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Family favourite object five

 Image is a watercolour illustration of a model of the SS Great Eastern ship

This model shows the huge Great Eastern ship which was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was over 200m long, which is twice a long as Big Ben is tall! When she was finally launched in 1858 she was the largest ship ever. She could travel all the way to India without stopping to get more fuel.

Brunel and his team finished building the ship in 1857 but it took many tries before she floated properly 1858. She wasn’t very lucky for her workers! Many people died while they helped build her, and Brunel died a few days after she first floated.

Find out more by visiting our First Port of Empire gallery and completing this SS Great Eastern challenge (Word 79kb).
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