The old frigate with her freight of cable alongside the Great Eastern at Sheerness

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The old frigate with her freight of cable alongside the Great Eastern at Sheerness

Mounted with PAG8272.; No.5.

The hulks 'Amethyst' and 'Iris' transferred the 2500 miles (4022 km) of cable to the 'Great Eastern' as she lay at a mooring at Sheerness, an operation that took over three months.

Brunel's Great Eastern had proved an economic failure as a passenger vessel on the Atlantic routes, and was now available for charter. Her ornate fittings were stripped out, two boilers and a funnel were removed and three gigantic cylindrical tanks were installed to hold the coils of cable. The hulks Amethyst and Iris transferred the 2500 miles (4022 km) of cable to her as she lay at a mooring at Sheerness, an operation that took over three months.

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Object Details

ID:	PAG8271
Type:	Print
Display location:	Not on display
Creator:	Dudley, Robert; Picken, Thomas Day & Son
Vessels:	Great Eastern (1858)
Date made:	1865
Credit:	National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements:	Sheet: 201 x 287 mm;