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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 Restorer
by Dirk van Oudenol

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C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 1

After its arrival home, inspection of Restorer's main engines and cable gear showed them to be badly in need of repair. An extensive refit was ordered, and was not completed until August of 1949. It was not until February of 1950 that she went south again, with a partial crew of 50 on a short trip. The CPCC found it could no longer absorb the cost of its war severed lines in the Orient, and on 31/12/1950, all but three of the crew were paid off. These three were the Master (Thacker now replacing Connelly who had gone to another ship), the Chief Engineer (Maxwell Short) and the Plant Engineer, and the ship was retired to anchor in Esquimalt. At this time it should be noted the ship's Gross Tonnage was officially listed as 3189, up from the original 3180. It is assumed this was accounted for by the weight of the steel used in the cabins added amidships, minus the weight of the huge auxiliary sail spar.

Future of Commercial Pacific Cable Company, 6/10/1950

The comments that follow are in response to various points outlined in letter dated 13/6/1950 from Mr. F. Lansbury, Secretary of Cable and Wireless Limited, to Mr. A. H. Ginman, Montreal, and are presented for the information and consideration of the shareholders and the Board of Directors of Commercial Pacific Cable Company.
As Mr. Ginman will retire from the Board of Directors of the Company, he referred the letter to Major Fred N. Oliver, who has been selected as his successor. Major Oliver sent to us a copy of the letter during the latter part of July. Since then, in Order to familiarize Major Oliver with pending matters, we have from time to time furnished him with certain data requested in the letter from Mr. Lansbury. A copy of Mr. Lansbury's letter is Attachment No. 1 herewith. Copies of our letters to Major Oliver are included herewith and reference made thereto in various sections of this Statement as "Attachments".

The request for a "Full survey of the facts as regards C.P.C.C." has required considerable time in preparation in a more or less orderly manner. The letter from Mr. Lansbury covers three main topics, namely 1. Japan 2. Expenditures 3. Future of C.P.C.C. These topics will be taken up in reverse order, since the last one - "Future of C.P.C.C." - covers a wide range and our comments with respect thereto will be more extensive.

At the request of Major Oliver we furnished him on 14/8/1950, with an estimate of our income account for the year ending 31/12/1950. It is included in this survey as Attachment No. 14.

It is also considered desirable to include in this survey a resume of the history of the capital structure of the Company as well as a few remarks with regards to the Reserve for Depreciation (or General) Fund Securities. Reference is therefore made to Attachments Nos. 15 and 16 in connection with those topics.
F. Flynn
President.

(NOTE: Only subsections III. and VI. of Section 3. above are of interest here.)

III. Essential Repairs

It is assumed that this caption refers only to unusually large expenditures that are written off to current maintenance expense or amortized in monthly amounts during a designated period; further, that it does not refer to normal month-to-month expenses for repairs and renewals to cable operating apparatus and associated equipment, buildings, etc., which are reflected in the maintenance expenses group in the Company's statement of income and expenses. With the foregoing statements a premise, there are two major items that should be presented here for consideration.

1. Cable Ship Restorer Repairs

The Company is faced with substantial expenditure to put the C.S. Restorer in operational and seaworthy condition in order that the usual certificates may be obtained from Lloyds and the United States Coast Guard.

During the attempted repair to the Midway-Guam section in 1948 it became apparent that the existing brakes on the cable machinery were quite inadequate for such depths. A recommendation was therefore made by our Plant Engineer that hydraulic brakes be installed to enable the ship to make repairs in depths of 3000 fathoms. Subsequently some minor repairs were made to the cable machinery and the ship made a repair to the same section early in the current year, but not at the same great depth as the 1948 interruption. However, the Commander of the C.S. John W. Mackay, who accompanied the 1950 expedition, reported that the Company would be taking serious risk to life and property in undertaking a deep water repair again unless hydraulic brakes were installed.

Competitive bids now on hand for all foreseeable repair work based on specifications prepared by Gibbs & Cox, Consulting Marine Engineers, whose representative made an inspection of the Restorer, indicate the cost thereof by the lowest bidder will be approximately $127,000. This includes the manufacture and installation of hydraulic brakes in the amount of $56,000.

To this estimate must be added the cost of any repairs necessitated by a detailed inspection by representatives of Lloyds and the U. S. Coast Guard. During the inspection by Lloyds, the Company is obliged to strip certain portions of the deck to permit the inspectors to examine the shell or deck plating that cannot be seen until it is uncovered. Thus the expense under survey embraces not only the designated repairs to steel construction, but also the replacement of parts torn out for inspection of the steel work.

It can be seen, therefore, that until the hidden parts of a ship are opened up for inspection, there is no reliable way of deciding what additional repairs are necessary. It is also impossible to estimate in advance the cost of such repairs. However, based on experience with other cable ships, our Plant Engineer has roughly estimated that the survey will call for an additional expenditure of approximately $50,000. The total cost is therefore estimated at $177,000.

It should be noted that if the repair program is authorized, the Company will have a ship available for another four-year period on which no extensive or costly routine repairs will have to be made.

The discussion of any repairs that may be authorized to the C.S. Restorer should, it would seem, be covered here as "Essential Repairs". However, as the letter from Mr. F. Lansbury dated 13/6/1950 (Attachment No. 1) provides a separate caption for the cable ship, the foregoing comments should be read in connection with those made on pages 24-30 hereof.

2.Guam-Bonin Cable Section Repairs

The Guam-Bonin section has not been operated by the Company since early December 1941 when war started in the Pacific area, and its actual present day condition is unknown. If cable operations are resumed with Japan, the line must of course be repaired. The following statement and estimates of repair cost are taken from a recent report by the Plant Engineer. "From tests taken by Guam on this cable it appears there may be three breaks a short distance from that station as follows:
(a)Approximately 5 n.m. from Guam in about 500 fathoms of water.
(b)Approximately 2 n.m. from Guam in about 250 fathoms of water.
(c)Approximately on the reef close to the landing.
"These may actually resolve into no more than one break (with (a) and (b) just a gradual breaking down of resistance of (c) over a period of time). For the purpose of computing repair costs we should, however, consider there are three interruptions close to Guam.
"There is also a known very low resistance fault close to the cable landing at Chichi Jima.
"Between the above fault and the interruptions, or interruption off Guam, the condition of the main portion of the Guam-Bonin cable is unknown, it may be complete or on the other hand it may have one or more breaks. This section, practically in its entirety, lies in deep water, at one place going down to a depth of 2750 fathoms. To charter the C.S. Store Nordiske (II), a shallow water vessel for the restoration on the assumption that this main portion of the cable is complete would not be sound policy and it is suggested that C.S. Restorer be employed in her stead.
"The following are particulars and estimated costs for both vessels:

C.S. Restorer

Victoria to Guam
4,888 nauts
 
Guam to Bonin
900 nauts
 
Bonin to Victoria
4,950 nauts
 
Total
10,738 nauts
 
at 12.5 knots, say,
859 hrs
 
or, say,
36 days
 
For cable work allow
7 days
 
For contingencies allow
7 days
 
Total
50 days
at $2,050 per day $102,500
Cable 1 n.m. AA2 type  
6,800
3 n.m. B type  
4,800
Total repair cost per C.S. Restorer
 
$114,100


C.S. Store Nordiske (II)

Hong Kong to Guam
1,822 nauts
 
Guam to Bonin
900 nauts
 
Bonin to Hong Kong
1,700 nauts
 
Total
3,422 nauts
 
at 10 knots, say,
345 hours
 
or, say,
14 ½ days
 
For cable work allow
7 days
 
For contingencies allow
4 ½ days
 
Total
26 days
at $1,800 per day $46,800
Cable 1 n.m. AA2 type  
6,800
3 n.m. B type  
4,800
Total repair cost per C.S. Store Nordiske (II)
 
$58,400

"The foregoing costs are, of course, on the assumption that no repairs are required in the deep water section of the cable.
"It is doubtful whether C.S. Store Nordiske could supply any of the required cable listed above; C.S. Restorer has sufficient for the purpose."
NOTE: There are three known interruptions in the section from Bonin (Chichi Jima) to Kamakura, which the Japanese have agreed to repair at their own expense.

Main Menu
| Home | Contact Email | Prologue | 1901 - 1904 | Joint Reports 1903 - 04 | Early Operations | First World War | Peace | Second World War | 3rd Naval Armed Guard Report | Winter Cable Laying | 11th Naval Armed Guard Report | Peace Again | Home And Back To Work | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 1 | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 2 | Services Rendered by C.S. Restorer | The End For C.S. Restorer|

Copyright © 2006 Dirk van Oudenol

Last revised: 22 July, 2006

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