The bow raked boldly forward, flaring gracefully, and was ornamented with a beautiful carved female figure with forks of lightning playing around She was very sharp, with a long, clean run tapering like that of a pilot boat.

[2] Commanded by Captain Little, Ocean Telegraph took part in a race from New York to San Francisco in 1859–60 against Great Republic.

[6] In 1862 she sailed from San Francisco to Queenstown[clarification needed] with a cargo of Peruvian guano.

In 1863 James Baines & Co. of Liverpool bought Ocean Telegraph for £7,060 for their Black Ball Line of packet ships, chiefly to sail between London, Australia and New Zealand.

[9] With the Black Ball Line, commanded by Captain Henry Evans, Light Brigade took migrants from London to Brisbane, Queensland in 1863; British troops and their families to Auckland, New Zealand, in 1864 from both Calcutta and Rangoon in British India, and from London, for the New Zealand Wars in two separate voyages.

[3] On this last trip Captain Evans died in Brisbane 10 days before the ship sailed again for London in April 1871 with a mixed cargo of exports from Queensland.

On the first trip The Brisbane Courier described her as "a smart looking full-rigged ship, admirably adapted for the conveyance of passengers and migrants, the various compartments for their accommodation being both roomy and well ventilated.

"[13] Also on the first trip it was decided that she not travel down to Brisbane but that she return with cargo from Keppel Bay to London.

[citation needed] Each time Light Brigade sailed to Australia and New Zealand in this period she carried about 400 passengers, mail and general cargo.

Most of her passengers for Lyttelton, Sydney, Brisbane, and Keppel Bay were assisted migrants – labourers, domestic servants, and tradespeople for the settlements there.

[1][14] In 1875 Achilles Wood Wright & Co acquired Light Brigade and registered her in Cork, Ireland.

[15] By 1876 the Cork Harbour Docks and Warehouses Company had acquired her, and her rig had been reduced to a barque.

There are discrepancies about Light Brigade's ownership between her entries in Lloyd's Register and the Mercantile Navy List.

In February 1883 Light Brigade reached Queenstown, Virginia 19 days out of New York, leaking badly.

In 1884 the Mercantile Navy List records a James F Gibb of London as her main owner.

[28] The Mercantile Navy List last records her in 1923, still owned by the British Coal Co, and still registered in Gibraltar as a barque.