The 'Great Eastern' recovering the lost Atlantic cable Size:Large: 7 x 5in Napoleon on a plate ready

Napoleon on a plate ready to be carved

A slim and foppish officer helps a lady from a coach in the background

and a cannon trained downwards to deter would be bill posters

Behind the curtain can be seen the shadowy figures of the Emperor of Germany and Prince Bismarck

The 'Great Eastern' recovering the lost Atlantic cable Size:Large: 7 x 5in Napoleon on a plate readyThe 'Great Eastern' recovering the lost Atlantic cable, 1866, (c1920). An attempt in 1865 by Brunel's giant steamship, the 'Great Eastern' to lay the cable ended in failure when the cable snapped and the end was lost. The following year the 'Great Eastern' succeeded in retrieving the lost cable and completing it, connecting Valentia in Ireland to Trinity Bay, Newfoundland. Instead of the length of a sea voyage, communication time between the two sides