The result must have been exceedingly gratifying to the owners, as the Great Britain sailed on this her first voyage to the Antipodes with upwards of 600 passengers. Ten days later the ship Albatross arrived with the first importation into Liverpool of gold from Australia, being 20,000 ozs. consigned to Messrs. Gibbs, Bright & Co. On the 23rd November following, her sister ship, the Eagle, arrived in the Thames with 150,000 ounces of gold valued at £600,000. The ship Dido was expected to arrive in a few days, having on board ten and a half tons of the precious metal, of the enormous value of £1,120,000.
The Great Britain arrived at Melbourne on the 10th November, 1852, after a splendid run from the Cape of Good Hope of 24 days, her average speed having been 284 miles per day. Her engines behaved splendidly, and there was no occasion to stop them during the whole of the time. One death occurred on board, that of a Chinaman who embarked at St. Helena.
Owing to the difficulty of obtaining labour to discharge and load the ship at Melbourne, she was detained at that port for three months, and sailed on her return voyage about the end of January, 1853. On her arrival at Cape Town she re-filled her bunkers from the Rebecca, a ship which had been sent from Liverpool with a cargo of coal for that purpose, and resumed her voyage northwards on the 20th February.
She continued to trade with varying success between Liverpool and Australia as an auxiliary steamer for 40 years, and in 1882 was sold to Messrs. Anthony Gibbs, Sons & Co., who took out her engines and converted her into a sailing ship. Originally she carried six masts, two of which had been taken out of her when she was placed on the Anglo-Australian station, and when Messrs. Anthony Gibbs, Sons & Co. purchased her they took out a third mast and rigged her as a full-rigged sailing ship. In order to strengthen her hull, they also, at a very great expense, completely sheathed her frame with wood, in October, 1882. She sailed on her last voyage from Liverpool in 1886, and put into the Falkland Islands so battered with her battle with wind and waves that she was abandoned to the Underwriters as a constructive total loss. She was sold by the latter to the Falkland Islands Co., who used her as a coal hulk.
One of her earliest competitors was an American steamer named the Golden Age. She was the property of the New York and Australian Steam Navigation Co., and was intended to ply between Australia and Panama, and eventually to extend the service to San Francisco. This splendid vessel excited great interest in Liverpool, at which port she lay for about two months prior to sailing for Melbourne.
She was very similar in outward appearance to the Collins steamships, being barque rigged with a straight stem, and having her paddle boxes situated very far aft. Her dimensions were as follows: length 285 feet, beam 43 feet 6 inches, and depth 32 feet; 2864 tons register. She had a beam engine of somewhat peculiar construction, with a cylinder of 85 inches diameter, and 12 feet stroke. The boilers constituted the chief peculiarity; they were each 40 feet long, and fitted with furnaces at each end, the smoke funnel ascending from the centre. By this arrangement it was claimed that economy both in space and fuel was gained. The hull of the ship was built by Mr. W. H. Brown, New York. The lower frames were of live oak, and the top frames of locust and cedar. The entire hull was double diagonally braced with iron bars, five inches wide, by three quarters of an inch thick and four feet apart.
The Golden Age had accommodation for 1200 passengers of all classes, the steerage being fitted up for 600. There were three saloons, one above the other, two of which were panelled in rose, satin, and zebra woods; with crimson and gold plush and rich hangings, and adorned with mirrors. In the upper saloon the same general arrangement prevailed, except that instead of satinwood panelling, the sides were finished in white and gold. In this saloon were two “family rooms,” one finished in gold, the other in blue. A brief reference to this steamer is made in the “Annals of Liverpool” (Gore’s Directory), in which it is stated: “The Golden Age(s.) sailed from Liverpool, 5th December, 1853, and arrived at Melbourne in 47 days steaming time.”
On the 31st July, 1855, there was launched at Sandycroft, on the River Dee, a large clipper ship fitted with auxiliary steam power. She was built to the order of the Liverpool and Australian Steam Navigation Co., the owners of the celebrated Great Britain. Her owners were of opinion that steamers relying entirely upon their engines, could not be worked so economically as vessels with auxiliary steam power, and sailing vessels trusting only to their sails could not be relied upon to make their passages with regularity and despatch, consequently they determined to combine the two motive powers and give their vessel the benefit of both.
The Royal Charter, the name given to the new ship, was designed and built by Mr. Paterson, the builder of the Great Britain. She was 235 feet in length over all, 41 feet 6 inches beam, and 26 feet 6 inches depth of hold; 2720 tons burden; could spread 15,000 square feet of canvas; and had a pair of direct acting trunk engines of 200 h.p. nominal, constructed by Messrs. Penn, of Greenwich, for working an auxiliary screw, so arranged that when not wanted it could be completely lifted out of the water, and even (if necessary) placed on deck. She had excellent accommodation for passengers. Her chief saloon was 100 feet long and beautifully fitted up; and the ladies’ cabin, with its large poop windows, and elegant furniture, was admirably adapted for its purpose. There were two large bath rooms for the use of the after saloon passengers, and one three times as large as either of these two for the use of the ’tween deck passengers. She had seven watertight compartments and tanks capable of holding 64,000 gallons of water.
The Royal Charter, independently of her steam power, was a full-rigged ship, and was the first English vessel to adopt the American plan of double topsails on each mast. On her trial trips she averaged a speed of nine knots per hour with her propeller; and under canvas only, with a light N.N.E. wind, made fourteen knots per hour.