For thousands of years, sailors had no choice. If the wind stopped blowing, their ships stopped moving. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean could take months, depending on weather and currents. Then steam engines changed everything. A ship called the SS Sirius set out to prove that steam alone could cross the Atlantic. It burned coal to heat water into steam, and the steam powered the engine that turned the paddle wheels. The voyage was not easy. The Sirius ran low on fuel near the end. The crew reportedly burned spare wood to keep going. On April 23, 1838, the ship arrived in New York Harbor after eighteen days at sea. Just hours later, a larger ship called the SS Great Western pulled into port. The race between these two ships proved that transatlantic steam travel was not just possible -- it was reliable. Within a few decades, steamships replaced sailing vessels on ocean routes. The crossing time dropped from weeks to days. This made immigration faster and trade more predictable than ever before.