UK Tourist Attractions

Isambard Kingdom Brunel is one of Britain's most famous sons and as an engineer he is responsible for the creation of the Great Western Railway as well as numerous important tunnels and bridges including the Thames Tunnel and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

However, Brunel also created a number of famous steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship – the SS Great Britain – which can be seen moored in Bristol's dry dock.

Bristol has many tourist attractions and the SS Great Britain attracts its fair share of visitors onto its decks. First launched in 1843, the SS Great Britain was the largest vessel of its time and the first to incorporate iron construction with a screw propeller into a single ocean-faring ship.

The SS Great Britain was constructed in Bristol's dry dock – where it resides today – and was launched in 1843. Originally designed to have a wooden hull, Brunel redrafted plans and adopted an iron hull after associates travelled to Antwerp and back aboard an iron hulled vessel.

SS Great Britain's original propulsion was to be via paddlewheels but after an encounter with the SS Archimedes – the world's first screw-propelled steamship, Brunel studied and developed the technology for use on the SS Great Britain. This led to the scrapping of paddlewheel propulsion for the ship, and despite the ship already being well into construction screw-propulsion was incorporated into the final design.

Despite launching in 1843, SS Great Britain wasn't completed until 1845 due to a series of delays caused by the constant redesigns and remained in Bristol harbour until 1844, as the redesigns had made SS Great Britain too large to pass through Bristol harbour's lock gates. After modifications the ship eventually took to sea in the following year.

As a passenger liner the SS Great Britain traversed a route between Britain and the United States and latterly between Britain and Australia before later becoming a cargo ship. After a fire on board in 1886 caused a navigational error, the SS Great Britain landed at Port Stanley in the Falkland Isles where it was found to be damaged beyond repair. It became a storage hulk for coal before being scuttled and abandoned in 1937.

In 1970, following numerous sizeable donations a salvage crew took the SS Great Britain back to Britain and Bristol dry dock where it all began.

Today, the SS Great Britain is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Bristol where the sights, sounds and smells of life on board the vessel during its service years can be experienced and the ship's full history and that of its creator can be discovered.

Such is the popularity of the SS Great Britain as a tourist attraction that guests from numerous hotels in Bristol visit on a regular basis thanks in part to its free unlimited visits for a year following visitors' initial ticket purchase. Most hotels will also carry tourist information leaflets detailing not only the SS Great Britain but also other tourist attractions in and around the city.