Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks - SS Great Britain, Arecibo Observatory, Johnstown Inclined Plane (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 28. Chapters: SS Great Britain, Arecibo Observatory, Johnstown Inclined Plane, List of Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks, Disneyland Monorail System, Belle of Louisville, Wright Flyer III, Drake Well Museum, Experimental Breeder Reactor I, Eleutherian Mills, Creusot steam hammer, PRR 4800, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, Museum De Cruquius, Cameron ram-type blowout preventer, Fresno scraper, Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. Excerpt: SS Great Britain was an advanced passenger steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had previously been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first to combine these features in a large ocean-going ship. She was the first screw steamer to cross the Atlantic, which she did in 1845, in the then-record time of 14 days (one day faster than the previous record holder, the SS Great Western). When launched in 1843, Great Britain was by far the largest vessel afloat. However, her protracted construction and high cost had left her owners in a difficult financial position, and they were forced out of business in 1846 after the ship was stranded by a navigational error. Sold for salvage and repaired, Great Britain carried thousands of immigrants to Australia until converted to sail in 1881. Three years later, the vessel was retired to the Falkland Islands where she was used as a warehouse, quarantine ship and coal hulk until scuttled in 1937. In 1970, Great Britain was returned to the Bristol dry dock where she was first built. Now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, the vessel is an award-winning visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour, with between 150,000-170,000 visitors annually. After the initial su...