By 1874, all the money for her completion was gone, and the ship was not yet ready for launching even after the Stevens family had spent $2,000,000 (USD) on her since proposing her in 1841. McClellan estimated that she would require another $450,000 (USD) just to reach a state where she could be launched, with more necessary to fit her out after that. No more money was available from the Stevens family, Robert and Edwin Stevens both were dead, and the last hope to make something out of the project was to sell the ship. A possible sale to Prussia fell through, and there were no other potential buyers.