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Former Undersea Telegraph Cable
A relic of a bygone era, these undersea cables once formed the vital arteries of communication beneath the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. They carried the ephemeral whispers of telegraph messages, a technology now largely relegated to history's dusty archives. While these specific cables lie dormant, their legacy lives on in the modern transatlantic telecommunications cables that now carry the torrents of telephone calls and digital data.
The Audacious First Attempt: The Atlantic Telegraph Company
The genesis of this ambitious undertaking can be traced back to the Atlantic Telegraph Company, a venture spearheaded by the indomitable Cyrus West Field. The initial grand plan, hatched in 1854, was to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable, stretching from Valentia Island, a rugged promontory off Ireland's west coast, to Bay of Bulls in Trinity Bay, [Newfoundland].
The inaugural spark of communication ignited on August 16, 1858. The very first official telegram to traverse this nascent intercontinental link was a missive of congratulations from Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom to President of the United States James Buchanan. A moment pregnant with promise, yet tragically short-lived. The cable’s performance was, to put it mildly, abysmal. Signal quality deteriorated with alarming speed, reducing transmission rates to a crawl, barely functional. The final blow came after a mere three weeks, when Wildman Whitehouse, in a desperate, misguided attempt to accelerate communication, applied an excessive voltage. It’s debated whether faulty manufacturing, improper storage, or careless handling would have doomed the cable regardless, but Whitehouse’s actions certainly hastened its demise. [2] This ignominious end shattered public and investor confidence, casting a long shadow over subsequent attempts to bridge the Atlantic with wires.
The Triumphant, Yet Harrowing, Second Wave
The year 1865 saw a renewed assault on the Atlantic's depths, this time with materials deemed superior. The monumental task fell to the SS Great Eastern, a colossus of engineering conceived by John Scott Russell and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and captained by the resolute Sir James Anderson. Fate, however, had other plans. More than halfway across the ocean, the cable succumbed to the immense pressures, snapping and eluding all attempts at recovery. [3]
But the spirit of perseverance, or perhaps sheer stubbornness, prevailed. In July 1866, a third cable was laid from the Anglo-American Cable house on the Telegraph Field at Foilhommerum. On July 13, the Great Eastern embarked on its westward journey, its destination Heart's Content, Newfoundland. By July 27, a successful connection was established and put into service. Astonishingly, the engineers also managed to retrieve and splice the broken 1865 cable, effectively creating two operational lines. [4] These cables proved their mettle, offering remarkably reliable and swift communication. The slogan "Two weeks to two minutes" emerged, starkly highlighting the seismic improvement over dispatches sent by ship. The impact was profound, irrevocably altering personal, commercial, and political relationships across the Atlantic. From 1866 onwards, a permanent cable connection between the continents became a reality.
The Dawn of Multi-Message Transmission
The 1870s ushered in further advancements with the implementation of duplex and quadruplex transmission systems. These ingenious innovations allowed for the simultaneous relay of multiple messages over a single cable, a significant leap from the single-message limitations of earlier technology. [5] Before the advent of these undersea cables, communication between Europe and the Americas was a glacial affair, entirely dependent on the vagaries of sea travel, often delayed for weeks by the brutal onslaught of winter storms. The transatlantic cable, however, collapsed this temporal chasm, enabling message and response within the same day.
Early Stirrings of a Grand Idea
The concept of an undersea Atlantic cable wasn't a sudden revelation; it simmered in the minds of several visionaries throughout the 1840s and 1850s. Individuals like Edward Thornton and Alonzo Jackman had, in their own ways, championed the idea. [6]
As early as 1840, Samuel F. B. Morse, the pioneer of telegraphy, had voiced his firm conviction in the feasibility of a submarine line spanning the Atlantic Ocean. By 1850, a cable had already been successfully laid between England and France. It was in that same year that Bishop John T. Mullock, the influential head of the Catholic Church in Newfoundland, proposed a daring network: a telegraph line cutting through the dense forests from St. John's to Cape Ray, supplemented by cables arcing across the Gulf of St. Lawrence from Cape Ray to Nova Scotia via the Cabot Strait.
Around the same time, a strikingly similar vision materialized in the mind of Frederic Newton Gisborne, a telegraph engineer based in Nova Scotia. In the spring of 1851, he secured a grant from the Newfoundland legislature and, upon forming a company, commenced construction of the landline.
The Grand Design Takes Shape
The critical juncture arrived in 1854 when Cyrus West Field, a businessman with an unshakeable belief in grand projects, met with Gisborne. This encounter ignited Field's imagination, expanding Gisborne's Newfoundland-centric scheme into the audacious proposition of extending the cable across the entire Atlantic Ocean.
Field, though possessing immense drive, was notably ignorant of the intricacies of submarine cables and the profound depths of the deep sea. He sought counsel from Samuel Morse and Lieutenant Matthew Maury, a recognized authority on oceanography. Maury's meticulously compiled charts, derived from soundings taken from numerous ships, revealed a remarkably feasible route across the Atlantic. This stretch of seabed appeared so ideal for cable laying that Maury christened it the Telegraph Plateau. Significantly, Maury's charts also indicated that a more direct route to the United States would be fraught with rugged terrain and considerably longer. [7] Embracing Gisborne's plan as a foundational step, Field established the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, with the ambitious goal of creating a telegraphic bridge between America and Europe.
The immediate priority was to complete the landline between St. John's and Nova Scotia, a task undertaken by Gisborne and Field's brother, Matthew. [8] In 1855, an attempt was made to lay a cable across the Gulf of Saint Lawrence via the Cabot Strait. The cable was paid out from a barque being towed by a steamer. Disaster struck when a fierce gale arose, forcing the crew to cut the cable to prevent the barque from capsizing. Undeterred, a steamboat was outfitted for the purpose in 1856, and the crucial link from Cape Ray, Newfoundland, to Aspy Bay, Nova Scotia, was successfully laid. [9] The project's cumulative cost had already surpassed $1 million, with the transatlantic segment promising to be significantly more expensive. [10]
Field, a man of relentless energy, embarked on his first of 56 Atlantic crossings in 1855, [11] to confer with John Watkins Brett, the preeminent authority on submarine cables of the era. Brett's own Submarine Telegraph Company had pioneered the laying of the first ocean cable across the English Channel in 1850. Furthermore, his English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company had laid a cable to Ireland in 1853, then the deepest cable ever submerged. [12] Beyond technical consultation, Britain was the sole source of commercial submarine cable manufacturers, [8] and Field had found little financial backing for his grand endeavor in New York. [10]
Field propelled the project forward with astonishing speed and determination. Even before formally establishing a company, he placed an order for 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) of cable from the Gutta Percha Company. [10] The Atlantic Telegraph Company was officially formed in October 1856, with Brett assuming the presidency and Field the vice-presidency. Charles Tilston Bright, already working under Brett, was appointed chief engineer, and Wildman Whitehouse, a medical doctor with a self-taught expertise in electrical engineering, became the chief electrician. Field himself personally contributed a quarter of the required capital. [14] The remaining shares were quickly subscribed, largely by existing investors in Brett's company, [15] and an unpaid board of directors was assembled, which notably included William Thomson, the future Lord Kelvin, a scientist of considerable repute. Thomson also served as a scientific advisor. [10] Morse, a shareholder in the Nova Scotia project and acting as an electrical advisor, also joined the board. [16]
The First Transatlantic Cable: A Monumental Endeavor
The cable itself was a marvel of Victorian engineering, though ultimately flawed. It comprised seven copper wires, each weighing 26 kg/km (107 pounds per nautical mile), insulated with three layers of gutta-percha – a suggestion credited to Jonathan Nash Hearder [17]. This insulation was then sheathed in three coats of gutta-percha weighing 64 kg/km (261 pounds per nautical mile), and further encased in tarred hemp. The final protective layer was a helix of 18 strands, each consisting of 7 iron wires. The finished product tipped the scales at nearly 550 kg/km (1.1 tons per nautical mile), offering a degree of flexibility and capable of withstanding considerable tension, several tens of kilonewtons (several tons).
The cable, as manufactured by the Gutta Percha Company, was armored by wire-rope makers, following the established practice of the time. However, the urgency to proceed meant that only four months were allocated for its production. [18] This compressed timeline proved insurmountable for any single wire-rope manufacturer. Consequently, the immense task was divided between two English firms: Glass, Elliot & Co. of Greenwich and R.S. Newall and Company of Birkenhead. [19] A critical flaw was discovered late in the manufacturing process: the strands in the two batches had been twisted in opposite directions. [20] This seemingly minor discrepancy meant the two sections could not be directly spliced wire-to-wire, as the iron wires in both cables would inevitably unwind when subjected to the tension of laying. [21] A makeshift solution, involving an improvised wooden bracket to secure the wires, was employed to splice the sections, [22] but the error had already generated negative publicity for the already precarious project. [20]
The British government offered crucial support, providing a subsidy of £1,400 annually (£170,000 in today's currency) and loaning ships essential for cable laying and support. Field also sought assistance from the U.S. government, introducing a bill for a subsidy in Congress. The bill’s passage was a nail-biting affair, scraping through the Senate by a single vote, largely due to the opposition of protectionist senators. It eventually passed the House of Representatives despite similar resistance and was signed into law by President Franklin Pierce.
The Fraught Expeditions of 1857 and 1858
The initial attempt in 1857 proved to be a complete failure. The cable-laying vessels were the converted warships HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagara, generously loaned by their respective governments, as neither ship alone could accommodate the 2,500 nautical miles of cable. [23] The operation commenced on August 5, 1857, at the white strand near Ballycarbery Castle in County Kerry, on Ireland's southwest coast. [24] The cable snapped on the very first day but was successfully grappled and repaired. A second breakage occurred over the formidable Telegraph Plateau, at a depth of nearly 3,200 m (10,500 ft), forcing the abandonment of the expedition for the year. While 300 miles (480 km) of cable were lost, the remaining 1,800 miles (2,900 km) were still theoretically sufficient to complete the task. During this tumultuous period, Morse's relationship with Field soured irrevocably; he was removed from the board and played no further role in the enterprise. [25]
A transatlantic telegraph flag, a symbol of the era's ambition. [26]
The persistent cable breakages were primarily attributed to the difficulty in controlling the cable tension with the braking mechanism during the laying process. A new, improved mechanism was designed and rigorously tested aboard the Agamemnon in the Bay of Biscay during May 1858. [27] On June 10, the Agamemnon and Niagara set sail once more. Ten days into the voyage, they encountered a severe storm, threatening to scuttle the entire endeavor. The ships, top-heavy with cable that could not be fully stowed in the holds, battled the tempestuous seas, struggling to maintain stability. The storm left ten sailors injured, and Thomson's electrical cabin was inundated with water. [28] The vessels reached the mid-Atlantic on June 25, where they spliced together the cable sections from the two ships. The Agamemnon then commenced paying out eastward towards Valentia Island, while the Niagara headed westward towards Newfoundland. [21] The cable fractured again, this time after less than 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi), then approximately 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) out, and finally for a third time when roughly 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) of cable had been deployed from each vessel.
The expedition was forced to return to Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland. While some directors advocated for abandoning the project and liquidating the cable, Field, with his characteristic tenacity, persuaded them to persevere. [22] The ships set out for a third attempt on July 17, and the mid-ocean splice was completed on July 29, 1858. This time, the cable laid smoothly. The Niagara arrived in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland on August 4, and the following morning, the shore end was successfully landed. The Agamemnon reached Valentia Island on August 5, where the shore end was brought ashore at Knightstown and connected to the nearby cable house. [29]
The First Whispers Across the Deep
A congratulatory telegram to President Buchanan, marking the successful completion of the first transatlantic cable in 1858.
The Telegraph Field on Valentia Island, Ireland, stands as a silent witness to the earliest telegraphic messages transmitted from Ireland to North America. In October 2002, a memorial was erected atop Foilhomerrum Cliff to commemorate the laying of this groundbreaking transatlantic cable to Newfoundland.
A jubilant parade on Broadway, celebrating the monumental achievement on September 1, 1858.
Test messages began flowing from Newfoundland on August 10, 1858. The first successful reception was confirmed at Valentia on August 12 and in Newfoundland on August 13. A series of further test and configuration messages followed, culminating on August 16 with the transmission of the first official message via the cable:
Directors of Atlantic Telegraph Company, Great Britain, to Directors in America:—Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good will towards men. [30] [31] [32]
This was swiftly followed by the text of a congratulatory telegram from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan, dispatched from his summer retreat at the Bedford Springs Hotel in Pennsylvania. The message expressed hope that the cable would serve as "an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem." The President’s eloquent reply declared: "It is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of Heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world." [33]
The deciphering of these messages proved a considerable challenge. Queen Victoria's 98-word message took a laborious 16 hours to transmit. [30] [34] Despite this, the achievement ignited an explosion of public euphoria. The following morning, a 100-gun salute thundered through New York City, streets were adorned with flags, church bells pealed, and the city was illuminated at night. [35] A grand parade on September 1 was followed by an evening torchlight procession and a spectacular fireworks display that, unfortunately, ignited a fire in the Town Hall. [36] In recognition of his pivotal role, Bright was knighted, the first such honor bestowed upon an individual in the telegraph industry. [37]
The Cable's Swift Demise: Conflict and Catastrophe
The operation of the 1858 cable was marred by a bitter rivalry between two key figures: William Thomson and Wildman Whitehouse. Whitehouse, a medical doctor by profession, had developed an intense fascination with the burgeoning field of electrical technology, abandoning his medical practice to pursue this new passion. Lacking formal training in physics, his understanding was purely empirical. The two men clashed even before the project commenced, notably when Whitehouse publicly disputed Thomson's law of squares at a British Association meeting in 1855. Thomson's law predicted a severely attenuated transmission speed due to an effect known as retardation. [38] To ostensibly test this theory, Bright granted Whitehouse overnight access to the extensive underground lines of the Magnetic Telegraph Company. [39] Whitehouse interconnected several lines to approximate the transatlantic distance and confidently declared that no significant issues would arise. [40] Morse, present at this demonstration, sided with Whitehouse. [41] Thomson, however, remained unconvinced, believing Whitehouse's measurements were flawed and that underground and underwater cables behaved fundamentally differently. [42] Thomson argued that a more substantial cable was necessary to counteract the retardation effect. In mid-1857, acting independently, he examined copper core samples of purportedly identical specifications and discovered resistance variations of up to twofold. Nevertheless, with cable manufacture already in progress and Whitehouse advocating for a thinner cable, Field opted for the more economical choice. [23]
Another point of contention revolved around the deployment strategy. Thomson advocated for commencing the cable laying from the mid-Atlantic, with the two ships proceeding in opposite directions, thereby halving the transit time. Whitehouse, conversely, insisted that both ships travel together from Ireland, allowing for continuous communication with the base in Valentia via the cable. [23] Whitehouse's preference was followed during the 1857 voyage, but Bright eventually persuaded the directors to approve a mid-ocean start for the subsequent 1858 expedition. [28] Whitehouse, as chief electrician, was expected to be present on the cable-laying vessel. However, he repeatedly found reasons to avoid the voyage, including the 1857 attempt, the trials in the Bay of Biscay, [43] and both of the 1858 attempts. [28] In 1857, Thomson was dispatched in his stead, [23] and in 1858, Field diplomatically assigned the two men to separate ships to mitigate conflict. Yet, with Whitehouse consistently evading the journey, Thomson proceeded alone. [28]
Thomson's mirror galvanometer, a revolutionary instrument for detecting faint electrical signals.
Thomson's experience on the 1857 voyage illuminated the urgent need for a more sensitive method of detecting the telegraph signal. While awaiting the next planned voyage, he devised his groundbreaking mirror galvanometer, an instrument of unprecedented sensitivity. He requested £2,000 from the board to construct several units, but was granted only £500 for a single prototype and permission to test it on the upcoming voyage. [43] This device proved exceptionally adept at discerning the subtle positive and negative pulses that constituted Morse code's "dash" and "dot" – the standard transmission method for submarine cables, as both pulses possessed equal duration, unlike in overland telegraphy. Thomson believed his instrument could detect signals transmitted at the low voltages typical of standard telegraph equipment, even across the vast expanse of the Atlantic cable. He successfully tested it on 2,700 miles (4,300 km) of cable stored underwater in Plymouth. [43]
The mirror galvanometer became yet another point of contention. Whitehouse favored a fundamentally different operational approach, [44] intending to drive the cable with a powerful high-voltage induction coil, capable of generating several thousand volts. This, he believed, would provide sufficient current to operate the standard electromechanical printing telegraphs used for inland communications. [45] Thomson's instrument, requiring visual interpretation and incapable of printing, was viewed with skepticism by Whitehouse. It would take another nine years before Thomson developed the syphon recorder for the second transatlantic attempt in 1866. [46] The decision to commence operations in the mid-Atlantic, coupled with Whitehouse's continued absence, left Thomson aboard the Agamemnon sailing towards Ireland with an unfettered opportunity to utilize his equipment without Whitehouse's interference. Although Thomson held the status of a mere advisor to engineer C. W. de Sauty, all electrical decisions were soon deferred to him. Whitehouse, remaining in Valentia, stayed out of contact until the ship docked in Ireland and the cable was landed. [47]
Around this period, the board began to harbor serious doubts regarding Whitehouse's consistently negative and obstructive demeanor. His frequent clashes with Thomson, coupled with his critical stance towards Field and his repeated refusal to perform his primary duty as chief electrician aboard the ship, created a profoundly negative impression. With Morse's departure, Whitehouse lost his sole advocate on the board, [48] yet no decisive action was taken at that juncture. [43]
Cable Compromised: Whitehouse Dismissed
Wildman Whitehouse, the chief electrician whose actions contributed to the cable's failure.
Upon the Agamemnon's arrival at Valentia on August 5, Thomson handed operational control back to Whitehouse, and the project was triumphantly announced to the press as a success. Thomson had consistently received clear signals throughout the voyage using his mirror galvanometer. However, Whitehouse immediately connected his own apparatus. The cumulative effects of the cable's poor handling and design, combined with Whitehouse's persistent attempts to drive voltages as high as 2,000 volts through the cable, severely compromised its insulation. Whitehouse attempted to conceal the cable's deteriorating performance, communicating his findings with deliberate vagueness. The highly publicized anticipation of the inaugural message from Queen Victoria, which failed to materialize promptly, led to press speculation about underlying problems. Whitehouse eventually announced that five or six weeks would be needed for "adjustments." The Queen's message had indeed been received in Newfoundland, but Whitehouse was unable to decipher the confirmation copy transmitted back. Finally, on August 17, he claimed receipt. What he omitted to mention was that the message had only been successfully received via the mirror galvanometer after he had finally abandoned his own equipment. Whitehouse then had the message re-entered into his printing telegraph locally, allowing him to transmit a printed tape and falsely imply it had been received through that means. [49]
In September 1858, following several days of progressive insulation breakdown, the cable failed completely. [50] The public reaction was one of intense outrage and disbelief. Some commentators openly suggested the entire endeavor was a fabrication, a mere stock-market manipulation. Whitehouse was summoned before the board for an investigation, and Thomson returned to Valentia, tasked with reconstructing the events that Whitehouse had so deliberately obscured. Whitehouse was ultimately held responsible for the failure and dismissed. [51] While it's plausible the cable might have eventually failed due to inherent flaws, Whitehouse's actions undoubtedly accelerated its demise. The cable proved particularly vulnerable in the initial hundred miles from Ireland, where sections of the older, poorly manufactured 1857 cable had been spliced into the new lay. Examination of samples revealed instances where the conductor was significantly off-center, rendering it susceptible to piercing the insulation under the mechanical stresses of laying. Tests conducted on cable samples submerged in seawater demonstrated their fragility. While perfectly insulated samples could withstand thousands of volts, a sample with a minuscule pinprick hole "lit up like a lantern" under test, and a larger hole resulted in the insulation being burned through. [52]
Despite its ultimate failure to enter public service or function reliably, the 1858 cable did facilitate a limited number of transmissions beyond mere testing. The collision between the Cunard Line ships Europa and Arabia was reported on August 17. The British Government utilized the cable to countermand an order for two regiments stationed in Canada to embark for England, resulting in a saving of £50,000. In total, 732 messages were successfully transmitted before the cable ceased to function. [37]
Preparing for a New Dawn: The Second Attempt
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Field, however, remained undeterred by the catastrophic failure. His eagerness to resume the work was met with widespread public skepticism, and his attempts to revitalize the company proved fruitless. It wasn't until 1864 that, with the crucial support of financiers like Thomas Brassey and John Pender, he managed to secure the necessary capital. The Glass, Elliot, and Gutta-Percha Companies merged to form the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company (Telcon, later absorbed into BICC), which assumed responsibility for both the manufacture and laying of the new cable. C. F. Varley took over as chief electrician, replacing Whitehouse. [1]
In the interim, significant advancements had been made with the submersion of long cables in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. This accumulated experience led to the design of a substantially improved cable. The core consisted of seven twisted strands of exceptionally pure copper, weighing 300 pounds per nautical mile (73 kg/km). This was coated with Chatterton's compound, followed by four layers of gutta-percha, interspersed with four thin layers of the compound to cement the entire structure. The insulating layer alone now weighed 400 lb/nmi (98 kg/km). The core was then enveloped in hemp saturated with a preservative solution. Finally, eighteen single strands of high-tensile steel wire, manufactured by Webster & Horsfall Ltd of Hay Mills, Birmingham, were wound helically around the hemp, each strand itself covered with fine threads of manila yarn steeped in the preservative. The total weight of this new, robust cable was 35.75 long hundredweight (4000 lb) per nautical mile (980 kg/km) – nearly double the weight of its predecessor. The Haymills facility produced an impressive 26,000 nautical miles (48,000 km) of wire (equivalent to 1,600 tons), a feat accomplished by 250 workers over an eleven-month period.
The Great Eastern and the Second Cable: A Tale of Resilience
The new cable was entrusted to the colossal SS Great Eastern, under the command of Sir James Anderson. [53] Her immense hull housed three iron tanks capable of holding 2,300 nautical miles (4,300 km) of cable, and her decks were equipped with the necessary paying-out gear. At noon on July 15, 1865, the Great Eastern departed from the Nore en route to Foilhommerum Bay, Valentia Island, where the shore end was laid by the cable ship Caroline. This attempt met with failure on August 2 [54] when, after 1,062 nautical miles (1,967 km) had been deployed, the cable snapped near the stern of the ship, and the severed end was lost to the depths. [55]
The Great Eastern returned to England, and Field, undeterred, issued another prospectus, successfully forming the Anglo-American Telegraph Company. [56] This new entity was dedicated to laying a fresh cable and, crucially, recovering and completing the broken 1865 line. On July 13, 1866, the Great Eastern commenced her second attempt. Despite challenging weather conditions on the evening of Friday, July 27, the expedition reached the harbor of Heart's Content, Newfoundland, enveloped in a dense fog. Daniel Gooch, chief engineer of the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, who was aboard the Great Eastern, dispatched a triumphant message to Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: "Perfect communication established between England and America; God grant it will be a lasting source of benefit to our country." [57] The following morning at 9 a.m., a message from England cited a leading article from The Times: "It is a great work, a glory to our age and nation, and the men who have achieved it deserve to be honoured among the benefactors of their race." The shore end was landed at Heart's Content Cable Station later that day by the Medway. Congratulations poured in, and further friendly telegrams were exchanged between Queen Victoria and the United States. [58]
A grappling hook – the tool that would ultimately rescue the lost cable.
In August 1866, a fleet of ships, including the Great Eastern, set sail once more with a singular objective: to locate and retrieve the lost cable from 1865. Their mission was to find the severed end, splice it to a new cable, and complete the circuit to Newfoundland. [59] Their determination was fueled by the precise location recorded by Captain Moriarty, R. N., who estimated the lost cable's end to be at longitude 38° 50' W. [60]
The challenge was immense: locating a cable lying 2.5 miles (4.0 km) below the surface was akin to finding a needle in a continent-sized haystack. Yet, Robert Halpin, the first officer of the Great Eastern, skillfully navigated HMS Terrible and the grappling ship Albany to the precise coordinates. [61] The Albany, using a five-pronged grappling hook attached to a stout rope, painstakingly trawled the seabed. On August 10, success! The Albany snagged the cable and brought it to the surface. However, disaster struck again during the night as the cable slipped from its buoy moorings, forcing a restart of the arduous process. This frustrating cycle repeated several times, the cable slipping after being secured, a testament to the treacherous conditions and the sheer difficulty of the task. In one harrowing incident, a sailor was thrown across the deck when the grapnel rope snapped and recoiled. The Great Eastern and another grappling vessel, the Medway, joined the search on August 12. It took more than a fortnight, into early September 1866, before the cable was finally secured on board the Great Eastern after a grueling 26-hour operation. The recovered cable was meticulously examined in the electrician's room, and its continuity confirmed. [ clarification needed ] The salvaged cable was then spliced to a fresh length stored in the ship's hold and laid towards Heart's Content, Newfoundland, where the Great Eastern arrived on Saturday, September 7. Two operational telegraph lines now spanned the Atlantic. [4]
The Intricate Art of Cable Repair
Repairing a broken undersea cable was an elaborate undertaking. The approximate location of the break was first determined by measuring the cable's electrical resistance. The repair ship would then navigate to the estimated position, hook the cable with a grapple, and bring it aboard for testing of electrical continuity. Buoys were deployed to mark the ends of the intact cable segments, and a splice was meticulously made to reconnect the two ends. [62] [63]
The Pace of Progress: Communication Speeds
Initially, messages were transmitted using Morse code by human operators. The reception quality on the 1858 cable was notoriously poor; it took a agonizing two minutes to transmit a single character (a letter or number), translating to a mere 0.1 words per minute. This was despite the use of the highly sensitive mirror galvanometer. Queen Victoria's inaugural message, though received in Newfoundland, took 67 minutes to transmit, and the confirmation copy sent back to Whitehouse in Valentia required a staggering 16 hours. [45]
By the time of the 1866 cable's deployment, significant improvements had been made in both cable manufacturing and message transmission techniques. The 1866 cable could relay messages at a rate of 8 words per minute, [64] an astonishing 80-fold increase over its predecessor. Later, in the decades that followed, scientists like Oliver Heaviside and Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin would elucidate the principles governing cable bandwidth, explaining how an imbalance between capacitive and inductive reactance caused severe signal dispersion and distortion – a phenomenon addressed by the use of iron tape or load coils. It wasn't until the 20th century that transatlantic cable transmission speeds would even approach 120 words per minute. London, meanwhile, ascended to become the global epicenter of telecommunications. Eventually, no fewer than eleven cables radiated from Porthcurno Cable Station, near Land's End, forming, with their Commonwealth connections, a "live" girdle around the world – the legendary All Red Line.
Subsequent Cables and Technological Evolution
Additional cables were laid between Foilhommerum and Heart's Content in 1873, 1874, 1880, and 1894. By the close of the 19th century, a complex web of telegraphic communications, comprising British-, French-, German-, and American-owned cables, linked Europe and North America. [ citation needed ]
The earliest cables lacked repeaters, devices that could have potentially mitigated the retardation problem and significantly increased operational speeds. Repeaters amplify the signal at intervals along the line. While relays served this purpose for land-based telegraph lines, there was no practical method for powering them within a submarine cable environment. The first transatlantic cable to incorporate repeaters was TAT-1 in 1956, which was a telephone cable employing a different repeater technology.
The Profound Impact: Connecting Continents
A study published in the American Economic Review in 2018 revealed the substantial economic impact of the transatlantic telegraph. It demonstrated that the cable significantly boosted trade across the Atlantic and led to a reduction in prices. The study estimated that the efficiency gains derived from the establishment of the telegraph connection amounted to approximately 8 percent of the export value. [65]
There. Satisfied? It’s all there, the facts, the dates, the names. But perhaps, if you squinted, you could see the sweat, the desperation, the sheer, stubborn will of men trying to conquer the impossible. It’s rarely just about the wires, you know. It’s about what drives people to lay them.