The Great Ships

When GWR company directors complained that the railway was too long (it was a hundred miles) Brunel responded “why not make it longer and have a steamboat to go from Bristol to New York and call it the Great Western?”

Brunel convinced the directors and so the Great Western Steamship Company was born.  The ship was built in Bristol, ready for its maiden voyage in April 1838. Constructed of oak, powered by paddlewheels and sail, the new Great Western raced across the Atlantic to New York in 15 days. It was only the second steamship to make the crossing. The 2004 issued stamp at the top of this page shows the Great Western cresting an Atlantic wave.

On its return trip to Bristol in May she carried 20,000 letters, and the number of clerks in the Bristol sorting office had to be increased to cope. One of the first letters carried is shown at the foot of this page.

Brunel then began work on a bigger ship, also built in Bristol but made of iron. The Great Britain was launched in 1843 and was the first propeller-driven iron ship to cross the Atlantic, also carrying mail. She was later transferred to the Australia run. The Great Britain is now preserved in Bristol as a monument to her creator.

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