History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network
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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |
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Cableship Stamps - A |
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to Bill Glover for providing the stamp images and text for this page.
All material on this page is copyright © 2005 Bill Glover |
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HMS AGAMEMNON Guinea Bissau 1976 2p Built 1852, Royal Naval Dockyard, Woolwich (London) Length 266 ft Breadth 55 ft Depth 24 ft Gross tonnage 3100 90 gun ship of the line which fought in the Crimean war. Fitted with twin screws as well as sail. Loaned by the Royal Navy to lay the half of the 1857 and 1858 Atlantic submarine telegraph cables manufactured by Glass, Elliot and Co. USS Niagara was loaned by the US government to lay the half manufactured by R.S. Newall & Company. CABLE WORK 1857 Valencia (Ireland) - Trinity Bay
(Newfoundland) {Failed due to loss of cable}
Eire 2008 82c HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagara mid ocean, preparing to lay the 1858 Atlantic Cable. |
Ascension 1988 18p Built 1961, Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Length 417 ft Breadth 54.7 ft Depth 22.6 ft Gross tonnage 6413 Owned by the General Post Office and then British Telecom Marine when privatised. Based at Southampton for maintenance of Atlantic cables. Scrapped in 1995 when Cable & Wireless took over British Telecom Marine. CABLE WORK 1961 CANTAT 1 Corner Brook - Grosses Roches,
Canada section |
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ALSACE Monaco 1965 95c Senegal 1965 60f Built 1939, Chantiers & Ateliers de St Nazaire Length 288.1 ft Breadth 39.9 ft Depth 17.6ft Gross tonnage 2092 Cable repair ship owned by the French PTT. Laid up in Algiers 1939 - 1942 then based at Dakar relieving CS ARAGO. Based at La Seyne sur Mer after the WW2 to maintain Mediterranean cables. Sold for scrap in 1974 CABLE WORK 1957 Marseilles - Algiers |
AMPERE (2) Senegal 1977 80f Built 1930, Ste Provencale, La Ciotat Length 300.4 ft Breadth 41.1ft Depth 23.7ft Gross tonnage 2434 Cable repair ship owned by the French PTT. Fitted with stern sheave on port side. Based at La Seyne sur Mer maintaining Mediterranean cables until 1939. Taken over by the Germans in 1942 and scuttled by them in Marseilles harbour in 1944 CABLE WORK 1931 Marseilles - Bizerta |
%20France%2020+5c%201960.jpg) AMPERE (3) France 1960 20+5c Built 1951, Chantiers de Normandie, Grand Quevilly Length 299 ft Breadth 41.4ft Depth 16.8 ft Gross tonnage 2100 Cable repair ship owned by the French PTT. Based at La Seyne sur Mer for the maintenance of French Atlantic cables. Kept in service until 1983. It was intended to preserve the ship as a Telecommunications Museum at La Seyne sur Mer, but this idea was abandoned and the ship was scrapped in 1985. CABLE WORK 1956 Tunisian coast Qelibia - Bou Ficha |
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Ascension 1979 3p, 8p 1999 15p Cocos (Keeling) Is 1985 65c Nauru 1977 7c, 20c St Helena 1999 30p Built 1898, Vickers Ltd, Barrow in Furness Length 467 ft. Breadth 54.25 ft. Depth 27 ft. Gross tonnage 6514 Cable laying ship owned by the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company and sold by them in 1906 to T.W. Tamplin & Company for commercial trading and renamed ITONUS. Sunk by torpedo in 1916 when owned by the British India Steam Navigation Company. CABLE WORK 1899 Cape Town - St Helena |
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Barbados 1972 10c Built 1952, Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd Length 318.3 ft. Breadth 41.2 ft. Depth 19 ft. Gross tonnage 2530 Built for and owned by Cable & Wireless used for cable repairs. Named after a C&W chairman, Sir Stanley Angwin. Three tanks with a capacity of 18,850 cubic feet of cable were fitted. Three bow sheaves of 3'6" diameter were fitted, but no stern sheaves. Based at Singapore where she relieved CS RECORDER (2) and used for cable repairs. In service until March 1971 when she was laid up. Sold for scrap in May 1972 to Belgian shipbreakers. See also the main page for the STANLEY ANGWIN. |
FRANCOIS ARAGO New Caledonia 1993 200f Built 1882, Sunderland Ship Building Company Length 320 ft. Breadth 42.4 ft. Depth 28 ft Gross tonnage 3342 Owned originally by W.T. Henley Telegraph Works and named CS WESTMEATH. Chartered in 1887 to La Societe des Telegraphes Sous-Marin to lay cables in the Antilles. Sold in 1892 to La Societe Industrielle des Telephones and renamed FRANCOIS ARAGO. Sold out of the cable world in 1914 to La Compagnie Francaise de Marine et Commerce and then renamed PERONNE CABLE WORK 1892 Marseilles - Oran |
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Qatar 1971 2d Built 1939, Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd Length 251.6 ft. Breadth 35.25 ft. Depth 16.3 ft. Gross tonnage 1479 Owned by the GPO. Built primarily as a cable repair ship. But also used to lay short cables. Sold in 1976 when replaced by CS MONARCH (5) CABLE WORK 1940 Jersey - Pirou See the Cableships
page on Ariel |
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Last revised: 12 March, 2013 |
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