Lot 51: ADOLFO GIRALDEZ Y PENALVER 1840-1920

THE STEAMSHIP THE GREAT EASTERN OFF GIBRALTAR

measurements note
69 by 109 cm., 27 by 43 in.

signed l.l.:Giraldez

oil on canvas

NOTE

The Great Eastern was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the greatest of the nineteenth century industrialists. She was designed to be able to cruise under her own power non-stop from London to Sydney and back. At the time, she was the largest ship ever built, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers around the world without refuelling. Brunel knew her affectionately as the "Great Babe", and she was his final great project. He was known to have said, "I have never embarked on any one thing to which I have so entirely devoted myself, and to which I have devoted so much time, thought and labour, on the success of which I have staked so much reputation..."

The Great Eastern was the first ship to incorporate the double-skinned hull, a feature which would not be seen again in a ship for 100 years, but which is now compulsory for reasons of safety. She had sail, paddle and screw propulsion; the paddle-wheels were 17 m. (56 ft.) in diameter and the four-bladed screw-propeller was 7.3 m. (24 ft.) across. The power came from four steam engines for the paddles and an additional engine for the propeller. She had six masts, providing space for 1686 mυ2 (18,148 square feet) of sails, and her maximum speed was 24 km/h (13 knots). She was initially used for carrying passengers between Southampton and New York, but this proved financially unviable, and it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry. She was later converted into a cable-laying ship, and under Captain Robert Halpin she laid 4200 km. of the 1865 Transatlantic Telegraph Cable between Ireland and Newfoundland. The Transatlantic Cable revolutionised communication between Europe and the Americas.