All language subtitles for BBC.Seven.Wonders.Of.The.Industrial.World.1of7.The.Great.Ship.DivX6.AC3-MVGroup

BBC Seven Wonders Of The Industrial World

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Here we are gentlemen, we are at last able
to commence work on The Great Eastern.

This is the true story of the greatest
ship the world had ever seen.

The Great Eastern.

l have conceived her as a giant bridge.

A ship that bankrupted and
ruined the men who built her.

l mean l`ve never built ships under
such punitive financial arrangements.

Sending many to an early grave.

The Great Eastern was
the final engineering triumph of

that most brilliant of engineers
lsambard Kingdom Brunel.

A monstrous creation
that would consume him.

1852, Brunel and his personal assistant

William Jacomb are in London trying
to raise finance for The Great Eastern.

l had the idea to build a ship
that could circumnavigate the globe,

and be big enough to carry coal
for the entire journey.

A project of these ambitions
is bound to raise eyebrows.

Oh l`d hope so, that`s the general idea.

l would be very disappointed
if they didn`t.

My ship will be the largest moving man
made object ever built.

A floating city, five times the size of
any vessel that has sailed the ocean.

She will carry
fifteen thousand tonnes of coal,

it will require two hundred stokers

working around the clock
to feed her immense steam engine.

These engines will be higher
than a four storey house

and will harness the power equivalent
of over eight thousand horses.

l have designed her to provide
the ultimate in luxury.

Other ships can carry four hundred
passengers, she will carry four thousand.

l want her to be the engineering marvel of
the world, a Crystal Palace of the sea.

A fitting symbol for our mighty empire.
Though it will be expensive, yes...

...there`s no doubt about that,
but um l`ve always found the,

the wisest and safest plans
go straight in the direction

that you believe to be right,
and to plan without fear or compromise.

But many say Brunel`s vision goes beyond
what either man or machine can achieve.

We`ve put this project to
The Eastern Steam Navigation Company,

and er we`re waiting for their response.

Look at this.

Brunel hopes Eastern Steam
will finance his great ship.

Gentlemen, gentlemen
how much deliberation do we need?

But heated arguments

about whether she will even float
are threatening the project.

Sir l`m not prepared to stay here and...

The entire project is a fantasy,
it could never be built,

and if it were under that enormous weight
it would sink, and with it my money.

How does the man know

that the ship won`t snap like a twig
at the first sign of a storm?

And the size of the ship

is matched only by the size of
Mr Brunel`s opinion of himself.

Six directors walk out.

They don`t want to risk financial ruin,

the fate of many who invested
in Brunel`s grand designs.

Brunel is famous with the public
but he is not popular with financiers.

He is described
as the Napoleon of Engineers.

Thinking more of glory than profit.

Yet if one man can be said to have created
the modern industrial world,

that man is Brunel.

His visions and designs
ignite a revolution

that gives the world
its first global transport system.

His railways compress time transporting
people at unimaginable speeds.

His bridges are radical
in their innovation

spanning distances never before achieved.

Brunel`s ships crisscross the Atlantic.

With The Great Britain,

the first all iron steam ship,
his designs look modern, futuristic.

The most radical engineer the world
has ever seen smoked forty cigars a day

and thrives on just four hours sleep.

But Brunel is suffering from
an incurable kidney disease

that he fears will cheat him
of his greatest challenge.

This is the greatest technical
challenge of my career.

l have never embarked upon any one thing
to which l`m devoting so much time,

thought and labour.

And on the success of which
l am staking so much reputation.

At, at my age you do consider
your legacy to the world.

l want this to be a fitting epitaph.

Brunel`s proposal carries the day, just.

The remaining directors gambled that maybe
this time his ship will make them rich.

We`ve had a very heated debate,
and yes there are detractors,

but they`re outnumbered
l`m pleased to say by those

who will be proud to be
associated with any project

with the name Brunel stamped on it.

Here we are gentlemen,

two priceless porcelain figurines
packed for safe storage.

And stores for the coal.

Another great idea from Mr Brunel.

The ship enters the design phase.

Brunel supervises
every detail of the work,

he has chosen Britain`s
most brilliant marine engineer,

John Scott Russell,
as his naval architect.

Russell has revolutionized
the design of ships hulls,

turning the old stuffy traditions of ship
building in to a modern science.

That`s six hundred and ninety two feet,

the hull will be double
the length of the largest ship

with that of course being
Mr Brunel`s Great Britain.

The entire vessel will be
constructed in iron,

er that`s more than eight thousand
tonnes of it if l`m correct.

Eight thousand six hundred.

Well still four times more than has been
fashioned recently on any project,

be it ship building or bridge.

Now as to the methods of construction,

by these at will averages with
a new screw method of propulsion.

Well it`s l who will be indebted to
Mr Brunel`s considerable expertise

and structural engineering.

There are no two more qualified men
in the world for this project,

even so the task ahead will test
their talent to the limit.

They will have to devise new tools, new
technologies and methods of construction.

They are moving in to un-chartered waters.

The vast outline of the Great Eastern
is marked in to the mud.

The hull is to be built here
at Russell`s ship yard

on the lsle of Dogs in London`s Eastend.

Most vexing uncertainty is how do we get
this monstrous beast in to the water.

Both men agree over most
of the technical detail,

but a disagreement has begun
about how to launch the ship.

Mr Russell favours building her in
dry dock and then er floating her out,

whereas er Mr Brunel has a rather novel
plan of er constructing her alongside

the Thames here and then er sliding
her down sideways in to the water,

which er l think Mr Russell will see
the benefit of this er in due course.

lt`s our custom that the ship builder
devises the means of the launch,

and er l`ve no doubt Mr Brunel will be
so occupied with questions of engineering

as to leave the matter to Mr Russell.

But er as it is
it will be a mighty endeavour,

for the newspapermen have calculated

and given the dimensions in the bible
our ship will be bigger than Noah`s Ark.

Optimism abounds, however would
they even be able to launch the great ship

or will her eight thousand, six hundred
tonnes sink in to the estuary mud?

There`s a huge tonnage,

l`ve calculated the required
tonnage er would outweigh

the hundred and ninety seven English ships

that fought the Spanish Armada,
that`s gigantic.

We do not take Brunel for a rogue or
a fool but an engineering knight errant.

Never so happy as when engaged,
regardless of costs, in conquering.

The newspapers,

especially The Times can be quite cutting
in their remarks about my husband.

He gives everything to a project,

his undivided attention,
his energy, his reputation.

And were it possibly
even more to this project

there`s little time left for the family.

Construction was just about to start.

When fire sweeps through
Russell`s shipyard.

The timber yard containing
a thousand tonnes of deck

planking provided
irresistible fuel for the flames,

which in two hours engulfed the premises.

With it went a tragic inventory of some
of the most choice and valuable plans,

models and templates, including
those of the projected great ship.

Russell is in a desperate situation,

he has no insurance and
will have to borrow heavily

from the bank to repair his yard.

He decides not to tell Brunel

even though his debts
could threaten the entire project.

lt is, it is terrible news, but
Mr Russell has given me his assurance,

as a gentlemen, that he can repair
the yard in the matter of a few months.

So, en avant.

Mr Brunel.

Gentlemen we are at last able to
commence work on the Great Eastern.

These chains behind me will form
part of the restraining apparatus

that will control the launch of my ship.

l can see the look of disapproval
on Mr Russell`s face,

we`re not yet in agreement
over the launch.

But l`m sure in this matter
the engineer`s creed of acceleration,

inertia, momentum,
load and friction will prevail.

Go, come on.

The great work starts.

The Great Eastern is to be the first ship
almost entirely constructed of metal.

Heave.

Heave.

Each plate weighs a third of a tonne
and takes six men to lift it

and the ship will need
thirty thousand plates.

Then two hundred gangs of riveters known

as bashers fix the plates
to the ship`s superstructure.

lnside the ship`s hull children squeeze
between the walls of the metal.

Handling white hot rivets of temperatures
of over a thousand degrees.

lt will take three million rivets
to complete the job.

Twelve thousand men are employed
at Russell`s shipyard.

My name`s John Donovan,
l`m a basher, age seventy five,

l grew up
when Carpenters were the top men.

Now it`s all gone from wood to iron,
mind you there`s some who`ll say

there`s not the skill in it
these days just a lot of bashing,

but, don`t make no difference to me.

Come on lad, this is my grandson Jack,
yeah l give him a few pennies each week.

Here show `em your scar.

He got that from a rivet.

Here we are gentlemen.

For the first time a ship without ribs.

The hull comprises of two layers
of seven eighths

of an inch metal plate set
approximately three feet apart.

Why you may ask gentlemen.

l have conceived her as a giant bridge.

Now, if she were made of single plates

she would bend and buckle
in heavy seas, like this.

But l`ve brought my considerable knowledge
of bridge building to her design,

which l can demonstrate on this model.

As you can see this is not solid.

lt gains its strength and rigidity
from its cellular construction.

Also very light.

But solid and rigid
enough to hold my weight.

And this gentleman`s too.

Feel safe?

Yes sir.

Are you sure?

Yes sir.

Onward.

Now the double hull
also serves a double purpose.

Should the outer skin be ripped the inner
plates ensure that she remains watertight.

ln these ways gentlemen
this great ship is without parallel.

Where is a man to go for a new sight?

To the midst of those dreary regions
known as East Greenwich and Millwall.

Where the atmosphere is tiring and
everything seems slimy and amphibious,

where a gigantic scheme is in progress.

Russell`s shipyard is the biggest
attraction in Europe.

Tempting even some of
the crowned heads to visit.

Here they can marvel at hull plates that
could have formed shields for the gods.

And a ship`s screw that looks like
the blade bones of some huge animal

before the time of Adam and Eve.

l will not put up with this.

lt`s perfectly clear in the contract
with us, all parts of the ship,

all details of construction
and those of procedural work

to be at the complete
satisfaction of the engineer.

By the end of the first year
all is not going well.

Mr Brunel, he insists that every detail,

no matter how small,
receives his personal scrutiny.

l think er Mr Russell has some
difficulties with this arrangement.

Mr Brunel`s insistence on pondering

every detail of construction`s causing
terrible delays and financial problems.

l mean you must understand that we are,

we only receive funds

when certain stages of construction
have been completed.

l mean l`ve never built ships under
such punitive financial arrangements.

Brunel starts to suspect
Russell of hiding something

when he refuses to give
accurate information

on the amount of iron used in the ship.

Russell`s reply to my long list
of complaint does not satisfy

one single honest craving for information.

The figures he`s supplied on the wait,
which l need,

are like the attempt of writing
of a two year old child.

Well as l`ve said that he thinks that
l`m indifferent to the weight of the ship

l have thoroughly satisfied
myself of the weight.

How the devil can he say
he`s satisfied with the weight

when the figures his clerk gave him are
a thousand times less than l make them,

or in fact what he made them a month ago.

Not withstanding
l remain his obedient servant.

l wish he was my obedient servant,
start with a little flogging.

Will you stop that.

With the escalating conflict
Brunel`s health deteriorates.

l make the quantity of iron in the yard
about one thousand, four hundred tonnes.

But this would still leave eight hundred
or nine hundred tonnes unaccounted for.

l am totally at a loss to suggest
even a probable explanation.

ln an extraordinary
meeting of the board Brunel all

but accuses Russell of stealing the iron.

He proposes measures
to force Russell to comply.

My duty to the company compels me to state

that l see no means of obtaining proper
attention to the terms of the contract

other than by refusing
the advance of any more money.

Thank you gentlemen.

Just three weeks later Russell orders
Ned Hepworth to close down the yard.

A possible explanation
emerges for the missing iron.

Mr Russell has no option but to call
a complete halt to work on the ship.

Matters of a financial nature,
l`ll say no more.

Rumours abound that

Russell has been using the iron to help
pay off his debts from the fire.

But now he has run out of money and iron,
and he is on the verge of bankruptcy.

We paid him the majority
of the contract price,

yet only a quarter of the work
has been done on the hull,

and the ship`s engines haven`t been built.

The bank has seized his shipyard
and with it our ship.

Good morning gentlemen.

Good morning sir.

l`m ready for your questions.

Deadlock,
and the press has got hold of the story.

Resolve Mr Russell`s financial situation.

l believe the only step

that can save him from bankruptcy would be
an arrangement with his creditors.

l believe that your relationship with
Mr Russell is not that harmonious.

We have a working relationship.

lt is a grave concern of mine to see
my husband so wholly consumed by his work,

he`s always untiring in his efforts,
but...

...though the work prays upon his mind
and because he is a gentleman at heart

and he`s easily wounded by the mischief
of others and l have to say that er,

the relationship between Mr Russell and
my husband has not been an easy one.

l fear it is much to be regretted that
Mr Russell does not seem to have a friend

about him to give him strong advice.

l have tried several times but was not
listened to, otherwise l`d freely give it.

This time there is a change in him.

l fear that with his Great Ship
he has overreached himself

and has in some ways affected his health.

ls this true?

My health is fine.

The Great Eastern
l think has been so far the,

the hardest work that l`ve undertaken.

l seem to have been beset
with concatenation of evils.

The work restarts,
the bank agrees to give back the yard

but on condition the ship
is launched in record time.

The race is on.

Come on lads, come on.

l`m standing here watching you, it`s like
watching dead people, so get on with it.

You move, you Figgers
come here, come here.

l feel a much heavier
responsibility now thrown upon me.

Consequently l intend to be very cautious
and keep everything tightly under control.

As a result of the recent upheavals l
intend to keep the services of Mr Russell

but in the capacity of my assistant.

From now on he will work directly to me.

Down your eyes the lot of you.

Understand Donovan?

Then move it man, get on with it.

There`s still a great deal to be done,
a great deal.

The tension between the two men increases.

Their differences over how to launch
the ship erupt in to a bitter row.

Brunel wants to winch her in to the water,

Russell argues that they should
stick to the tried and tested method,

letting the hull slip freely.

Mr Russell prefers a free launch, no.

l can not risk the chance that er
she might break up, however remote.

l mean sifting
we attach chains to the hull

so we can control
her descent in to the water.

Well Mr Brunel feels he knows better than
the country`s foremost naval architects

who have launched oh some hundreds of
ships while he has launcher er not one.

Let him have his controlled launch.

The sooner that ship
is out of my yard the better.

With less than a week to go a riveter
is killed when he falls from a gantry.

Many are starting to believe
the ship must be jinxed.

With just a few days to go even
Brunel is worried about the launch.

He makes it clear that he must
have no distractions to interfere

with this complex and dangerous task.

l have requested that
the launch is not made public.

lts success depends entirely
upon the absence of all haste

or confusion at each part
of the proceeding.

Simple, simple orders being given, nothing
is more essential than perfect silence.

Desperate for money Eastern Steam
ignore Brunel`s plea

and sell three thousand
tickets for the launch.

Together with other spectators

over a hundred thousand
make their way to the lsle of Dogs.

For two years London and
we may add the people of England

have been kept in expectation of
the advent of this gigantic experiment.

Their excitement and determination to be
present at any cost are not to be wondered

at when we consider what a splendid chance
presents itself of a fearful catastrophe.

Er Mr Brunel plans to accommodate
er four thousand passengers

on the Great Eastern
in the finest luxury imaginable.

Now listen very carefully
this is very important.

When l wave the white flag
l want you to release the break,

and then when l wave the red flag
l want you to apply the break immediately.

Do you understand?

Yes sir.

Total chaos reins.

To add to the confusion minutes before
the launch directors of Eastern Steam

decide to change
the ship`s name to Leviathan.

You can call her Tom Thumb if you like.

One of Brunel`s launch drums
has spun out of control,

lashing in to the workers around it.

The ship moved and
the chains tightened and er,

er the, the drum spun around very quickly.

Er some of the men were er,
were thrown back by the force.

lt was er, it was like an explosion.

To the anger of the crowd
Brunel suspends the launch.

Leviathan, leave her high and dry-athon.

The Great Ship lies jammed on the slipway,
it has moved just four feet.

Five men are badly injured,
one critically.

You do know you are dying.

Dying?

Nah not me, nah.

Try to say the lord`s prayer with me.

Our father which art in heaven.

l can`t understand it at all.

Hallowed be thy name, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.

The death certificate from
the London hospital recalls

that John Donovan died
from internal injuries.

That we forgive them
that trespass against us.

One month later and Brunel
has only been able to move the ship

another thirty feet towards the water.

With two hundred feet to go Brunel
is publicly humiliated.

Why do great companies continue
to believe in Mr Brunel?

lf great engineering consists
in building huge monuments of folly

then Mr Brunel is surely
the greatest of engineers.

l have an immense stake
in the success of this enterprise.

And although many will share
with me the credit of our success,

l should have to bare solely and
very heavily the blame of failure.

One of the worries concerning the ship
have to be dealt with by my husband.

l, l, l don`t say anything at all because
l don`t think he would listen to me.

But l`m so afraid.

Despite the pounding and pushing of
hydraulic rams a hundred feet still lie

between the ship and the water.

Well we borrowed additional chains
from the admiralty to, to wincher in.

Um we`ve also borrowed hydraulic ram
we can find in the country,

but so far to, to no avail.

One after the other the rams explode
under the extreme pressure,

but the ship hardly budges.

Could l have foreseen the work
l`ve had to go through

and the labour l`ve had to discharge
l would never have entered upon it.

the work often continues through the night

with the ship slipping
just an inch at a time.

Brunel catches sleep when he can.

There is talk of scrapping The Great Ship,
and selling the iron.

The pushing and pulling
goes on for ninety days.

Mr Brunel sir, Mr Brunel.

Then a breakthrough.

On the high tide of the 31st January 1858
The Great Ship floats for the first time.

Brunel`s ship is registered
as The Great Eastern.

The name Leviathan has been, been dropped.

lt was decided it wasn`t a,
a happy choice.

The er, the image of a sea monster
beyond human control.

l had the idea to build a ship that
could circumnavigate the globe.

A project of these ambitions
is bound to raise eyebrows.

l, l have an immense stake
in the success of this enterprise.

The whole project is
four times over budget.

The financial and physical stress
has finally taken its toll on Brunel.

Few people know that
in the last few months

my husband has personally born
the financial costs of that ship.

And these gentlemen
are making inventories less

we need to sell anything
to raise more capital.

His present illness does however
provide us with one blessing,

l shall at last see something of him.

We are to take
a restorative sojourn in Egypt.

While Brunel is abroad Russell
will complete the interior of the ship.

Eighteen months later
The Great Eastern is ready.

As the pressure builds in the boilers
for the first time no one could be certain

that it would be enough to turn
the largest marine engines ever built.

The boat shuddered as the screw
and paddle engines came to life.

lt is quite impossible by
mere verbal description

to convey an adequate idea of the
colossal proportions of these engines.

Brunel goes bellow decks to select
his cabin for the maiden voyage.

l`m always proud of my work,

to create something that`s never been done
before l have immense pride in the work.

Mr Brunel, Mr Brunel sir.

What about a second one sir, perhaps on,

on the other side of the funnel
do you think, Mr Brunel, Mr Brunel.

Brunel collapses with a stroke, paralysed
but conscious he is taken to his home.

Without Brunel on board his Great Ship
sets off on its maiden voyage to Holyhead.

Russell is left in charge.

She met the rolling waves,
the foaming surge seemed

but sported elements of joy over

which the new mistress of
the ocean held her undisputed sway.

Well so far she`s performing
very smoothly,

there`s good power translation
from both the screw

and the paddle engines
and this of course is a,

a sea trial so we`re looking for
the problem, but well l mean just,

just feel the way she`s moving through
the water, she`s just, just made for it.

At six p.m. on the 9th September
The Great Eastern passes off Hastings.

lt appears that there`s been an explosion
in the water tank on funnel number one.

And tragically we`ve lost
five members of the crew

One of them`s walking around unaware
that the flesh on his thighs,

it`s burnt a deep holes, er the flesh
is boiled white by the, by the steam.

One of the crew members tried to help him
but his, he took hold of him,

his skin on his arm and his hand,
it came away like a glove.

But l must stress that er at the moment
we have perfect way on the ship,

none of the passengers is injured,
and the ship is under full control.

We should like to know who was in charge,

and whose want of caution was
the cause of the catastrophe

which has consigned several of
our fellow creatures to a horrible death.

l had to break the news to him,

um l think he was holding on for a,
for a happier conclusion to,

and er l`m afraid he, he,
his condition just deteriorated rapidly.

We regret to announce
the demise of Mr Brunel

who died at his residence in Duke Street,

Westminster,
at half past ten on Thursday night.

He expired at the comparatively
early age of fifty three.

l have nothing to say.

At the coroner`s inquest it was found that
a safety valve had caused the explosion.

l have nothing to say.

Many believe that

Russell was to blame for lack of
supervision yet charges were not pressed.

But Russell never built another ship.

As for The Great Eastern she never took
on her four thousand passengers,

never took the least,
there was never the demand,

The Great Eastern was
a commercial disaster.

But she was an engineering triumph.

Her combination of screw and paddle
made her extremely manoeuvrable

and the ideal choice to lay
the first transatlantic telegraph cable.

Her strength was legendary.

When she gashed her outer skin

along eighty five feet
the passengers never even noticed,

a smaller rip sank the Titanic.

Too far ahead of her time,
it was fifty years

and a new century before anyone would
attempt to build such a gigantic ship.

On the first day of
1889 just thirty years

after her maiden voyage
the wreckers started to tear her apart.

Come here.

What?

When they smashed through
her famous double hull

it was rumoured they made
a gruesome discovery.

Two bodies, one only a child,

riveters trapped alive in the
ship`s hull when she was being built.

lt was said their deaths jinxed
The Great Eastern.

And as for Brunel, well history has judged
him the greatest engineer of all time.

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