East End of London clearance. Industries associated with the sea developed throughout the East End, including rope making and shipbuilding. The former location of roperies can still be identified from their long straight, narrow profile in the modern streets, for instance Ropery Street near Mile End. Shipbuilding was important from the time when Henry VIII caused ships to be built at Rotherhithe as a part of his expansion of the Royal Navy. On 31 January 1858, the largest ship of that time, the SS Great Eastern, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was launched from the yard of Messrs Scott Russell & Co, of Millwall.
SS Malabar (1858) abandon ship. There was no loss of life. The passengers included James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros, the British and French plenipotentiaries to China, and "The Times" journalist Thomas William Bowlby, who later published an account of the wreck. It was reported that "Malabar"s cargo included 1,080 boxes of bullion, worth nearly £300,000 and 725 chests of opium. SS Malabar (1858) SS "Malabar" was a P & O mail steamship of 917 tons launched in 1858 that was wrecked in Point de Galle harbor on 22 May 1860. The passengers had embarked on "Malabar" when a