History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network
1864 Algeria-France Cable (via Spain)
(unsuccessful)
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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |
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1864 Algeria-France Cable (via Spain) |
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| In 1864 the French Government made a further attempt
to lay a cable between France and Algeria, the European mainland terminal
being in Spain. The cable was made by Siemens and Halske of England using
a construction different from previous cables; this was also the company's
first cable-laying expedition as an independent cable company.
The cable was made with a conductor consisting of 3 copper strands [1], a first insulation layer of caoutchouc [2], followed by a gutta percha layer [3], two layers of hemp cord saturated with tar and laid crosswise to each other [4, 5], and an outer sheath of flexible copper strips [6] resembling fish scales. Phosphor copper was used for resistance to corrosion by sea water. The total diameter of the cable was 13mm (0.5"). The shore ends of the cable used standard iron wire armouring instead of the copper. In a further break from normal practice, the cable was not stowed in horizontal coils in the hold, but was paid out from a reel mounted vertically. A failure in the paying out mechanism caused the cable to break during the first attempt at laying it. A second attempt was made, but the cable broke again, and after the failure of the third attempt in September 1864 the cable was abandoned. Part of the cable was recovered and laid between Bona, Algeria, and Marsala, Sicily, in 1866. Information from Haigh and from Nouveau Traité de Télégraphe Electrique (1867) |
Copyright © 2007 FTL Design
Last revised: 1 May, 2007
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