History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |
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CS Restorer |
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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. 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. (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: C.S. Restorer
"The foregoing costs are, of course, on the assumption that no repairs are required in the deep water section of the cable. |
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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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