1853 ENGLAND – HOLLAND SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLE
The Electric & International Telegraph Company contracted R.S. Newall & Company to manufacture and lay this cable from Orfordness, England to Scheveningen, Holland. Newall’s had a full order book and so the armouring of the core supplied by the Gutta Percha Company was carried out by the firm of Spencer & Thomas Ltd. 119½ nm of cable was supplied and the distance between the two landing places was 115 nm.
The Electric had purchased the commercial ship Monarch and converted her for cable work. The vessel picked up the cable in Sunderland and sailed down to Orfordness with the cable crew on board. The Admiralty loaned HMS Adder, commanded by Lt. E. Burstal, to assist. This vessel had placed buoys along the route and would lead Monarch during laying, as she was unable to use her compasses because of interference from the large mass or iron wire forming the cable armouring. Steam tug Goliath was hired by the company to provide assistance should Monarch have any problems. The shore end had been laid previously and the necessary connections had been made to the telegraph equipment housed in the Orfordness lighthouse. The shore end was spliced onto the cable aboard Monarch and the fleet set off from Orfordness at 9.00 am Monday 30 May with Monarch being towed by Goliath and HMS Adder leading the way. When it was realised that Monarch would be able to keep station without the aid of the tug the tow was cast off and the laying speed was gradually increased to 3½ knots. All went well until around 10.00 pm when the wind started to get up and by 11.00 pm it had reached gale force, accompanied by a rising sea. Goliath turned for home as the other two vessels carried on. The brake operator had to be lashed to his post and Monarch’s funnel stays had to be replaced after breaking. Adder signalled the sighting of each buoy by firing rockets and showing a blue light.
The crossing took thirty four hours of which twenty two were in rough seas and a gale. Attempts were made to take the shore end in on Wednesday but the sea was to heavy and it was postponed until Thursday. The first messages were passed over the line on Thursday afternoon. This was the first of four individual cables laid over this route in May, June, and September 1853, and September 1855. All consisted of 1 No. 16 BWG copper wire covered with gutta percha to No. 1 BWG, which was then taped, covered with yarn and armoured with 10 No. 8 BWG galvanised iron wires.
The Mechanic's Magazine, No. 1557 for Saturday, June 11, 1853, reported on the cable expedition as follows:
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Last revised: 28 October, 2017 |
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