SS Great Britain

The steam ship SS Great Britain, launched in Bristol in 1843, was the first large ocean-going ship with an iron hull and a screw propeller. On her maiden voyage across the Atlantic the Great Britain easily broke the previous speed record. Although effectively a prototype, she continued sailing until 1886, and travelled thirty-two times around the world and nearly one million miles at sea. She was finally abandoned in the Falkland Islands in 1937 after more than 40 years use as a floating warehouse. In 1970 an ambitious salvage effort brought her home to Bristol where she was originally built.

Conserving the more than 160-year-old iron hull on this site [dry dock in the Great Western Dockyard, where she was built between 1839 and 1843] is exceptionally difficult as the dock was a damp environment, and moisture in the air made the process of corrosion continue quickly. Exposure to rain and moisture in the air (humidity) in Bristol allowed the ship to continue to corrode, particularly accelerated by salt infestation in the wrought iron structure.

The site has many papers relating to the corrosion mitigation efforts here.

Quoted text from SS Great Britain site.  Photo by Photo by Matt Buck.