Editing SS Great Britain (section)

===Transatlantic service===
[[File:SS Great Britain - geograph.org.uk - 1135916.jpg|thumb|The main funnel]]
On 26 July 1845—seven years after the Great Western Steamship Company had decided to build a second ship, and five years overdue—''Great Britain'' embarked on her maiden voyage, from [[Liverpool]] to [[New York City|New York]] under Captain [[James Hosken]], with 45 passengers. The ship made the passage in 14 days and 21 hours, at an average speed of {{convert|9.25|kn}}&nbsp;– almost {{convert|1.5|kn}} slower than the prevailing record. She made the return trip in {{frac|13|1|2}} days, again an unexceptional time.{{sfn|Fox|2003|p=153}}

Brunel, who prior to commencement of service had substituted a six-bladed "windmill" design of his own for Smith's proven four-bladed propeller design, now decided to try to improve the speed by riveting an extra two inches of iron to each propeller blade. On her next crossing to New York, carrying 104 passengers, the ship ran into heavy weather, losing a mast and three propeller blades.{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=68–78}} On 13 October, she ran aground on the Massachusetts Shoals. She was refloated and after obtaining a supply of coal from the American [[schooner]] ''David Coffin'' resumed her voyage.<ref name=MP291045>{{Cite news |title=The Steam-ship Great Britain |newspaper=The Morning Post |location=London |date=29 October 1845 |issue=22345 |page=5 }}</ref> After repairs in New York, she set out for Liverpool with only 28 passengers and lost four propeller blades during the crossing. By this time, another design flaw had become evident. The ship rolled heavily, especially in calm weather without the steadying influence of the sail, causing discomfort to passengers.{{sfn|Fox|2003|p=153}}

The shareholders of the company again provided further funding to try to solve the problems. The six-bladed propeller was dispensed with and replaced with the original four-bladed, cast iron design. The third mast was removed, and the iron rigging, which had proven unsatisfactory, was replaced with conventional rigging. In a major alteration, two {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} [[bilge keel]]s were added to each side in an effort to lessen her tendency to roll.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Britain |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/Greatbritain.shtml |publisher=The Ships List |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303232939/http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/Greatbritain.shtml |archive-date= 3 March 2015 }}</ref> These repairs and alterations delayed her return to service until the following year.{{sfn|Fox|2003|pp=153–154}}

[[File:SS Great Britain stranded in Dundrum Bay.jpg|thumb|left|Stranded in Dundrum Bay, 1846]]

In her second season of service in 1846, ''Great Britain'' successfully completed two round trips to New York at an acceptable speed. 

She left Liverpool on July 6, 1846, for her sixth overall voyage, the second voyage that year, across the Atlantic, which she made in 16 days, arriving in New York on July 21. She took only first-class passengers. Captain Hosken brought 125 crew and 102 passengers among whom was 32-year-old printer Philip Borbeck, born in Gensungen, [[Felsberg, Hesse|Felsberg]], [[Hesse-Cassel]] in 1814, an immigrant who was returning home to Philadelphia from a visit to his birthplace in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain |url=https://globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org/_/voyage/9/ |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=globalstories.ssgreatbritain.org}} </ref> When Borbeck died in Philadelphia in 1897, he left an estate worth $15 million today.<ref>1898 Feb 5, ''[[The Times (Philadelphia)|The Times]]'' (Philadelphia). Contest of the Borbeck Will Begun.</ref><ref>Measuringworth.com. $40,000 in 1897 converted to "relative wealth" held in 2025.</ref> 

The ship was then laid up for repairs to one of her chain drums, which showed an unexpected degree of wear. Embarking on her third passage of the season to New York, her captain made a series of navigational errors that resulted in her being run hard aground in [[Dundrum, County Down#History|Dundrum Bay]] on the northeast coast of Ireland on 22 September. There was no formal inquiry but it has been recently suggested by Dr Helen Doe in her book 'SS Great Britain' that it was mainly due to the captain not having updated charts, so that he mistook the new St John's light for the Calf light on the Isle of Man.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Great Britain Sinks!|journal=Cruising|publisher=[[The Cruising Association]]|author=Ted Osborn|date=June 2010|pages=24–26}}</ref><ref name=Times261046>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=(untitled) |date=26 October 1846 |pages=4–5 |issue=19377 |column= F, A}}</ref><ref name=LM250946>{{Cite news |title=The Great Britain Ashore |newspaper=Liverpool Mercury etc |location=Liverpool |date=25 September 1846 |issue=1847 }}</ref>

She remained aground for almost a year, protected by temporary measures organised by Brunel and [[James Bremner]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Recovery of the SS Great Britain |url=http://www.bremnerroots.co.uk/the-jameses/james-bremner-engineer/recovery-of-the-ss-great-britain/ |publisher=David Bremner |access-date=14 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140349/http://www.bremnerroots.co.uk/the-jameses/james-bremner-engineer/recovery-of-the-ss-great-britain/ |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> On 25 August 1847,<ref name=LWLN050947>{{Cite news |title=Floating of the Great Britain |newspaper=Lloyd's Weekly London Newspaper |location=London |date=5 September 1847 |issue=250 }}</ref> she was floated free at a cost of £34,000 and taken back to Liverpool, but this expense exhausted the company's remaining reserves. After languishing in Prince's Dock, Liverpool for some time, she was sold to [[Gibbs, Bright & Co.]], former agents of the Great Western Steamship Company, for a mere £25,000.{{sfn|Fox|2003|pp=154–155}}{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=225–226}}

====Refit and return to service====
[[File:SS Great Britain with four masts 1853.jpg|thumb|''Great Britain'' in 1853, after her refit to four masts]]
The new owners decided not merely to give the vessel a total refit; the keel, badly damaged during the grounding, was completely renewed along a length of {{convert|150|ft|m|adj=off}}, and the owners took the opportunity to further strengthen the hull. The old [[keelson]]s were replaced and 10 new ones laid, which ran the entire length of the keel. Both the bow and stern were also strengthened by heavy frames of double [[angle iron]].{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

Reflecting the rapid advances in propeller engine technology, the original engines were removed and replaced with a pair of smaller, lighter and more modern [[Marine steam engine#Oscillating|oscillating]] engines, with {{convert|82.5|in|cm|adj=on}} cylinders and {{convert|6|ft|cm|adj=on}} stroke, built by [[John Penn (engineer)|John Penn & Sons]] of [[Greenwich]]. They were also provided with more support at the base and supported further by the addition of both iron and wood beams running transversely across the hull, which had the added benefit of reducing engine vibration.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

The cumbersome chain-drive gearing was replaced with a simpler and by now proven cog-wheel arrangement, although the gearing of the engines to the propeller shaft remained at a ratio of one to three. The three large boilers were replaced with six smaller ones, operating at {{convert|10|psi|abbr=on}} or twice the pressure of their predecessors. Along with a new {{convert|300|ft|m|adj=on}} cabin on the main deck, the smaller boilers allowed the cargo capacity to be almost doubled, from 1,200 to 2,200&nbsp;tons.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}

The four-bladed propeller was replaced by a slightly smaller three-bladed model, and the bilge keels, previously added to reduce the tendency to roll, were replaced by a heavy external oak keel for the same purpose. The five-masted schooner sail-plan was replaced by four masts, two of which were square-rigged.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}} With the refit complete, ''Great Britain'' went back into service on the New York run. After only one further round trip she was sold again, to [[Antony Gibbs & Sons]], which planned to place her into England–Australia service.{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|pp=226–227}}