Built for Cable & Wireless for cable maintenance.
Based at Manila, Philippines for the maintenance of cables in the Indian
Ocean and South East Asian waters. Fitted with diesel electric propulsion
supplied by English Electric. Also fitted with a Voith-Schneider transverse
propulsion unit and a bow rudder to improve manoeuvrability, as well as
three cable tanks with a coiling capacity of 30,000 cubic feet.
Johnson
& Phillips supplied all the cable machinery, which consisted of
a forward paying out-picking up machine which could be used to pay out
astern if required. Three 7.0 ft diameter bow sheaves and a stern chute
were fitted. The ship could stay at sea for up to six weeks and had a
range of 6000 miles. Transferred to Global Marine Systems Ltd in 1999.
Withdrawn from service and scrapped in 2002.
CS Cable Enterprise (2) at Vigo, 1976
Image courtesy of David Griffiths
Pathé News Film of CS Cable Enterprise (2) in 1964 (no sound)
CS Cable Enterprise (2) ship’s badge
Image courtesy of David Howard
ANZCAN laid shore ends at Port Alberni, Fiji
and Hawaii
1999
JIH Cleared over 1800 km of old cable over a
period of 160 days prior to the laying of the Japan Information Highway
network of cables.
CS Cable Enterprise (2) moored astern of Subsea Viking
in the Port of Victoria, BC, Canada
Football at Vigo
David Griffiths sends these photo of the CS Cable Enterprise football team at Vigo in 1977 (additional IDs by Jeff Shenstone and David Howard):
Top Row: Clive McClure (3rd Eng) - Malcolm Chase (2nd Elect) - Spanish Crew? - Don Taylor (Cable Eng) - Tony Howbrigg (Chief Eng -Spanish Wife) - Allan Morgan (2nd Eng) - Tony Myers (Purser Mr. 10%).
Bottom Row: Spanish Crew? - David Griffiths (Snr Elect) - Glyn Wrench (2nd Mate) - Bert Porter (Mate) - John Connolly (Cable Officer)
Top Row: Mike Farn (Deck Officer) - Keith Dommett (4th Eng) - Don Taylor (Cable Officer [Liverpool]) - ?? - Paul Money - ?? - John Neal (Captain).
Bottom Row: John Connolly (Cable Officer) - Bob Owen (3rd Eng) - David Griffiths (Snr Elect) - Allan Etherington (4th Eng) - Jeff Shenstone (Cable Officer) Allan Morgan (2nd Eng).
In its issue of February 1970, the Cable & Wireless house magazine Zodiac published these notes:
It is probably true to say that the Eastern Telegraph staff at Vigo was the first to introduce football to Spain. In 1893 or even earlier they were playing matches against local sides when, outside Vigo, there were few who even knew of the existence of the game, and as early as 1903 the Faro de Vigo was regularly reporting on the matches played in the Malecon.
In return for the introduction of what was then a friendly sport, the local male population became a recruiting ground for the crews of the Company’s cable ships, and many a man from Vigo or the neighbouring villages of Chapela and Redondela served therein and their sons very often followed suit.
As one cable ship Commander said, "They are invaluable both for their toughness at their work and the fact that they are magnificent seamen. There are cases where we have both fathers and sons on the same ship."
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