Cyrus W. Field was the dominant figure in the first transatlantic telegraph cable, completed in 1858. The cable was laid across the ocean floor between Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and Valencia, Ireland. Queen Victoria sent to U.S. President James Buchanan the first official transatlantic message. Current running through the cable was so weak that 67 minutes were required to send the 90-word message. The cable's insulation failed three weeks later. Field used the largest steamship of its time, the Great Eastern, finally to lay a new cable in 1866. Transatlantic telephone transmission was not achieved until 1956. The first transatlantic fiber optics cable, completed in 1988, is able to carry 40,000 calls simultaneously.