TRANSATLANTIC BY STEAM Brunel’s PS Great Western and her predecessors
The significance of Brunel’s Great Western steamship which made its maiden voyage to New York on April 8, 1838, is often overlooked. This ship was the very first one to be able to cross the Atlantic from England entirely under steam. Up until that time it was thought that it was an impossibility to undertake such a voyage as there were no ships in existence that were capable of carrying sufficient coal. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was to prove them wrong!
Today, you can fly between Bristol and New York in around eight hours. In 1838 the same journey took between 28 and 55 days by sea until Brunel’s Great Western left Bristol and arrived in New York 15 days later.
Luggage restrictions are nothing new. On the Great Western one was allowed one small Portmanteau or carpet bag in your cabin and one item of luggage not to exceed 15 cuft in the hold. Servants and children were conveyed at half fare and could take half of these amounts on board. The best state rooms were available for 40 Guineas (£42), and the others for 35 Guineas (£36.75). Second class and steerage passengers were not carried. These fares equate to £4573.88 and £4002.15 respectively at today’s prices.
Great Western’s predecessors
Before the , there were four attempts at crossing the Atlantic under steam. Firstly, the three-masted sailing ship built at Corlear’s Hook, New York City, in 1818 by Crockett & Fitchett. Her measurements were 319 tons, length 98ft 6in, beam 26 feet. An auxiliary steam engine of 90 hp was fitted which had a single 40in
