greeting her with multi thousands of people, from far and wide, cheering the old gal home. A truly memorable sight, in 1970. I'm glad I postponed my intended visit to London. A real must, if you are interested in film of the original rescue, Watch the BBC 1970 documentary, on the ''CHRONICLE'' series, on YT,
no, there were not any air-inflated rafts. They closed the holes and pumped water out, and lo and behold - she was afloat. Across the Atlatics on the pontoon and in Bristol again afloat until dry-docked.
@@elrond12eleven She WASN'T floated IN the sea, till she reached Avonmouth. A Dutch or German salvage company sank a Raft, and the SS GB was towed over it, they then pumped air into the raft,,which rose up under the ship, and 2 ? tugs towed her home. I've altered the above and added more detail, from the BBC Chronicle Documentary.
@@MrDaiseymay It was a German team, I dont blame 70's Britain for hating Germans but they got the guys do all the leg work and then took over once it was in British waters, the documentary is quite insulting because in the credits, it thanks the people of the Falklands but make no mention of the salvage team. It doesnt take anything away from Brunel or the Industrial revolution, a time when we sent our engineers to Britian to learn from the best.
@@Flozman1982 o
Remember as a child watching the live broadcast of it arriving finally. Even at the age of 11/12 I had a sense of the immense scale of the restoration project required and understood it would probably take decades to complete.
Everything Brunel built still stands today. Apart from his great babe obviously. One of history's Great engineer's
Yes too bad about Great Eastern.
@@rogersmith7396 ye man ahead of his time for sure
should of listened to him on broad gage rails
Was a great billboard tho tbh
@@simondamsell5508 should "have listened". Please!
I remember seeing this back in the 1970s when it was still basically a wreck. You weren't allowed on board, in fact there was nothing to see on board as all the interiors had gone. The only surviving woodwork was being sold to raise funds in the shape of souvenir pencils marked "Made with wood from the SS Great Britain" The restoration work had only just begun, I'm glad to see how well it has gone.
I don't think it was in England then.
@@rogersmith7396 Well I was in England then and I saw it there. It was returned to Bristol on the 18 July 1970 to the same dock it was built 127 years to the day from when it was launched. It would have been about 1975 or 1976 when I visited with my parents. My brother and I both had a sliding square puzzle with a picture of the ship, I still have it somewhere, and I became carsick doing it on the way home.
I used to go to parties on it in my younger days. They've done an amazing job restoring it. Absolutely worth a visit.
Had a hour or two before we went to see Genesis in the colston hall around 1973, basically paid 50 pence to look at a load of scaffolding but did walk through ship on said scaffolding. May have been 72 it was a hazy time.
@@pegjames188 It was pretty hazy for me too, I was under 10 years old so I can't remember too many details. I do remember there was an exhibition of some sort with artists mock ups of what it was going to look like when it was restored and I think there was a piece of wooden sculpture, painted and gilded, that had been restored, or it might have been a recreated piece, possibly part of the prow figurehead , We might have been able to get on the deck but I'm not sure about that. I'm pretty sure we couldn't actually go inside, they were possibly working in there at the time or we might have just been unlucky and went on a day it was closed off.
An interesting side note, this ship played a minor but pivotal role in both world wars, recoaling the british fleet during the Battle of the Falklins in ww1 and providing material for repairs to the ships damaged in the fight to sink the Graff Spee
Wow. Thanks for that tidbit of info. Imagine that HMS Exeter and/or HMS Ajax repaired with parts from a mid- 1800s masted steamship!
S S Great Britain was just one element of an integrated transit system that moved Europeans migrating to the USA across the North Sea and then via the railways directly to Bristol, with just a short distance between the rail terminal and the Transatlantic liners. As an engineer, I cannot comprehend how Brunel developed, delivered and consolidated so many new technologies and made the whole system work.
Well, he WAS a chip off the Old Block, his father was also a genious engineer.
Too bad the Great Eastern wasn't preserved although I'm sure that would have been a monumental task akin to the Queen Mary.
A true super-hero, It is wonderful to look at that engine. It is like a giant clock driven by steam power.
One of the best museums in the UK, even my 14 year old 'meh' daughter enjoyed it.
Now THAT says something.
69th like!
I saw the SS Great Britain in late 1987 on a college trip to Bristol. Even tho none of the fittings Dan shows us were on the ship at the time (no air conditioning for the hull, no bunks, no 1st class, no engine), I still found it utterly fascinating. Great to see this vid and how much work has been done to preserve it & give a sense of its working life. Wonderful!!!
Despite living here, I've not been in that museum for 20 years. Great to see it again!
I suppose familiarity breeds contempt and thus means attractions close by where you live lose interest. I lived close enough to the Smithsonian museums that I could have gone any time I wanted for most of my life, but it wasn’t something I generally did
@@connormclernon26 Most of the people I met in NYC had never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
@@rogersmith7396 Exactly. Familiarity breeds contempt
I only live down the road in South Wales and and only got around to visiting about 4 years ago(despite travelling to Bristol many times each year.) I have to say that it was one of the best and most interesting attractions I have ever seen.Everything about the ship is so well presented and the museum next door is just as fascinating if you are interested in Brunel or our industrial heritage in general.
i live 30 mins walk from the SS Great Britain went there with the school in the early 80s then took my nephew about 15 years ago huge difference was very impressed with what was achieved
I've toured the Great Britain, it is awesome! And it is in the original dry dock where it was built 127 years before!
l take it you wrote that comment in 1972.
Wonderful video of a fabulous piece of engineering, Dan does some amazing documentaries and this is such a lovely ship and could watch this reveal of the innermost workings for hours! Thanks for this, brilliant!
I did my work experience on the SS Great Britain as an archivist in the 80’s. When she was really was an empty shell The museum at the time was a shed. Such a wonderful time. I will never forget those memories.
I LOVE Dan Snow as a presenter. I can feel his true enthusiasm and charisma through the screen! and his voice is soothing and strong to boot
Need more videos on stuff Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed. Ships, bridges, tunnels, bigger ships, even bigger ships, a suspension bridge that works backwards, arch bridges that are so damned flat even he was a little iffy about them.....
Brunel easily gets my vote for greatest engineer of all time.
The Great Eastern and The Monitor for the Union navy were also examples of his design work.
@@bernieschiff5919 I read a wonderfully illustrated book, about the Great Eastern' 50 years ago, I can't find the words to express my incredulity (that'l do) for that MONSTEROUS leviathan. That ship remained the largest in the world, from 1858--1896. There is VERY LITTLE of it remaining. a great loss to history.
@@bernieschiff5919 You are incorrect about Monitor. The ship is John Ericsson, the turret by Theodore Timby.
Definitely. A documentary on his dad, Marc would be good too. How IKB became who he was, his educatio, etc is fascinating.
@@richardsawyer5428 Yeah, his whole life, all the way to times past his death when people were still building stuff he designed, is one hell of a story. One more worthy of a series than a single video. (hence why I said videos)
And like with what you say, it really starts before he was born due to his fathers influence on his own life.
edit: I think the one thing I have every completely agreed with Jeremy Clarkson about, is that Brunel is the greatest Brit of all time.
It is nothing short of a joy that Great Britain, the ancient relic of when we were really beginning to push the limits with technology and further shape our world, is still around today. I was blown away when I saw that the engine still works. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a brilliant man and one who I look up to perhaps more than anyone else today. While the late SS Great Western technically was the first ocean liner, the Great Britain, all revolutionary bits and pieces of it, saw the start of ocean travel as we know it today, and I hope to see her someday. :D
The engine of course is a modern replica, good to see it faithfully copies the original with the chain drive to increase the speed of the propeller. Not ever run under steam I presume.
What an interesting ship and an undoubtedly important piece of history! Thanks for sharing these amazing details with all of us!
That is an absolutely amazing video. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was truly a giant among men.
yep--'The Little Giant'' he was called.
Did school trips and outings to the SS GB in the late 80s/early 90s while they were doing a lot of the work, was pretty cool seeing it come together slowly. Attended a wedding on it as well later on!
That steerage section reminds of a flight from Adelaide to Darwin years ago. I returned to the West Country 'cos I missed the cider. SS Gert Biggun is a brilliant ship, all credit to those involved in the restoration. Seeing her always makes me smile.
I'll make no joke about Gert's companion Ivar.
@@thhseeking gowan---you know you want to.
its really nice place to visit i highly recommend it, they used to be available for weddings, parties, meetings quiet a nice venue for meetings found the unique environment meant I was able to remember more of the event.
This would be a great way to save another famous British passenger liner, the Queen Mary. The company contracted to run her as an attraction has recently filed for bankruptcy and the city of Long Beach CA has discovered the true amount of negligence from it being mismanaged. Placing the QM in a dry dock like this would be amazing.
I visited 9 years ago and even then you could tell it was badly managed
I wholeheartedly agree - it needs the same treatment - maybe a citizen fundraiser and trust to manage moving forwards
Well considering how CA is managed and the dramatic decline that it's suffering, there's bound to be a few dry docks opening soon. But maybe CA ain't the best place for it anyway. Sending it to Texas might be a good start
@@nicosmind3 You've been drinking WAY TOO MUCH OF THE FOX NEWS KOOL-AID. CA is doing WAY better than any state right now. We're the ONLY state with a budget surplus. If it wasn't for CA the country would be bankrupt right now. Texas is a Sh!t hole waiting to be filled over and left for dead.
I was stationed at Long Beach Navel station when the QM was being refitted for display and that Drydock is I believe is gone turned into container port and I am not sure if there is another big enough 800+ feet long close enough to get her to, I do hope they save her she is a very important part of History.
@@Richard-wk9le A new dry dock would have to be constructed for her. Especially if it will display the QM like this one displays the SS Great Britain. I'm thinking the channel the QM is in right now is big enough to put her on the other side next to the light house in the new dry dock. That way she is within walking distance of all the tourist attractions in that area. For the cost it's a no-brainer.
Totally breathtaking! We are so privileged and spoilt in our modern world of flight, I couldn’t imagine sleeping on that tiny bunk, and the poor crew in the hot and cramped conditions they had to work, it really gave me a insight into the past as I’d actually never heard of this ship before. Thanks Dan. 👍🏻
In all my time I've lived in Bristol...I've never seen this beautiful as great Britain close up guess now is the time to go visit this beautiful ship
It's interesting that part of steerage is labelled 'Little Bourke Street'. That is a narrow street in Melbourne that was notorious for overcrowded slums in the 1850s when the SS Great Britain was taking migrants to the Australian gold rush.
Just an amazing restoration. I remember watching the salvage documentary of this vessel and being overwhelmed by the effort too save this ship. Too see it now completely restored is just unbelievable. What an accomplishment.
I visited this ship when it first came back to the UK. It was just a rusty iron hull like the bit Dan showed when he was talking about the bridge construction. It was still interesting as I had a good guide that showed me many of engineering things that wasn't shown here.
Spent half a day wandering around inside and outside this incredible ship - a must-do in Bristol.
Love the video, fascinated by the technology and the engineering!
My great great great (Not sure how many greats) Grandfather helped build her……… glad to say ship building continues to run the family’s veins almost 200 years later…..
This is the most charming, well-thought-out and respectful display i've ever seen for a museum ship. The glass ceiling with the slight ripples of Water giving the impression the old lady is still afloat after all she had been through. An absolute masterpiece of preservation. Gives me a bit of hope for the RMS Queen Mary and the SS United States.
I have to say, I absolutely love your nautical history documentaries! I hope you'll make some more :)
Do you have Grindr?
Around ten years ago I went to visit the SS Great Britain. I arrived perhaps just under a hour before the advertised closing time. The woman at the ticket desk told me that I could not enter but suggested that I still buy a ticket. I asked with some bewilderment, "You mean that I can pay to enter but cannot enter?". She relied "Yes". I did not tell her where she could stick her generous offer but perhaps should have.
Not sure if it was the case 10 years ago but now tickets last a year so maybe that’s what she meant for you to do
When I went to see this ship, her Hull was fully exposed to the elements. I'm glad to see they took steps to protect her! She was such a beautiful ship in her day.
Great video! One small thing that was worth to mention though, although it's pretty common knowledge, is that even just over 100 years back in time, people were actually shorter compared to today. So those small beds would not be so extremely small as they are for you today, also considering that you seem to be pretty tall even compared to average today.
The display for the boat alone is beautiful. A Faldo body of water that looks as real as could be. Then you can go underneath it. Beautifully executed.
"Australia better be good."
So good, you will never leave.
Even if you want to!
My old cousins went to Australia before WW2. A descendant became an MP and went to jail, says it all really.
That's why so many Aussies are in England :P The joke is that criminals always return to the scene of the crime XD
Choices, choices...ScoMo or BoJo?
I haven't.
This presenter is great! He is passionate about what he is talking about, which makes these videos enjoyable to watch.
no wonder he had trouble getting onto his bed. Dan is 6'4''. they were ok for Brunel size victorians.
Just around the corner from my mums aunties and uncles old pub The Cumberland now The Star and Dove, like others not been to the SS GB since I was child when I used to stay with them in summer hols. Great piece !
I have thurly enjoyed this video of the SS Great Britain, & the man that was showing me around made it very interesting indeed, so thanks go to those who made this video - well done 👍.
We cannot speak with the dead. But we can see their minds through their inventions. Wonderful stuff! Amazing engineering!
my grandad was a salvage diver after being in the navy, he helped salvage this ship and now is featured in the museum. just last year, he and one other salvage diver received a high sheriff award for their service to the SS GB
Excellent narration with enthusiasm
That would be awesome if we could all see the rest of the ship it's pretty cool
Wow! VERY cool! I got to tour the HMS Victory when I was in Portsmouth on my way to London in 1990. VERY cool pieces of history.
Thanks, Dan. Keep up the good work 👏
I find the comparison between crew and steerage accommodation fascinating. It was clear that this was a new kind of trip to offer new luxuries to all passengers even the most lowly ones but yet nothing had changed for the crew. Probably because the sailors were used to a more primative type of living at sea.
In early days even some seamen didn't like full closed wheel house.
Awesome! Love that ship. It had quite a story.
It should be said that the ship returned to Bristol as an empty hull with a leaky deck and just half a mast standing. All the interior and the engine+boilers are replicas and for reason of weight the engine is made from hollow parts. The impression, though, and the obtical illusion is perfect.
Meanwhile when he is in the bilge talking about the box like structural supports you can see light shining through the the holes in the hull of the ship.
love history, Great video thanks for all the hard working in making it
History Hit not missing a single shot recently, hit, every time.
GOOD STUFF
I remember visiting this ship at Bristol back in 2007. A wonderful piece of craftsmanship.
Great content from History Hit!
Great video thank you 😊
Great little piece of history of which I was unaware.
Just amazing. What a beautiful ship. Wish I could visit her.
I have wanted to go see her for ages, I think I might go this year during the summer months. I can't believe the engine is still serviceable!
Perhaps it is time to return to a mixture of sail and engine for all seagoing vessels? Certainly for those for which the duration of the voyage is not a critical issue.
Sure would be GREEN!
Well, ships have become much larger in the past century. It might work for smaller ships, but normal cargo ships are probably just too massive for that to be practical. It'd be amazing if that could happen, but I'm sadly skeptical. I'd think it's more likely that hydrogen fuel or other green options will be developed, honestly.
@@Cailus3542 Yes, hydrogen is almost certainly the fuel of the future.
I would speculate the ocean can be used as an electrolyte to drive electric motors. Commercial sail only ended with WWII. As long as it did'nt need to get there fast sail was OK. It was killed by rising labor costs as sail ships needed like 400 men to operate. Modern cargo carriers use about 30, typically from third world countries.
It would certainly mean a saving in fuel.You would never get me up on those yardarms though Lol.
Wow! How come I had never watched this before!!!
Amazing!!!
On my commute into Bristol I see the Clifton Suspension bridge and the SS Great Britain.. After nearly 15 years i've never grown tired of seeing either landmarks..
You are a lucky man! To see such marvel of the modern world must be amazing!
I was a trainee engineer working on the television outside broadcast unit the evening they towed it into the dry dock back in 1970. They had to wait for the tide, so by the time it was safely in the dock it was starting to get dark. I went and had a good look at it, and it was in a very sorry state. It resembled a broken egg shell that someone had tried to glue back together. There were gaping holes in the hull, and inside appeared to be a mass of scaffolding trying to hold it together.
I went back to visit it for the first time since a few years back - probably 2014 or 15. I couldn't believe the transformation. The restoration work has been stunning! It was hard to believe that I was looking at the same wreck that I had witnessed back in 1970. It is a memory I treasure.
Glad to have found this channel 💪🏻😊✨! Thanks
Welcome!
Super informative video !
Magnificent museum!
absolutely incredible ship
Great video. The other Bristol item worth a more modern history hit is the Concord in the aviation museum.
I'm sure the steam engine was balanced very well and was bolted down and the bearings ensuring a smooth running of the engine.
Even modern reciprocating engines will shake themselves apart at high speed.
Steam engines are generally super smooth running. Being in a steam ship is like being in a sailing ship, no vibrations from the engine whatsoever and dead silent.
@@negergreger666 uhm not really, even on much larger ships engine vibrations were know to be felt accross the whole ship.
This is awsome, the content, production and the presenter!
Great seeing the propeller driven early ship.
I thin k this was one of your most impresssive episodes. Impresssive musuem.
What amazes me is that the design for these machines was done in someones head and translated to pen and ink drawings.
He didn't mention it, but I could see sunlight pouring down on the engine. Those first steam ships with the walking beam engine had to go through the deck so the beam was above deck, thus a big rectangular hole was in the roof of the engine room. In foul weather the crashing seas would pour down through this opening so the pumps had to operate continuously.
Brilliant Vid, never seen this Ship but have seen the Military version at Portsmouth, the Warrior.
Excellent, Dan. I wish I was there.
Great. Thanks 👍🏻
Nicely done.
Great video
Good to see the presentation finished. Last time I saw it was on "What the Victorians Did for Us"
Fantastic video of a vessel I had very little knowledge of.
Yet another really interesting video. I do however have one question.
At the beginning of the video, there’s a shot of the SS Great Britain flying the White Ensign. My understanding is that the White Ensign is flown by Royal Navy ships and shore establishments and would not be used on merchant vessels that would normally fly the Red Ensign. Am I correct in this understanding or was this not the case back in the 1800’s when SS Great Britain was in operation?
I just Googled that question. The restoration board decided to recreate the flags and Ensigns, as raised on Launch day, July 1843. The used a famous Painting of the scene, as a guide.
But it was a contravertial subject, even back then, with much uncertainty and debating. Take a look.
Great video 📹 👍
As a small boy I watched this ship being towed up the Bristol Channel bound for Bristol. Even in her dilapidated condition she looked impressive.
Was aboard there in the early ‘70s. You could buy a piece of the ships rust as a souvenir. My main problem was the headroom. They had hardly started renovation when I was there.
It wasn't much to look at back then, was it? I don't recall being offered bits of rust for money, there was rust everywhere :o)
i love you GB you have a great history, greetings from Sweden.
The water roof of the dry dock is just as impressive in my opinion lol
What a wonderful museum. Its a pitty, we can't have that with the Great Eastern. But, who knows, maybe, she's re-built one day too.
Wonderful!
Interesting that he didn’t show the first class cabin. They are very small. In fact more claustrophobic than the third class cabins
I was able to visit this remarkable exhibit in 2018. Although Dan Snow's commentary was interesting, it failed to cover some key elements. The first is the way the SS Great Britain is displayed which, unlike most other maritime exhibits, is shown partly "as found" as well as restored. The unique preservation of the hull and access to the ship is due to the reinforced glass paneling that girds the entire ship and provides the illusion that the vessel is floating in the dock. The dock in which she was originally constructed. The fact that she exists at all is due to being constructed in iron. Wooden hulls would have long disintegrated. Brunel's experience with building iron structures allowed the construction of a ship that set new shipbuilding standards The propulsion screw was indeed unique. Not mentioned was that, under sail and to reduce drag through the water, the screw could be raised clear of the waterline. Brunel designed a "triple expansion" steam engine that uniquely harnessed generated steam through 3 cylinders of expanding diameter as the steam pressure reduced. This allowed every once of pressure to be efficiently extracted from the coal boilers. As the City of Long Beach in California contemplates the fate of the Queen Mary, it is worth considering how this other "state of the art" vessel could still become the historic exhibit she was meant to be.
@@Bob-fk8vd Good catch. I guess Brunel benefited by building the SS Great Britain some 50 years after the USS Constitution was launched. I guess I should have highlighted the fact that a similar wooden vessel, laid-up and facing the elements in the Falkland Islands for 33 years would not have fared so well!
@@Bob-fk8vd Very little of Constitution is original though, including her hull. A lot has been sacrificed to keep her in seagoing condition.
wonderful would love to visit that
SO COOL!
Wow
I think the greatest achievement of this site is the starting point of a top gear episode
My relative designed this ship. Thank you great well made video
Deep Thought? Really nice that one
Good to keep it dry as Arizona you won't get any more rust. We don't get rust on our cars it is so dry. Thanks for the cool video.
more info on the 'wet' drydock it sits in. appears to be a great way of preserving ships from salt water. Can it be done for the Texas, the Missouri, etc?
Wow, that motor!
Didn't this fellow do Battlefield Britain program with his dad several years ago? Man that show was really good and I'm not even a war guy.
What an amazing ship.
funny thing about the algorithm .. I've been watching videos and reading articles about the coffin ships used to go from Ireland to Canada in 41 days... and here is this magnificent ship that did it in 13 days.
Amazing ship