 "California" left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America, and arrived at San Francisco, California after a 4-month 21-day journey.SS "Great Eastern" was built in 1854–1857 with the intent of linking Great Britain with India, "via" the Cape of Good Hope, without coaling stops; she would know a turbulent history, and was never put to her intended use.The years leading up to the Civil War were characterized by extremely rapid production in ship building.