The Landing of the Cable by the 'Great Eastern' Friday July 27 1866. On Friday, 13 July 1866, theGreat Eastern, by far the largest ship afloat, left Valentia, Ireland , with 2730 nautical miles of cable in her hold. Fourteen days later 1852 miles of this cable lay at the bottom of the ocean, the ship was at anchor in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and the old and new worlds were in permanent telegraphic communication. CyrusWestField(1819 1892) was an American businessman and financier who, alongwithother entrepreneurs, created the Atlantic Telegraph Company and laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858.