On September 22, 1846, the luxury liner SS Great Britain, en route from Liverpool to New York, ran aground in Dundrum Bay, County Down. The captain mistakenly identified St. John's lighthouse for the Calf light on the Isle of Man. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the ship was the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven transatlantic liner. All 180 passengers and 130 crew were safely evacuated with local assistance. The vessel remained stranded for eleven months before a successful salvage operation, eventually being refurbished and used to transport thousands of emigrants to Melbourne.
