The sum of £300,000 having been subscribed for the new undertaking, the directors had, after paying for the vessel, a surplus of £140,000 to complete her equipment and make her ready for sea. Her new owners took possession of her early in 1859, but it was not until September of that year that she was sufficiently complete to make her first trial trip. While on this trip, and when off Hastings, a shocking accident occurred, through the explosion of one of the funnel casings, causing the death of six men, injuring several others, and virtually wrecking the grand saloon. As no further damage was done to the hull or machinery, she proceeded to Portland, and the necessary repairs having been completed at an outlay of £5,000, she resumed her voyage to Holyhead on the 8th October. She started on her return trial trip from Holyhead to Southampton on the 2nd November, 1859, where she remained until the 17th June, 1860.
The Great Eastern was advertised to leave Southampton on her first voyage to New York on Saturday, 16th June, 1860, but, in consequence of bad weather on that date, the sailing was postponed until the following morning. She carried only 36 passengers, including several ladies, on this trip. The voyage across the Atlantic occupied eleven days. The greatest speed attained was 14½ knots per hour, and the greatest distance run by her in any one day was 333 miles. Immense crowds assembled to witness her arrival in New York Harbour, and she was welcomed with great enthusiasm. She passed the battery at 4-30 p.m. on the 28th June, 1860.
The promoters of the Great Eastern Steam Navigation Company were very sanguine that the Government would frequently employ their vessel for the conveyance of troops, of which they estimated she could carry ten thousand. The Government very wisely never risked so great a body of men in one vessel.
The only occasion on which the Great Eastern was made use of as a troopship was during the threatened rupture between England and the Federal Government of America, in connection with the “Trent Affair.” She made her first entry into the port of Liverpool on the 4th June, having made the passage from New York in 9 days 11 hours. She had on board 212 passengers and a large cargo. On Thursday, 27th June, 1861, she sailed out of the Mersey on a voyage to Quebec, with troops to reinforce the Canadian garrisons. The day was cloudless, there was brilliant sunshine, and the piers and dock walls for five miles, as well as the landing-stages, were lined with spectators, who, as the great ship passed them, responded most heartily to the cheers raised by the soldiers who thronged the upper deck and the lower portions of the rigging.
As she passed the landing-stages she fired salutes, and also on passing the Rock Battery. There were on board the Great Eastern, not 10,000 troops as her promoters anticipated, but 2,125 men of all ranks, accompanied by 159 wives and 244 children of the soldiers. There were also about 40 civilian passengers in the saloon.
She left Quebec on her return voyage on the 6th August, arriving in Liverpool on the 15th idem, and resumed her sailings to New York.
She sailed from Liverpool for New York on the 10th September, under the command of Captain Walker, having on board 175 cabin and 193 steerage passengers. On the following Thursday she encountered a heavy gale, during which, when about 280 miles westward of Cape Clear, her steering apparatus became deranged and broken, and five of her lifeboats were carried away. For two days and nights she lay helpless, exposed to a terrific sea. Her internal fittings were in consequence seriously damaged, and her passengers greatly alarmed for their safety. The Captain decided to abandon the voyage and put back to Queenstown, arriving in the harbour on the Tuesday following. The passengers, when once more on terra firma, relieved their feelings by publishing some very angry letters in the Press, in which they reflected very severely on the managers of the company, but gave unqualified praise to Captain Walker for the manner in which he had handled the great ship in her disabled state.
The laying of submarine cables, commenced in 1865, offered employment for which the Great Eastern was specially suitable, and in which she was constantly engaged for a period of ten years.
Shortly after noon on the 30th June, 1866, the Great Eastern left the Medway, having on board the second Atlantic cable. She was convoyed by H.M.S. Adder as far as the Nore. As she steamed past Garrison Point she was loudly cheered by a vast concourse of people who had gathered there. She proceeded direct to Berehaven, in the extreme South-West of Ireland, which was to be her starting point for laying the submarine cable. Four weeks later, or to be exact, about 5 o’clock (English time) on the 27th July, this great task was successfully accomplished. One of the earliest messages transmitted by the cable was the following from H.M. Queen Victoria to the President of the United States of America:—
“The Queen congratulates the President on the successful completion of an undertaking which she hopes may serve as an additional bond of union between the United States and England.”