Although now impossible to either prove or disprove conclusively, the accepted likelyhood is that this is, in fact, pure myth;Jordangbr wrote:Brunel just entombed a couple of riveters inside the hull on the Great Eastern.....
Riveters worked in gangs of five. Two of the gang were 'boys' and it is they who had the task of working in the narrow space between the hulls. None were reported as missing in such a fashion during the build.
During construction, the inner hull wasn't sealed and had many inspection/access hatches which weren't closed until much later. One of the reasons for this is that, upon completion, both inner surfaces of the cavity were painted in their entirety to abate corrosion. Logic might dictate that any previously unnoticed body would have been discovered at this stage.
The cavity between the hulls was flooded extensively and pumped out on two seperate occasions - once during launch and again after running aground, during which an 86 foot gash was torn in the outer hull. It was during the latter that the story of entombed workers resurfaced in ernest: Gangs involved in the repair reported hearing knocking in the hull, attibuted it to the ghosts of riveters and refused to return.
The final perpetuant of the story was the unsupported tale of a dried out skeleton being discovered by workmen dismantelling the great ship for scrap, however, no official report was ever made and all acounts seemed to be 3rd party and annecdotal. Although a cover-up would not have been beyond the realms of possibility, neither the owners or dismantlers would have had anything to gain from doing so.
Between construction, launch, a boiler explosion, a stack collapsing, a mooring accident in NY and other lesser incidents, the Great Eastern is recorded as claiming 31 lives (one for every year she was afloat) but none by way of people being sealed in the hull. Such tales abound for a great many ships but, as in this case, none have ever really been substantiated. Such a tale exists even for RMS Titantic and, as everyone knows, it didn't even have a second hull to hide any bodies.
All I can say is make sure every member of the riveting team is counted into and out of K7 religiously - there are enough myths surrounding the old girl without leaving the door open for one more!
However I think I must have been as I distinctly remember we had real problems getting the air intake skin etc out from underneath and separating it from the fuel tank 
We tried everything before reality came to dictate and had to use my pulley blocks to rag it apart. I also thank Bill for allowing me to be the first person apparently to open the fuel cap in over 40yrs I think it was. A proud moment for me personally. I remember the floor being taken apart and the removal of a zillion rivets and the rear shoe coming off after a mammoth session of rivet removal. We thought we had removed what was holding the rear planing wedge but then no it still was held fast and more rivets were revealed. We got the bu--er in the end though Paul was present that day for sure as Bill told him he would have to be there when it was refitted 
