Repro ID: PW6224
Title: The building of the Great Eastern.
Description: The extraordinary dimensions of the 'Great Eastern' dictated that she be built on an inclined way parallel to the river so that she could be launched sideways. Had the vessel been launched stern first from a slipway she would have run aground on the opposite bank of the Thames as she was nearly as long as the river was wide at low tide.
Creator: John Wilson Carmichael
Date: 1857
Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London
