Editing SS Great Britain (section)

===Australian service===

Antony Gibbs & Sons may have intended to employ ''Great Britain'' only to exploit a temporary demand for passenger service to the Australian goldfields following [[Victorian gold rush|the discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851]],{{sfn|Fletcher|1910|p=227}} but she found long-term employment on this route. For her new role, she was given a third refit. Her passenger accommodation was increased from 360 to 730, and her sail plan altered to a traditional three-masted, square-rigged pattern. She was fitted with a removable propeller, which could be hauled up on deck by chains to reduce drag when under sail power alone.<ref name=nathistships/>

In 1852, ''Great Britain'' made her first voyage to [[Melbourne]], Australia, carrying 630 [[Emigration|emigrants]]. She excited great interest there, with 4,000 people paying a shilling each to inspect her. She operated on the England–Australia route for almost 30 years, interrupted only by two relatively brief sojourns as a [[troopship]] during the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Indian Mutiny]].<ref name=nathistships>{{cite web|title=ss Great Britain |url=http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/76/ss-great-britain |publisher=National Historic Ships UK |access-date=15 March 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095645/http://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/76/ss-great-britain |archive-date= 2 April 2015 }}</ref> Gradually, she earned a reputation as the most reliable of the emigrant ships to Australia and carried [[English cricket team in Australia in 1861–62|the first English cricket team to tour Australia]] in 1861.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hit for six by elite sporting stars' trip on great iron ship |url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Hit-elite-sporting-stars-trip-great-iron-ship/story-11293374-detail/story.html |access-date=15 March 2015 |work=Bristol Post |date=3 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402091725/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Hit-elite-sporting-stars-trip-great-iron-ship/story-11293374-detail/story.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref>

Alexander Reid, writing in 1862, recorded some statistics of a typical voyage. The ship, with a crew of 143, put out from Liverpool on 21 October 1861, carrying 544 passengers (including the English cricket team that was the first to visit Australia), a cow, 36 sheep, 140 pigs, 96 goats and 1,114 chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. The journey to Melbourne (her ninth) occupied 64 days, during which the best day's run was 354&nbsp;miles and the worst 108. With favourable winds the ship travelled under sail alone, the screw being withdrawn from the water. Three passengers died en route. The captain was [[John Gray (master mariner)|John Gray]], a Scot, who had held the post since before the Crimean War.{{sfn|Reid|1862}}

On 8 December 1863, she was reported to have been wrecked on [[Santiago, Cape Verde|Santiago]], [[Cape Verde Islands]] whilst on a voyage from London to [[Nelson, New Zealand]]. All on board were rescued.<ref name=YH020164>{{Cite news |title=Loss of the "Great Britain" Steamship |newspaper=York Herald |location=York |date=2 January 1864 |issue=4756 |page=9 }}</ref>

Her passengers and crew witnessed a [[Solar eclipse of April 25, 1865|total solar eclipse in 1865]] while passing the coastline of Brazil en route from Australia to England;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brunel's SS Great Britain on Instagram: "#OTD in 1865 passengers witnessed a Solar Eclipse. 🌘 "Total eclipse of the sun, a clear sky and stars seen in daytime" –diary extract (author unknown) … #SSGreatBritain #SolarEclipse #Museum #Victorian #Brunel #Bristol #History" |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Crc1Vgat04F/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Instagram |language=en}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=April 2023}} they were able to observe [[Solar eclipse#Totality|stars in the daytime]].

On 8 October 1868 [[The Argus (Melbourne)|''The Argus'']] reported "To-day, at daylight, the fine steamship ''Great Britain'' will leave her anchorage in Hobson's Bay, for Liverpool direct. On this occasion she carries less than her usual complement of passengers, the season not being a favourite one with colonists desiring to visit their native land. ''Great Britain'', however, has a full cargo, and carries gold to the value of about £250,000. As she is in fine trim, we shall probably have, in due time, to congratulate Captain Gray on having achieved another successful voyage."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5829299/222813 |title=Untitled news|newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]|date=October 1868| page=5|via= [[National Library of Australia#Trove|Trove]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5829228 |title=Shipping Intelligence|newspaper=[[The Argus (Australia)]]|date= 8 October 1868| page=4|via= [[Trove]]}}</ref> Gray died under mysterious circumstances, going missing overnight during a return voyage from Melbourne, on the night of 25/26 November 1872.<ref name="Mercury">{{cite news|access-date=3 December 2017|title=Captain Gray of the S.S. Great Britain|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8917534 |work=The Mercury|date=3 January 1873|location=Hobart, Tasmania, Australia}}</ref><ref name="SSGB">{{cite web|title=Captain Gray's Disappearance|url=http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/blog/captain-grays-disapperance|publisher=SS Great Britain Trust|access-date=3 December 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204114520/http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/about-us/blog/captain-grays-disapperance|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 22 December, she rescued the crew of the British [[brig]] ''Druid'', which had been abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name=S281272>{{Cite news |title=Mercantile Ship News |newspaper=The Standard |location=London |date=28 December 1872 |issue=15105 |page=7 }}</ref> On 19 November 1874, she collided with the British ship ''Mysore'' in the [[Sloyne]], losing an anchor and sustaining hull damage.<ref name=DN211174>{{Cite news |title=Shipping Intelligence |newspaper=Daily News |location=London |date=21 November 1874 |issue=8916 }}</ref> ''Great Britain'' was on a voyage from Melbourne to Liverpool.<ref name=IMT211174>{{Cite news |title=Castletown and the South |newspaper=Isle of Man Times |location=Douglas |date=21 November 1874 |issue=708 |page=5 |volume=14 }}</ref>