The Navy by then was losing interest in the ship. By 1861, it had spent $500,000 (U.S.) on the project, and the Stevens family had spent another $228,435 (U.S.). That year, Edwin Stevens and his brother John C. Stevens offered to pay for completion of the ship themselves if the Navy would agree to pay for the ship if it was completed and proved successful, but a Navy board rejected the offer, finding deficiencies in the project. It was not clear when the ship would be completed, and in 1862 Edwin Stevens estimated that it would take another $730,484 (U.S.) just to complete the ship enough for to be launched.