SS Great Britain: Brunel's Ship, Her Voyages, Passengers and Crew

In SS Great Britain, Helen Doe provides a narrative account of this famous and historically important ship. Experimental and controversial, Great Britain led the way for iron shipbuilding and screw propulsion. The book charts the ship's brilliant design and construction, and the tribulations of her owners as they battled financial crises to turn Isambard Kingdom Brunel's vision into reality. Brunel was passionate about this ship and was devastated when a navigational error stranded her in Dundrum Bay, Ireland. She was rescued in a great feat of salvage and went on to a long life at sea, carrying passengers to New York, troops to the Crimea and India, and thousands of emigrants to Australia. Helen Doe highlights the contribution of the many individuals connected to the ship, ranging from crew members to passengers, at least one grand Victorian scandal, and the mysterious disappearance of her long-serving captain. In this way, the ship's life and times are recreated and the history of a technical marvel is given a human face. The ship was salvaged a second time, when she was rescued from the Falkland Islands and towed home across the Atlantic. She now sits in splendour in her original dock in Bristol and is one of the most visited attractions in Britain. This a compelling account of an iconic ship and of an important moment in industrial history.

Author: Helen Doe
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Published: 07/15/2019
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.20d
ISBN13: 9781445684512
ISBN10: 1445684519
BISAC Categories:
- Transportation | Ships & Shipbuilding | General
- Technology & Engineering | Engineering (General)

About the Author
Helen Doe is a maritime historian who specializes in the 19th century. She gained her PhD at the University of Exeter, where she is a Fellow. Her other books include Enterprising Women in Shipping in the Nineteenth Century, and she was a major contributor and co-editor of the award-winning The Maritime History of Cornwall. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a trustee of the British Commission for Maritime History and a trustee of the SS Great Britain.