New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company (1850–1858)
Atlantic departed New York for Liverpool on her maiden voyage on April 27, 1850. She reached port on May 10, but not without teething troubles. Just over half way across, the ship was stopped to repair the loss of paddles in heavy seas. She drifted for 12 hours while repairs were effected. Then one of the engines had to be shut down due to a valve failure, cutting the ship's speed by a third. Nonetheless, when all her machinery was working, she made almost 300 miles a day, a creditable speed for 1850.[12] She proved that she could achieve these respectable speeds all the way across the Atlantic when she reached New York in July 1850 only 10 days and fifteen hours after leaving her dock in Liverpool.[13] This was just an hour and twenty minutes behind Cunard's Asia which, at the time, held the blue riband for the fastest trans-Atlantic voyage.[14] Atlantic's speed was very competitive for her time. Atlantic and the other Collins Line ships were more than just fast. They were among the most luxurious of their day. Consequently, traveling on them was more expensive than on lesser ships, one newspaper commenting that, "The superior comforts she offers will cause the extra $10 passage money to be disregarded."[15] The luxuries attracted the rich and famous. Among the notables to sail on Atlantic were singer Jenny Lind,[16] President Millard Fillmore,[17] President James Buchanan,[18] Vice President George M. Dallas,[19] Ambassador to France, John Y. Mason, Ambassador to Russia Thomas H. Seymour,[20] Gaetano Bedini, the first Papal Nuncio to the United States,[21] theater entrepreneur William Niblo,[22] and Philanthropist George Peabody.[23]
For most of her career with the Collins Line, Atlantic rotated with Pacific, Baltic, and Arctic in regular ocean crossings. She completed a round trip, including loading and unloading in New York and Liverpool in about a month. For the most part, these trips were uneventful, but within her first year she suffered a major breakdown. Atlantic left Liverpool on December 29, 1850, and soon encountered stormy weather and rough seas. On January 6, 1851, the drive shaft for her starboard paddlewheel broke, and in doing so, wrecked several related pieces of machinery before the engine was shut down. Her captain ordered the crew to send up the yardarms for her square-rigged sails hoping to sail to Halifax or New York. The wind turned contrary, however, and the ship was forced to sail back to Europe. She arrived in Cork, Ireland on January 22, 1851.[24] Her passengers were transferred to other ships, and Atlantic was towed to Liverpool for repairs.[25][26]
It took a half year to repair the ship. While waiting for her engine to be repaired, a new dining room, suitable for serving 200 guests, was constructed on the spar deck. The old dining room, one level down on the main deck, was converted into rooms for 80 additional passengers.[27] She arrived back in New York on August 3, 1851, to resume her monthly sailings,[28] and although she was withdrawn from service periodically for repairs and upgrades, Atlantic continued them with regularity through 1857.
Atlantic had a minor scrape on April 28, 1852, when she ran aground in a dense fog near Killmore. She was able to work her way back into deep water and arrived at Liverpool the next day.[29] She went aground again, this time on Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in March 1854. This was a particularly unlucky trip. While she floated off at high tide, she went aground again the next day after clearing customs in New York Harbor.[30]
The North Atlantic was typically stormy during the winter months, so while Atlantic might carry over two hundred passengers on a summer crossing,[31] there might be fewer than fifty willing to brave the discomfort and risk of a winter voyage.[32] Several winter sailings were delayed by ice on the Hudson River.[22]
The Collins Line suffered a number of setbacks in the mid-1850s. It lost Pacific and Arctic to shipwreck. In August 1856 Congress reduced the mail subsidy, which had risen to $858,000 per year, back to its original $385,000.[33] The surviving ships, Atlantic and Baltic, were worked hard for less profit. In March 1857, Atlantic was withdrawn from service for repairs and was replaced by a chartered ship which was slower and less luxurious, eroding the Collins Line's reputation for superior service.[34] Atlantic returned to service in late June 1857,[35] but she was becoming less attractive to customers. Newer vessels, such as Vanderbilt, were speedier.[36] On January 6, 1858, Atlantic returned to New York from Liverpool for the last time as a Collins Line steamer.[37][38] She had completed 55 trans-Atlantic roundtrips, the most of any of Collins' ships. The Collins Line was bankrupt.
On April 1, 1858, Dudley B. Fuller, acting on behalf of the Brown brothers, was the sole bidder for Atlantic, Baltic, and Adriatic at a sheriff's auction.[39][40] He bid only $50,000 which left various government and private creditors seeking recompense, mired in failed sale attempts and litigation for years.[41][42][43]
