Brunel accepts Scott Russell's tender for SS Great Eastern

Background. Brunel designed the SS Great Eastern, an iron-hulled steamship intended for voyages to India and Australia. He was appointed engineer to the Eastern Steam Navigation Company in July 1852, a company seeking success in the Far East market. The company's funding was completed by 1853, largely due to contributions from Charles Geach, Morton Peto, and Thomas Brassey.

Partnership. Brunel showed his idea to John Scott Russell, an experienced naval architect and shipbuilder whom he had first met at the Great Exhibition. Russell was a promoter of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Brunel entered into a partnership with Scott Russell to build Great Eastern, with Russell serving as the main contractor.

Setback. An almost immediate setback occurred when the main London shipyard owned by John Scott Russell, the main contractor, burnt down on 10 September 1853. If the partnership was formed in 1853, the fire followed it, though the passages do not state this ordering explicitly. Construction began in spring 1854, and the keel was laid down on 1 May 1854; the ship was built parallel to the River Thames to be launched sideways.