| Ref No | DM1306/11/1/2/folio 26-29 |
| Title | Letter from William Rowett to Isambard Kingdom Brunel |
| Description | Written from Liverpool. Rowett acknowledges Brunel's letter and tracing of the ship and the sails and agrees with Brunel that his letters and plans are to be completely private. While agreeing with Brunel's explanation that the sails are only there as backup and should not create too much resistance when not in use, Rowett maintains that the ship needs sufficient masts and sails to provide to the general public at least an appearance of being a sailing ship and suggests that once public scepticism has been allayed, then the majority of the canvas can be disposed of. Rowett reminds Brunel of the pencil sketch of the rigging that he sent previously and explains that Rowett has no changes to make to these plans. Rowett explains that changes in ship design have led to changes in the principles of rigging and sail setup and considers that the Great Britain proved that the old style of rigging no longer works for the new style of ship when she ran out of coals between the Cape of Good Hope and St Helena and could not steer under canvas before Rowett's plans were adopted on her return to Liverpool |
| Date | 7 March 1855 |
| Format | Manuscript volume |
| Extent | 4 pages |
| Thumbnail | 
|
|
|
|
| Access Conditions | This material is held at the Brunel Institute - please contact the Brunel Institute to arrange access. |