When she left Liverpool again, there were a considerable number of passengers, and it seemed as if her success was ensured. She started under the command of Captain James Walker, on September 10, and three days afterwards encountered a severe Atlantic gale.
The ship was behaving well, when one of the boats, which hung on davits outside the ship forward of the paddlewheels, got adrift on the weather side. Fears were entertained that it might foul the paddlewheel, and the captain determined to cut it away. The direction of the ship was altered, in order that the boat might float clear. The ship then resumed her course; but shortly afterwards fell off, with her broadside to the sea.
Relieving tackles having been put to assist the men at the wheel, the tiller was kept hard over, to bring the ship’s head to the wind; but with no effect. Towards evening, as the seas beat heavily against her side, first one paddlewheel and then the other was destroyed, being completely torn away from the central bosses. During the night she lay in a helpless condition. The gale had been of some duration, and the waves being large and long, the ship was placed in a very unfavourable position to receive them; and she rolled considerably.
The next morning, when an officer went to examine the auxiliary tiller on the lower deck, he discovered that the rudder-head was twisted short off, just above the point where it entered the ship. The rudder was still in its place. The accident had most likely happened on the previous evening, when the ship fell off her course. It had not been noticed by the men at the helm, perhaps because there were so many of them at the wheel and relieving-tackles that they held one against the other; and the broken parts of the rudder-head, grinding together, threw jerks on to the tiller. The fracture of the rudder-head was caused by the badness of the workmanship in the interior of the forging.
Attempts were made to get sail on the ship, but without much success; and with the hope of bringing her head to wind, the screw engines were reversed.
As soon as the ship was driven astern by the screw, the rudder, being uncontrolled, was forced round by the rush of water, and it knocked away the after stern-post.[175] No other harm was done, as the rudder is secured by a pin into the heel of the ship, and by a collar round the rudder-head, attached to the hull above water.
Steps were then taken to get command over the rudder. Chains were wrapped round the stump of the rudder-head inside the ship, and a certain amount of control was thus obtained. A more effective plan was at the same time carried into execution. A man was lowered by a rope from the stern of the ship, who hove a piece of wood, with a line attached to it, through the screw-opening. The wood with the end of the line was caught with a boat-hook; and a rope, and afterwards a hawser, and then a piece of the ship’s chain cable were passed through behind the rudder. The two ends of the chain cable were brought together at the stern of the ship, and a large shackle put round both parts of the chain, and shaken down till it held them together. In the edge of the rudder-blade a notch had been made by the rudder striking against the screw, and into this notch the shackle was made to drop. In this way two chains or pennants had been attached to the back of the rudder. One of these was brought to each side of the ship, and they were hauled on by means of the stern capstan.
The ship then turned homeward, and the weather having moderated, she arrived off Cork harbour on the afternoon of September 17. By this time the chains round the rudder had shifted, and were of little service; and before night it began to blow heavily towards the shore. It was dangerous for the ship to remain on a lee shore; and, although the steering-gear was out of order, the captain wisely determined to take advantage of the ship’s head pointing in the right direction, and steamed out to sea.
Three days afterwards the ship, assisted by several small steamers, was got safely into Cork harbour, a temporary tiller was attached to the stump of the rudder-head, and she proceeded to Milford Haven, where she was placed on the gridiron, and her after stern-post and paddlewheels replaced. The accident had proved that the original paddlewheels might with advantage have been made stronger, and in the new wheels the bracing was increased.
The ship, under the command of Captain Walter Paton, left Milford Haven for New York on May 7, 1862, and returned to Liverpool on June 11. She left again on July 1, and returned on August 6. Besides the number of passengers the ship accommodated, she carried a considerable amount of cargo; she brought over large quantities of grain and provisions. The custom of carrying this class of freight in steam-ships received a great impulse from the success of the ‘Great Eastern’ in the traffic. As it was found that the shallowness of the bar at Sandy Hook prevented her taking full advantage of her carrying power, she had on this voyage followed the route along Long Island Sound, so as to arrive close to New York in deep water, and on her return voyage she brought as much as 5,300 tons of cargo in bulk, which with 4,350 tons of coal gave her a mean draught of 28 feet.