150th Anniversary of the First Cable Message from Europe to America

16 August 2008

The 82c stamp, designed by Irish illustrator Vincent Killowry, depicts an image of HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagra, the two ships involved in successfully laying the cable connecting Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Knightstown on Valentia Island. 

In August 1858, on his third attempt, Cyrus W. Field finally managed to lay the cable which allowed Queen Victoria transmit the first public message to James Buchanan, President of the United States.  The transmission of 99 words took over 16 hours and was the cause of much celebration until it failed some weeks later. 

While the communication was slow it relied on the ability of the telegraph operator to translate the message which was transmitted through Morse Code, a sequence of dots and dashes.

In 1857 Field’s first attempt failed when the cable snapped approximately 200 miles from land.  With a replacement cable he tried again in June 1858 but a violent storm almost sank the Agamemnon and days later its cable snapped.  The cable, before it failed, allowed only one transmission at a time and wasn’t replaced until 1866 when a better cable of higher quality was laid.  It wasn’t until the invention, in 1874, of the quadruplex that two messages could be transmitted concurrently.  

The stamp can be purchased at the GPO Philatelic Shop (01-705 7400), selected post offices nationwide or from www.irishstamps.ie and post offices on Valentia Island.