Day in the United States. The ship's maiden voyage took place on 1 February 1872, from Liverpool to New York City, stopping at Queenstown. This trip damaged the ship; a rainstorm flooded the engine room and boiler room, and a lifeboat was damaged, seriously injuring a sailor. This incident led White Star Line to reconsider their routes, and they found that ships with the most freedom of movement rarely suffered damage. At the end of 1872, all six Oceanic class ships were in service, but White Star Line only required five. Ismay attempted to compete with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company on the line of the South Atlantic and the Pacific, destined for Chile. Republic was chosen to serve this route with two smaller mixed-liners, SS Asiatic and SS Tropic, and two other ships, SS Gaelic and SS Belgic. Faced with this offensive, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company attempted to construct a vessel capable of competing with Republic, the Tacora. Both ships participated in a race between Liverpool and Callao in October 1871; the Tacora was unable to travel beyond Montevideo, but Republic successfully completed the journey. Despite the success of the trip, Republic was placed back on the route to New York, while the South Atlantic and Pacific routes were cancelled, as they were too expensive. Reserve vessel In 1874, White Star Line had two modern ships produced, the SS Britannic and the SS Germanic. The Republic was deemed unnecessary for the regular service to New York and became a standby vessel for the company. Despite this, the SS Republic was used repeatedly in the future, whenever one of the modern vessels had to undergo repairs or maintenance. On 8 August 1875, she discovered the Norwegian barque Velox abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean. Some of her crew were put aboard with the intention of taking Velox in to Queenstown, County Cork. In February 1879, the ship was badly damaged after being struck on the River Mersey by schooner Ocean Queen. In December of the same year, the Republic faced rough seas during a crossing of the Atlantic, and its smokestack was damaged and had to be repaired by the crew. In December 1880, Republic was damaged and was meant to be towed by German steam vessel Mosel. This vessel did not have enough coal, but Republic managed to reach New York a few days later without assistance. On 9