She was 160 feet long, by 44 feet broad, and 17¾ feet deep, of 363 tons burden. The Royal William sailed for London from Quebec on August 5^th, 1833, and arrived at Gravesend on September 16^th following a passage of over 40 days.

In June, 1838, another Royal William was chartered from the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company, and despatched from Liverpool by the Transatlantic Steamship Company to New York. She was built at Liverpool, by Wilson. The engines were made by the firm of Fawcett, Preston and Co., of the same place, and were side-levers of 276 nominal horse-power, having cylinders 48½ inches in diameter, and 5½ feet stroke. The paddle-wheels were 24 feet diameter, and her speed was about ten knots an hour. This was the first real passenger steamer to cross the Atlantic, and also the first steamer to sail from Liverpool (on July 5^th, 1838). She was also the first to be divided into watertight compartments by iron bulkheads, of which she had four. When in New York, on the first voyage, she was advertised for the homeward passage in the papers as follows:

After making a few passages across the Atlantic, she was returned to her owners, in whose possession she remained as a coal hulk until about four years ago (1888), when she was sold for the sum of £11. Some idea of this vessel's size may be found from the following table, giving her dimensions as compared with one of the powerful English tugboats of today: