During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people.

The four liners were built for the newly created Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, commonly referred to as the White Star Line.

[1] Her primary propulsion was a four cylinder compound condensing steam engine producing 600 horsepower (450 kW) driving a single propeller giving her a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph).

En route, the ship encountered heavy seas and gale force headwinds, which slowed her progress to a crawl.

The ship's engines had to work harder than normal to maintain forward progress, and this resulted in increased coal consumption.

Unbeknownst to the crew or passengers, winds and currents had put Atlantic 12.5 miles (20.1 km) off-course to the west of the harbour.

[7] On the approach to harbour, Captain Williams decided to sleep, and put the ship in command of the Second Mate Henry Ismay Metcalfe, with instruction that he be awoken at 3 am.

[6] At 3:15 a.m. local time on 1 April 1873, the lookout spotted the white foam of breaking waves and shouted "Breakers ahead!

[8][9][10] Atlantic rode up onto the rocky ledge at near full speed, coming to a complete stop, and was pounded on the rocks several times, shattering some iron hull plates, before slipping backward and heeling to starboard.

The ship rapidly filled with water and partially capsized, gradually settling on the shallow seabed, and heeling over to an ever-increasing angle.

[12] By 6 am, Brady had made contact with the local residents of the tiny fishing villages of Lower Prospect and Terence Bay, and they sent out three boats to rescue people from the rock and those who remained clinging to the ship itself.

A diving company from New York sent equipment to the wreckage to salvage as much as possible of ship and cargo, and to recover the bodies of the drowned.

On 11 May 1873, the Norwegian newspaper Morgenbladet reported that they had blown open the wreck, and had recovered lots of goods, and 349 bodies.

"She was about twenty or twenty-five years old and had served as a common sailor for three voyages, and her sex was never known until the body was washed ashore and prepared for burial.

The first, by the Canadian government, was highly critical of Captain Williams, mainly on the grounds that he had failed to take frequent soundings on the approach to Halifax, and concluded with the statement, "the conduct of Captain Williams in the management of his ship during the twelve or fourteen hours preceding the disaster, was so gravely at variance with what ought to have been the conduct of a man placed in his responsible position.

The White Star Line was also criticised, due to allegedly not providing sufficient coal, something which the company denied.

However, after an appeal by the White Star Line, this was revisited, and a careful analysis showed that Atlantic did indeed have sufficient coal for the journey to New York.

And, that at the time the vessel's course was altered for Halifax, there still remained sufficient coal to have taken her to New York and to leave 70 tons in the bunkers, even if the weather did not improve.

[20] P. G. Wodehouse wrote a story in 1921 called The Girl on the Boat in which six chapters of the romance take place on a White Star liner named Atlantic, crossing from New York to Southampton.