Tight squeeze for a big ship
QUESTION Is it true that the dock at Milford Haven, built to hold Brunel’s SS Great Eastern, had gates too narrow for the ship to enter?
The SS Great eastern remained in Milford haven for about 11 years, either being repaired or laid up. On arrival in 1874, there was no problem with entering the dock as it had yet to be built.
however, the SS Great eastern remained at Milford for so long that construction of the enclosed dock had been completed by the time it was ready to leave.
As far as we can tell, the dock at Milford was not specifically built to hold the SS Great eastern, but plans existed at the time to extend the docks further into the haven to accommodate possible increases in vessel size.
The reported beam (maximum width) of the ship was 82ft (about 25metres). The width of the dock opening at that time would have been about the same as this, though it is now narrower due to the later addition of lock gates.
There are no recorded problems, so it is assumed the SS Great eastern was able to pass through the opening without incident on a suitable high tide.
Tim Bownes, engineering director, Port of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. SS GreAT eastern was an iron sailing steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built by J. Scott russell & Co at Millwall on the river Thames.
The 22,500-ton steamship, originally called Leviathan, was so massive that her length — nearly 700 ft (213 m) — and tonnage was unmatched for more than 40 years. She was intended for the passenger and cargo trade between Britain and Ceylon, but her launch was beset by problems. It took three months to work out how to get her afloat, and further problems left her original owners bankrupt.
In September 1859, Great eastern’s first voyage was cut short by a boiler explosion. her new owners collapsed under the expense of repairs and a third firm took her on.
Once launched, the SS Great eastern led an eventful life. She served as a passenger liner and cargo carrier on the transatlantic run (its fastest time was nine days), and a troopship during the American Civil War.
Following a major refit in 1864-5, she began a new career laying 2,600 miles of submarine telegraphic cables below the Atlantic, and another vast cable from Aden to Bombay. By 1874, Great eastern was laid up at Milford haven, as she had proved unprofitable.
Allen Tindell, Pembroke.
QUESTION Has any wellknown scientist claimed to have seen a ghost?
ALThOUGh scientists are considered paragons of rationality, many have had a fascination with the occult, mythical creatures and psychic phenomena.
Sir Isaac Newton was deeply involved in the occult, numerology and the study of alchemy. The naturalist Alfred russel Wallace, forefather of evolutionary theory, was a keen spiritualist.
Charles richet, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction), had a deep interest in extra-sensory perception.
Sir William Crookes (1832–1919), an english chemist and physicist, was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventor of the light mill (known as the Crookes radiometer), identifier of the first known sample of helium and a researcher into cathode rays and radioactivity — and into spiritualism.
This, the belief that the spirits of the dead have the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living, blossomed in the Victorian era.
Those who had experienced loss were particularly susceptible to its attractions. Crookes had recently lost his 21-year-old brother Philip to yellow fever. Between 1871 and 1874, he studied the mediums Kate Fox, Florence Cook, and Daniel Dunglas home. he joined the Society for Psychical research, the Theosophical Society and paranormal research association, the Ghost Club.
Crookes famously claimed to have seen a ghost. Florence Cook, in Crookes’s house with his friends and family as witnesses, was said to have materialised a spirit called Katie King.
Crookes’s report, published in 1874, contained his assertion that mediums were producing genuine preternatural phenomena. The publication caused an uproar, and his testimony about Katie King was considered the most sensational part of the report.
Georgina Holden, Bingley, W. Yorks.
QUESTION What examples are there of sporting showboating gone wrong?
FUrTher to the earlier answer, at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, Nigel Mansell was leading by 47 seconds from Nelson Piquet into the last lap and began waving to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd.
he continued to wave as he changed down to first gear to take a 180-degree hairpin toward the end of the lap, only to allow the engine revs to drop too low.
Unfortunately, there was insufficient electrical charge left in the system to enable the hydraulics to select another gear, leaving him stuck in neutral.
The engine stalled and Mansell’s Williams-renault rolled gently to a stop while Piquet went on to win the race.
David Cole, Oakham, Rutland.
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