> Hey,
>
> Quick question for all you maritime types:
>
> Can anyone tell me what the biggest ship in the latter
> third of the 19th Century was? Basically I just need
> the dimensions, and who built it, etc.
>
> I need to compare it to a ship the Collegium have
> commissioned in my campaign. I billed it as the
> largest and most tehnologically advanced steamship in
> the world, but have yet to specify it's size to my
> players. I was thinking around 400 feet, but I
> suddenly realised that's enourmous. Many oil-burning
> steamers of this size were around in the early 20th
> Century, but what about the late 19th?
Try looking under Isambard Kingdom Brunel, his ship "Great Eastern" apparently held the "world largest ship" title from 1858 to around 1901.
Got the following from a website
"In 1858 Brunel built the Great Eastern and it took 5 years to build. It had a displacement* of 22, 500 tons, a length of 693 FT, a width of 120 FT, and a depth of hull 58 FT. It was designed to make a round trip to Australia, going past the Cape of Good Hope without being recoaled. It was designed like this because 5 years before in 1853 directors concluded that, because of the cost of maintaning coaling stations on the way, such a route would not pay unless the ships could carry enough coal for the voyage out and home."
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Island/3071/largest.html
lists the names of some large ships from around the time you are interested in at the bottom of the page
Cheers
Roy
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ All internet traffic to this site is automatically scanned for viruses and vandals. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++