Brunel, who had already broken steamship records by his previous daring essays, suggested to the Eastern Navigation Company the building of such a ship as would be able to carry an unheard-of number of passengers, a very large amount of cargo, and at the same time be capable of steaming all the way to Australia without having to coal on the voyage. These virtues, together with her speed of fifteen knots, would, it was thought, enable her to attract such a large amount of business that she would handsomely repay her owners. The contract was eventually given to Scott Russell’s firm, who were entrusted with the building of the ship, together with the paddle-wheel engines. The screw engines were made by Messrs. James Watt and Co., so that three of the names most prominently connected with the history of the steamship were especially associated with the construction of this leviathan. Brunel was assisted in the designing by Scott Russell, and the latter’s wave-line principle was followed. The building of the ship began on the 1st of May, 1854, and on the last day of January, 1858, she was sent into the water at Millwall. But this was not done without some difficulty. The first attempt to launch this enormous mass of 12,000 tons was unsuccessful. Her weight was resting on a couple of gigantic cradles which were to slide down an incline to the water; but they only moved a few feet and then stopped. Finally, three months after the first effort, she was slowly persuaded into the water, side-ways, by hydraulic machinery. Instead of running her on the route for which she had been built, where her exceptional abilities might have been utilised, she was put to compete with the steamships already running on the Atlantic, for which short voyage she was not specially suitable, and financially she spelt ruin all round. First, the attempts to launch her, and the ensuing delay cost £120,000 and the company, unable to bear the expense, was wound up. Then the new company which bought her for £160,000 were ill-advised to employ her in the American trade, for neither as a passenger ship nor as a cargo carrier could she be made to pay her way. Subsequently she was used in laying the Atlantic cable, and was handed over to the ship-breakers in 1888, who brought her career to an end during the next couple of years. [Illustration: PADDLE ENGINES OF THE “GREAT EASTERN.” _From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._] [Illustration: SCREW ENGINES OF THE “GREAT EASTERN.” _From the Model in the Victoria and Albert Museum._]