Photograph showing a steam ship anchored on a beach.

SS Great Eastern, known as 'Leviathan' before its launch in 1858, was the last major work of the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It was five times the size of any contemporary ship and its construction and design were revolutionary. As such, this example of Victorian technology was of sufficient interest for Albert, the Prince Consort to include five photographs of it in one of his albums. His eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, went to see the ship at Millwall on 5 December 1857.