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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network

CS Cyrus Field
by Bill Glover

CS CYRUS FIELD

CS Cyrus Field

Built 1924 by Chantiers et Ateliers de St Nazaire.

Length 223.6 ft.  Breadth 34.2 ft.  Depth 16.6 ft.  Gross tonnage 1288

Designed by J.W. Millard and Brother, naval architects based in New York. Fitted with three cable tanks. No 1; 19 ft by 6 ft 6 in; No 2; 27 ft by 5 ft 6 in; No 3; 23 ft by 7 ft. Nos. 1 and 2 were placed forward under the lower deck. No 3 was sited aft on top of the shaft tunnel, the hatch opening onto the upper deck.

Duplex paying out-picking up gear was installed, having been originally fitted in the Minia. The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company supplied the machinery. Three 3 ft bow sheaves were fitted, but stern laying machinery was not installed.

Based at Halifax, Nova Scotia throughout her working life. Sold for scrap in July 1966, arriving at La Spezia in December 1966 for breaking up.

CS Cyrus Field and ship's cutter dismantling a Western Union buoy.
Artist unknown, from a postcard courtesy of Ken Smith


Site visitor Bob McTague has provided these photos taken on July 16th 1937 by his grandparents. As they spent their summers at Green Harbor (Marshfield, MA), he believes that CS Cyrus Field might have been involved in cable operations at nearby Duxbury. Although there is no definite record of this work, Rouse's Hummock at Duxbury Beach is where the 1869 French cable to Brest was landed.

The captions below are written on the back of each photo.

July 16, 1937
SS “Cyrus Field,” Halifax
Western Union Cable Ship

Chief-officer of the cable ship “Cyrus Field”
pulls in the cable at the Hummock

One of the crew of the cable ship “Cyrus Field”

Last revised: 17 April, 2020

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