| Front Page | |||||||||
| About Nonesuch | |||||||||
| Nonesuch News | |||||||||
| Around the World University of Bristol Trans-Continental Expedition 1960-61 | |||||||||
| Puseagon A village in the Deccan. India | |||||||||
| SS Great Britain | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Margaret Mee's Amazon | |||||||||
| Nasca A mystery on the desert in Peru | |||||||||
| Andes to Amazon | |||||||||
| The New Amazonia | |||||||||
| Nonesuch Extra | |||||||||
| Video + Audio | |||||||||
| Environment | |||||||||
| Contact Info | |||||||||
| South American Pictures | |||||||||
THE VICTORIAN SHIP GREAT BRITAIN IN SPARROW COVE, FALKLAND ISLANDS / ISLAS MALVINAS
 |
| Port Stanley is the lower marker - use the mouse to see Sparrow Cove in the Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas |
The SS Great Britain was launched in Bristol, England in 1843 as the first ocean going, propeller driven steamship. After an eventful career the ship was changed to a sailing ship in 1882 and in 1886 was disabled by a storm close to Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America.
The Captain decided to take shelter in The Falkland Islands / Islas Malvinas and the Great Britain arrived in Stanley Harbour in May 1886. Enough costly damage was recorded to ensure the Great Britain would never sail again.
 |
| The Great Britain in Stanley Harbour ca 1900 |
In 1887 she was declared a 'hulk' and was converted to a floating wool /coal storehouse used by the Falkland islands Company in Stanley Harbour. But by 1933 her decks were rotten and leaking and even as a storehouse her days were numbered.
On 12th April 1937 the Great Britain was taken to Sparrow Cove about 3.5 miles 5.6 km from Stanley Harbour and beached in a small inlet. Explosives were used to make holes in the iron hull so the ship would remain on the sea bed whatever the state of the tide. For many years the Great Britain was visited by the Islanders and the occasional outsider - in those days the Islands were remote apart from sea links.
It was not until 1967 when a British naval architect Dr.Ewan Corlett wrote to The Times, of London that any serious attention was paid to the ship's historical importance. In 1970 a major salvage operation was successful and the Great Britain was returned to the the same dock in Bristol from which she had been launched. Now fully restored to the form of her original design the original steamship the SS Great Britain Brunel's great iron masterpiece has become a visible and highly regarded landmark in maritime history
|
