Brunel's ships

This book takes a multi-disciplinary approach to charting the origins and history of the steamships designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steam Ship Company. It recounts in detail the innovations suggested by Brunel for the Great Western in the 1830s, as well as discussing the invention of the screw propellor and how it was incorporated into Brunel's design for the Royal Navy ship HMS Rattler in 1843-1844. It also devotes attention to the transition from wooden to iron ships. The second part of the book describes each of Brunel's four ships - the Great Western, the warship HMS Rattler, the Great Britain, and the Great Eastern - in detail, including their construction and time in service. llustrations include detailed plans of ships (mostly those designed by Brunel, but also the US screw frigate Princeton and British screw ship Ajax) and their component parts, together with portraits of key figures in the development of steamships in Britain, advertising bills and contemporary news coverage of the ships. It includes an image of the Great Britain from 1844, thought to be the oldest photograph of a ship.