The first attempt, in 1857, was a failure. The cable-laying vessels were the converted warships HMS "Agamemnon" and USS "Niagara" borrowed from their respective governments. Both ships were needed as neither was sufficient to hold 2,500 miles of cable alone. The cable was started at the white strand near Ballycarbery Castle in County Kerry, on the southwest coast of Ireland, on August 5, 1857. The cable broke on the first day, but was grappled and repaired; it broke again over the Telegraph Plateau, nearly 3,200 m (2 statute miles) deep, and the operation was abandoned for the year. 300 miles of cable had been lost, but the 1,800 miles remaining was still sufficient to complete the task. Also in this period, Morse clashed with Field, was removed from the board, and took no further part in the enterprise.