Isambard Kingdom Brunel a white elephant, but it has been argued by David P. Billington that in this case Brunel's failure was principally one of economics—his ships were simply years ahead of their time. His vision and engineering innovations made the building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry. "Great Eastern" was built at John Scott Russell's Napier Yard in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York
Steamship before by F. P. Smith's Propeller Steamship Company. Brunel had been looking into methods of improving the performance of "Great Britain"s paddlewheels, and took an immediate interest in the new technology, and Smith, sensing a prestigious new customer for his own company, agreed to lend "Archimedes" to Brunel for extended tests. Over several months, Smith and Brunel tested a number of different propellers on "Archimedes" in order to find the most efficient design, a four-bladed model submitted by Smith. When launched in 1843, "Great Britain" was by far the largest vessel afloat. Brunel's last major project, the , was built