Great Eastern as an American Civil War troopship target

Could the U.S. Navy have intercepted Great Eastern if she carried British troops during the American Civil War?

Few Union ships could match her reported fourteen-knot speed, and an escorted wartime transport would be difficult to attack. The actual Quebec voyage took place while Britain was neutral.

After initially questioning whether Great Eastern had served as a troopship, the panel accepts a viewer's correction that she carried 2,000 troops to Quebec in 1861. Britain was neutral in the American Civil War at the time. At roughly fourteen knots, she would be difficult for most Union ships to catch. A high-value transport in a hostile scenario could also receive an escort such as Warrior or Black Prince. Union monitors were coastal fighting ships and did not offer a convincing open-water answer to those large seagoing British ironclads.