After leaving Savannah Harbor on May 22 and lingering at Tybee Lighthouse for several hours, "Savannah" commenced her historic voyage at 5a.m. on Monday May 24, under both steam and sail bound for Liverpool, England. At around 8a.m. the same day, the paddlewheels were stowed for the first time and the ship proceeded under sail. Several days later, on May 29, the schooner "Contract" spied a vessel "with volumes of smoke issuing", and assuming it was a ship on fire, pursued it for several hours but was unable to catch up. "Contract"'s skipper eventually concluded the smoking vessel must be a steamboat crossing for Europe, exciting his admiration as "a proud monument of Yankee skill and enterprise".