On 19 July 1843 the SS Great Britain was launched.

At the time of its launch SS Great Britain was the largest passenger ship in the world. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great Western Steamship Company‘s transatlantic service between Bristol and New York City.

SS Great Britain was built of iron and had a screw propeller and was one of the most technically advanced vessels of its day. It is considered the first modern ship, being built of metal rather than wood, powered by an engine rather than wind or oars, and driven by a propeller rather than a paddle wheel

From 1852 it took migrants to Australia, eventually ending up in the Falklands as a warehouse, quarantine and coal hulk. In 1937 she was scuttled. Then in 1970 Sir Jack Arnold Hayward, OBE (1923–2015) paid for the vessel to be raised and repaired enough to be towed north through the Atlantic back to the United Kingdom, and returned to the Bristol dry dock where she had been built 127 years earlier.

Today SS Great Britain is a visitor attraction and museum ship in Bristol Harbour.