Great Eastern First Atlantic Crossing Begins
The giant steamship undertook its first voyage across the Atlantic to New York.
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
Great Eastern Steamship Company Biography and Timeline
Follow Great Eastern Steamship Company through 13 dated historical records for Great Britain.
Great Eastern Steamship Company, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
13Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1860–1889Years on this page
1860
Great Eastern Arrives In New York
The ship's arrival attracted great interest because of its unprecedented dimensions and capacity.
1861
Great Eastern Civil War Passenger Traffic
The vessel carried passengers during transatlantic voyages undertaken at the start of the American Civil War.
1862
Great Eastern Atlantic Storm Damage Sustained
The vessel suffered serious damage during severe Atlantic weather and required extensive repairs.
1864
Great Eastern Cable Ship Conversion Begins
The enormous steamship was adapted for transporting and laying a transatlantic telegraph cable.
1865
Great Eastern Begins Atlantic Cable Expedition
The vessel sailed to deploy a new submarine telegraph cable between Europe and North America.
Atlantic Cable Expedition Fails Midway
A cable fault and loss of the line prevented completion of the 1865 laying attempt.
1866
Great Eastern Lays Successful Atlantic Cable
The ship completed the installation of a working telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean.
Lost Atlantic Cable Retrieved And Completed
The vessel recovered the cable abandoned during the previous attempt and finished another working connection.
1869
Great Eastern Used For Cable Laying
The large ship continued service in the developing global submarine telegraph network.
1870
Great Eastern Undertakes Indian Ocean Cable Work
The former passenger liner participated in long distance undersea telegraph cable operations toward the Indian Ocean.
1885
Great Eastern Withdrawn From Cable Service
The vessel's career as a specialised cable laying ship ended after years of technically important work.
1889
Great Eastern Breakup Completed
The giant ship was dismantled after failing to secure lasting commercial success as a passenger vessel.
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.