Great Eastern Keel Laid At Millwall
Construction of Brunel's giant vessel began at John Scott Russell's shipyard beside the Thames.
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
John Scott Russell Biography and Timeline
Follow John Scott Russell through 5 dated historical records for Great Britain.
John Scott Russell, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
5Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1854–1859Years on this page
1854
1855
Great Eastern Hull Plating Advances
Workers assembled the huge vessel's iron plating and internal framing at the Millwall building yard.
1856
Great Eastern Construction Delayed By Bankruptcy
Financial failure at Russell's shipbuilding business disrupted progress on the massive project.
1858
Great Eastern Outfitting Continues Afloat
Work continued on the giant vessel's engines fittings and systems after the troublesome launching operation.
1859
Great Eastern Trial Explosion Causes Casualties
A steam explosion during the ship's early trials killed members of the crew and exposed serious boiler problems.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.