THE SHIPS H.M.S AGAMEMNON AND U.S.S. NIAGARA LAYING THE TRANS-ATLANTIC CABLE

In 1857, the British government fitted out Agamemnon to carry 1,250 tons of telegraphic cable for the Atlantic Telegraph Company's first attempt to lay a transatlantic cable. Although this initial attempt was unsuccessful, the project was resumed the following year and Agamemnon and her U.S. counterpart, USS Niagara, successfully joined the ends of their two sections of cable in the middle of the Atlantic on 29 July 1858.