Whistle from S.S. Great Eastern, Bristol, England (UK), 2012

Brunel's largest and most famous ship was, of course, not the S.S. Great Britain, but the S.S. Great Eastern, which when built in 1859 was the largest in the world, following in the tradition of the Great Britain. However, it was so large that it was very hard to fill it (it could carry up to 4,000 passengers), making it uneconomic. It's most significant achievement was probably the laying of the first successful transatlantic cable in 1866 (although earlier attempts had been made). In spite of its historical significance, however, it was scrapped in 1889. It was so well built that it took until 1890 to finish the scrapping. I was unaware until this trip what parts of it had been saved, and was very surprised to find the whistle displayed in the S.S. Great Britain museum. It's connected to an air compressor, but as anyone familiar with steam power will know, this doesn't properly replicate the sound.