There were a number of ships which were used to lay telegraphic cables to Australia as well as in and around Australian waters and the Pacific. Details and images of some of these are presented below (together with a snapshot of the Great Eastern)..
The cable ships referenced below are:
An Eastern Extension Australasia and China Telegraph Company cable ship. In 1871, Eastern Extension (under the name of The China Submarine Telegraph Company) used the Agnes and two other ships to lay the Singapore-Saigon-Hong Kong cable. In November 1876, she laid the second cable across Cook's Strait in New Zealand after which she also remained on repair duties based in New Zealand. |
In 1901, the Anglia laid the 417 nm cable from Durban to Mauritius and then continued with the 2,157 nm Mauritius-Rodriguez-Cocos cable. The Anglia, which laid the first sections, had already coupled a large number of cables in different parts of the world but was specially built for this Durban service. |
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The Edinburgh was not a large ship - its largest tank being 32 feet in diameter. Cable laying in relation to Australia and the Pacific:
After that, the Edinburgh remained as the repair ship. |
C. S. Faraday - two ships with the same name.
The first C. S. Faraday was purpose designed and built for Siemens Bros. to lay the Atlantic cable in 1874 (Rye Beach, New Hampshire, USA - Tor Bay, Nova Scotia - Ballinskelligs, Ireland). She had a length of 360 feet and was of 5,052 gross tons. The two funnels were placed side by side and the bow and stern were of similar design which gave the vessel a unique appearance In 1909, the Faraday laid the Tasmanian cable from Flinders to Port Dalrymple, George Town. This was her only Australian/Pacific/Far East operation.
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The first C. S. Faraday. |
The second C. S. Faraday was built in 1922-23 as a replacement for the first. She was 415 feet in length and of 5,622 gross tons. She was owned by Siemens Brothers and retained by them after a merger with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company to form Submarine Cables Ltd.
In 1926, the Faraday laid the duplicate Fanning Island - Fiji cable after which she returned to Sydney for 30 days until the cable was taken over and then loaded general cargo to return to London. This was her only Australian/Pacific/Far East operation. On 25 March 1941, the Faraday received instructions to join a convoy of 25 ships which were due to leave Falmouth for Milford Haven. Due to severe weather, only five ships, including Faraday, sailed but they soon lost contact with each other due to poor visibility. Faraday came under attack at about 7.45 pm from a Heinkel 111 which dropped two bombs and strafed the ship with machine gun fire killing eight of the crew and injuring twenty five. The bombs exploded in the oil bunkers causing a serious fire and the crew abandoned ship which eventually ran aground off St Anne´s Head. The Heinkel was shot down by Faraday´s gunners. The wreck of the Faraday now lies in depths of water between 5 and 16 meters under the cliffs at Hoopers Point, Pembrokeshire. |
The second C. S. Faraday. |
The dynamometer and the stern sheaves on the after deck. |
The Hibernia was a large ship of 3,000 tons and had three tanks 30 feet in diameter and 26 feet in depth. Each tank held approximately 450 miles of cable. In 1870, the C.S. Hibernia laid the cable from Singapore to Batavia and then, in 1871, both the Hibernia and the C. S. Edinburgh laid the 1,082 nm cable from Banjoewangie to Darwin cable. In 1876, the newly formed Eastern Extension company used both the Hibernia and Edinburgh again to lay the 1,283 nm cable from Sydney to Wellington, New Zealand. In 1877, the Hibernia worked with the C. S. Kangaroo to lay the Burma-Rangoon-Penang cable. |
The Investigator is a smart looking iron clipper of 700 tons gross and 569 tones register. She was built on the Tyne at Mitchell and Co.'s yard, and is of exceedingly strong proportions, her ribs being only 20 in. apart. The Investigaor measures 204 feet in length with a 28 feet beam and a depth of hold of 16 feet. She is propelled by a screw and her engines, which are on the inverted double acting principle, were made and fitted by T. D. Marshall, of Shields. They are of 160 horse power nominal and in moderate weather the speed attained by the vessel is between seven and eight knots. A greater rate of speed could be accomplished but for the insufficient oiler accommodation. She is also fitted up with steam appatatus for condensing water at the rate of 1200 gallons per diem. The Investigator, when quite a new craft, was purchased by the home Government during the time of the Crimean war to convey railway plant to the scene of operations in the Crimea. Subsequently she was purchased by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and came to Tasmania under their auspices in 1869 to lay the second Tasmanian-Victorian cable. She was then transferred to the West Indian and Panama Telegraph Company. The Investator was commanded during her Tasmanian visit by Captain D. Cruikshank, a brother of the late Mr. Andrew Rose Cruikshank, who was well known in commercial circles in Tasmania as one of the promoters of the National Bank and a partner in the then firm of Dalgety, Cruikshank. and Co. |
In 1871, the C. S. Kangaroo, in concert with the Agnes, Belgian and the Minia laid the important Singapore-Saigon-Hong Kong cable. In 1877, the Kangaroo worked with the C. S. Hibernia to lay the Burma-Rangoon-Penang cable. In 1884, the Kangaroo laid the Tonkin-Hue-Saigon-Hong Kong cable working with the C. S. Calabria. |
The Cocos-Batavia cable was laid in 1908 by C.S. Patrol. |
In 1879, the C. S. Seine, in conjunction with the C. S. Edinburgh, laid the second Banjoewangie to Port Darwin cable. |
The H.M.C.S. Victoria laid the cable in 1859 from Victoria to Tasmania in conjunction with the Omeo.