The Story of the Atlantic CableBright, Charles, Sir
History
The Story of the Atlantic Cable
Bright, Charles, Sir
Transatlantic cables
In 1894 yet two more additions were made to the list of Atlantic
cables--one on behalf of the Commercial Cable Company, and the other for
the "Anglo-American" Company. The new "Commercial" line was constructed
and laid by Messrs. Siemens Brothers, and the "Anglo" cable by the
Telegraph Construction Company. Fig. 43 shows the type adopted for the
deepest water of the latter, and Fig. 44 that for the shore ends. Here
the wires, besides being of a very large gauge, are applied with an
extremely short lay (hence the elliptic appearance, though circular in
reality), in order to increase the weight of iron, and thereby avoid
shifting and abrasion. This type is now in constant use where rocks,
ice-floes, strong currents, or rough weather are experienced. Special
arrangements were made in the design of both these cables to meet the
requirements of increased speed. Since the successful application to
submarine cables of various modifications of Wheatstone's automatic
transmitter, the limit to the speed attainable only depends, practically
speaking, upon the type of cable employed. On these principles the core
of the new "Commercial" cable was composed of a copper conductor
weighing 500 pounds per nautical mile, covered with a gutta-percha
insulating-sheath weighing 320 pounds per nautical mile, while the new
"Anglo" has a core with conductor weighing 650 pounds per nautical mile,
and gutta-percha insulator 400 pounds per nautical mile, involving a
completed cable (main type) nearly double the weight of previous
corresponding lines.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Anglo-American Atlantic Cable (1894): deep-sea
type.]
[Illustration: FIG. 44.--Shore-end of the 1894 "Anglo" Cable. Reduced
size.]
The actual speed obtained by automatic transmission with the latter
cable is as high as forty-seven (or even up to fifty) five-letter words
per minute. On the previous, lighter, Atlantic cores twenty-five to
twenty-eight words per minute was the usual maximum speed attainable;
the former, say, by average transmission and average receiving, and the
latter by automatic transmission--other circumstances corresponding.
Practically all submarine cables between important points--and certainly
all those across the Atlantic--are now "duplexed"--a system of
electrical working (instituted by Messrs. Muirhead in 1875) which
enables messages to be sent in both directions at the same time. The
result of this is nowadays to practically double the carrying capacity
and earning power of the line, the effective speed in either direction
remaining virtually the same as in "simplex" working, provided the cable
is in good condition.[73] The armor of this cable (Fig. 43) is also a
good example of present-day practise, each wire (usually covered with
compounded tape) butting against the next; this is found to be the most
durable form for a deep-sea cable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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