Cable ships


	Cable ships

A cable ship is specialized in laying, lifting and maintenance of underwater cables for telecommunications (formerly telegraphs, now telephone and internet) or for electric power transmission, this activity expanding with the development of marine wind turbines. She may be equipped with special equipment or underwater robots to drive interventions on cables. 99% of telephone communications and transfers of intercontinental data goes through the underwater cables. Today 486 underwater cables crisscross the seabed, representing 1.3 million of kilometres. 4 countries have the largest fleets with one cable industry: the United States, Japan, France (Orange Marine that’s 15% of the world’s fleet) and the UK. The danger of damage comes from trawlers at 90 percent but also from natural phenomena or biological or certain human activities (Russian cargo in the Baltic) But these ships can also be used for other one-off missions.

The first international underwater cable was installed in the Handle in 1851 by a steam tug turned into a cable: the GOLIATH, 31,40m long. The first transatlantic cable permanently used (4 200 km) was laid in 1865 by the GREAT EASTERN, a former transatlantic passenger ship, converted in 1864.

French cable ships

In 1887, the Society of Underwater Telegraphs chartered WESTMEATH, 97.53 long built in 1882 by Sunderland Ship Building Company, to lay cables in the West Indies. In 1892, She was renamed FRANÇOIS ARAGO In 1893, the installation of the telegraphic underwater cable is carried out between Ouaco, New Caledonia and Bundaberg, Queensland in Australia, a country that was connected to North America by Canada. This cable remained in service until 1923. The ship was sold in 1916. Torpedoed by a German submarine, she sinks into the Channel.

EMILE BAUDOT was built in 1917 at Swan Hunter near Newcastle (England). Commissioned by the Post administration to ensure the installation and the maintenance of the underwater telegraph cables, she measured 67.82 m of long,. Based in Havre, she used to work mainly in the English Channel and the Atlantic until 1939. Requisitioned by the French Navy in Brest, during the hostilities, Emile Baudot is seized by the English in Plymouth in 1940. After the war, Emile Baudot will be returned to France and will resume cable activities until 1962. John Maurice Emile Baudot (1845-1903) was a telegraphy engineer. He is the inventor of the Baudot code, a binary system for transmitting information, used by the teletypewriters. In tribute to Emile Baudot, a part of its name designates the modulation unit of the signal: the Baud.

ALSACE launched at Normandy yards on 20 June 1939, sailed on 17 June 1940 for her first campaign. Charged to repair the cable Brest-Fayol-New York, she sails to Dakar, then Casablanca where she stayed eleven months, forced to Inactivity by the shortage of fuel oil. At the end of 1941, she sailed for Algiers. On the Allied landings, her activities resume in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. She was disarmed in 1973 in Brest and demolished.

In 1951, coming from Normandy yards, AMPERE is motorized in Penhoet. In 1956 she lays the cable between Qelibia and Bou Ficha in Tunisia, then between Denmark and Netherlands, in September and October 1957 the first Marseille-Algier telephone cable and in 1961 two electric cables between France and the United Kingdom. One of his missions was maintenance of the Newfoundland telephone network Between two campaigns off Newfoundland, he participated in the search for the wreckage of a plane with Marcel Bayard and Alsace in March April 1969, in November 1969 and March - April 1971. She was sold in Spain in 1984 to be demolished.

MARCEL BAYARD is named after Marcel Bayard, Chief Engineer at the Operations Department telegraph at the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs, Phones. ; she is built in 1961 by the Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in Le Havre. The 4 cable tanks, with a total volume of 2,280 cubic meters can contain 1000 km of deep-sea telephone cables (1852 km). Her autonomy at sea is 55 days and her average speed 13.5 knots. First modern ship of the French Cable Company, she is the only one to work on French underwaters cables until arrival of Vercors in 1974.She also may develop modern techniques for cables installation. Marcel Bayard was destroyed by a fire during work in La Seyne/Mer on 6 January 1981

Built by the Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre VERCORS was launched on 27 September 1973. 133 m long, a capacity of 4000 tons of cable. Between 1975 and 2000, Vercors carried out no less than 130 various operations In a 60 cm deep furrow, the TAT cable 6 is placed at 800 m of bottom. In 2001, Vercors was sold to Chamarel Marine Services, a subsidiary of Orange Marine based in Mauritius.

Cover of Vercors of Palermo for France with Paquebot mark

The ship represented on the stamp above, issued in 1997, was identified as the Vercors by the professionals of the site https://www.marine-marchande.net/

Vercors lays the optical cable between Palermo and Lechená, Greece; Marmaris, Turkey and Tel Aviv, named Eastern Mediterranean Optical System (EMOS-1) In 2001, the Vercors was taken up by Chamarel Marine Services, a subsidiary of Orange Marine based in Mauritius. Renamed CHAMAREL by the name of a Mauritian plateau, she maintained cables in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic from Cape Town. On August 8, 2012, a fire occured on Chamarel off the Namibian coast. Few months later, she was brocken up.

Built in 1983 by Le Havre yards, LEON THEVENIN is first based in Brest to ensure this maintenance of cables in the Atlantic / Channel / North Sea. Her name comes from the French engineer, pioner in telecommunications, Léon Charles Thévenin (1857-1926). The repositioning of the Léon Thévenin in Cape Town (South Africa) follows the loss in August 2012 of the Chamarel, Thevenin is able to intervene in severe weather.

A ro-ro ferry designed in East Germany is transformed In 2002 in Poland at the Gdansk shipyards and joined the Alda Marine fleet as 4th ship: ISLE DE RE, 143 m long and 6 tanks with a capacity of 4,691 tons is able to lay between 5 and 35 km of cables per day. This cable was held on August 26, 2007 in Tahiti for proceed to the draft of parts of the wreckage of a plane fallen into the sea between Tahiti and Moorea. She has recovered by large funds (more than 400 m) the CVR (cockpit voice recorder), the tail of the plane and some debris. In 2015, Ile de Ré is chartered for the search for the supposed wreck of MS MONIQUE. The cable robot reaches the target by 400 meters deep but it was not Monique

Built in Korea in 2002 for France Telecom (now Orange Marine), RENE DESCARTES is first a global installer, with his four holds, but he can also do the maintenance. 144.50 m long and 22 m wide, René Descartes is one the largest units of the world fleet. She is also among the most powerful:: motorization allows a traction capacity of 125 tons. She operates until 65 tonnes of traction without tug assistance. In March 2003 Descartes carries out a mission to the Crozet Islands on behalf of the UN: the installation of a seismic motion detection station and possible nuclear tests.

SOPHIE GERMAIN joins the fleet of Orange Marine composed of 7 ships and comes to replace the oldest of the fleet, Raymond Croze launched in 1983. Named in honor of a mathematician and philosopher, this ship is dedicated to the repair of underwater cables in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Black Sea, and will be able to operate for more than 40 years. 100 meters long, . He works through the stern, unlike his other ships..

British cable ships

The first cableships are mainly converted passengers ships At the end of the 19th century, the first ships designed as cable ships arrive.

Built 1861 originally for Samuel Cunard for the Atlantic service, SCOTIA Held the Blue Riband for five years. Purchased in 1879 by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and converted for cable laying. She was finally lost at Guam when she broke her back on a reef in 1904. DACIA was purchased from Norwood & Co in 1870 by Charles Tilston Bright and converted for use as a cable ship. She was sunk on 03 December 1916 on the Funchal Roads, Madeira by the German submarine

When commissioned in 1898 ANGLIA was the largest cable-laying vessel of the world, special designed for laying of deep-sea cables.

COLONIA was built 1902, Swan, Hunter for the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company Ltd., to lay the Bamfield - Fanning Island section of the Pacific Cable. In 1928 the vessel was sold to the Norwegian Whaling Company A/S Built 1903 for the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company. PATROL is transferred to Imperial & International Communications Ltd in 1929 and based at Singapore until 1933 when sold to Japanese shipbreakers for scrap.

Built 1905, for the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company Ltd. CAMBRIA is sold to the Eastern Telegraph Company in 1912. Put up for sale in 1928, but she was taken over by Imperial & International Communications Ltd. in 1929. On the 8th November 1945 while anchored in Montevideo harbour Cambria was hit by the Uruguayan ship Almirante Rodriguez Luis and sank. LADY DENISON PENDER was built in 1920 as a repair ship and after fitting out by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company based at Aden. 1929 Transferred to Imperial and International Communications Ltd. 1939 Sold to Cable and Wireless Ltd., London. In 1963 she was scrapped in Antwerp..

Built 1923 FARADAY was owned by Siemens Brothers and retained by them when they joined with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company to form Submarine Cables Ltd. Leaving Falmouth on the 25 March 1941 in convoy, Faraday came under attack at about 7.45 pm from a Heinkel 111 which dropped two bombs which exploded in the oil bunkers causing a serious fire and the crew abandoned ship, which finally sank off St Anne's Head (Walles) MIRROR was built 1923, for the Eastern Telegraph Company then transferred to Imperial and International Communications Ltd in 1929. Based primarily at Gibraltar as a repair ship. Scrapped in 1964.

DOMINIA was built 1926 for the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company specifically to lay the cable from Canada to Fanning Island for the Pacific Cable Board. On the merger with Siemens Bros in 1935 only one cable ship was needed so DOMINIA was sold to the Russian government in 1937 and renamed NICKOLAI EJOV then Felix Dzerzhinsky in a fleet of prisoner transports. She was removed from the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and have been scrapped .

After the loss of two cable ships, General Post Office decided to have a new one built. MONARCH was the largest cable ship afloat at that time. 1970 sold to Cable and Wireless Ltd., London, and renamed CS SENTINEL. Based at Bermuda, and used for cable maintenance in the Atlantic. 1977 she was broken up at Blyth, U.K.

Built 1954 for Cable & Wireless. RECORDER was built for repair work between Colombo, Sri Lanka and Vancouver, Canada She covering the area between. Iin collision with the Danish vessel URUGUAY her stern was damaged. After repair first based at Gibraltar before she headed to Singapore. 1986 Sold to Indonesian ship breakers. Built 1960, Glasgow for H.M. Postmaster-General ALERT was primarily assigned to maintain the transatlantic cable in the North Atlantic, working up to depths measuring 3½ miles. 1981 Transferred to British Telecom International. 1995 Sold and arrived at Alang for breaking up.

RETRIEVER built 1961 for and owned by Cable & Wireless. Based at Fiji for maintenance of Canada - Australia cables. Later moved to Singapore to replace CS RECORDER (3) Scrapped in 1995. NEPTUN built at Lubeck-Siems in 1962 for the West German Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke was purchased in 1975 by Cable & Wireless and renamed CABLE VENTURE. 1998 sold to breakers in Alang, India

LONG LINES (1961) of Transoceanic Cable Ship Company Inc., New York. (the company was part of AT&T Corp.) was based in Honolulu Harbour, and after delivery was she the largest and most advanced cable layer in the world. 2003 Sold to shipbreakers in India

Delivered in 1964. CABLE ENTERPRISE has a range 6,000 miles, and can stay at sea for six weeks. She was mostly used for cable maintenances in the waters of South East Asia and Indian Ocean, and was based in Manila, Philippines. she arrived 2002 in Alang MERCURY was built 1962 for the laying of the COMPAC and SEACOM cables between end 1962 and 1964. At that time she was the fastest cable-layer in the world. Her twin funnel arrangement allows cable work to be carried out either at the bow or at the stern. When berthed at Bristol on 1 May 1996 she got on fire in the engine-room which caused severe damage. 1997 Sold and 1999 scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

From 1988,Cable & Wireless used SIR ERIC SHARP for cable repair in the Atlantic She is transferred to Global Marine when this one bought de British Telecom and Cable and Wireless then purchased by International Telecom and renamed IT Intrepid, based out of Halifax, Built by Swan Hunter yards, based from 1984 in Fiji, PACIFIC GUARDIAN is transferred in 1993 to Global Marine and now has Indonesian flag.

Built as a Norwegian supply ship/pipe carrier/ cable ship, FLEXSERVICE 3 is lengthened and converted in a cable ship in 1993. 1996 Sold to Sino British company, becoming FU LAI for China Telecom in 1998, named today HAL ANANT

A voir
https://www.marine-marchande.net/ : visit all kind of ships
ttps://ftldesign.com/ History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications aand index of stamps https://atlantic-cable.com/stamps/Cableships/index.htm
https://www.shipstamps.co.uk/forum/

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The first international underwater cable was installed in the Handle in 1851 by a steam tug turned into a cable: the GOLIATH, 31,40m long. The first transatlantic cable permanently used (4 200 km) was laid in 1865 by the GREAT EASTERN, a former transatlantic passenger ship, converted in 1864.
French cable ships

In 1887, the Society of Underwater Telegraphs chartered WESTMEATH, 97.53 long built in 1882 by Sunderland Ship Building Company, to lay cables in the West Indies. In 1892, She was renamed FRANÇOIS ARAGO In 1893, the installation of the telegraphic underwater cable is carried out between Ouaco, New Caledonia and Bundaberg, Queensland in Australia, a country that was connected to North America by Canada. This cable remained in service until 1923. The ship was sold in 1916. Torpedoed by a German submarine, she sinks into the Channel.

EMILE BAUDOT was built in 1917 at Swan Hunter near Newcastle (England). Commissioned by the Post administration to ensure the installation and the maintenance of the underwater telegraph cables, she measured 67.82 m of long,. Based in Havre, she used to work mainly in the English Channel and the Atlantic until 1939. Requisitioned by the French Navy in Brest, during the hostilities, Emile Baudot is seized by the English in Plymouth in 1940. After the war, Emile Baudot will be returned to France and will resume cable activities until 1962. John Maurice Emile Baudot (1845-1903) was a telegraphy engineer. He is the inventor of the Baudot code, a binary system for transmitting information, used by the teletypewriters. In tribute to Emile Baudot, a part of its name designates the modulation unit of the signal: the Baud.

ALSACE launched at Normandy yards on 20 June 1939, sailed on 17 June 1940 for her first campaign. Charged to repair the cable Brest-Fayol-New York, she sails to Dakar, then Casablanca where she stayed eleven months, forced to Inactivity by the shortage of fuel oil. At the end of 1941, she sailed for Algiers. On the Allied landings, her activities resume in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. She was disarmed in 1973 in Brest and demolished.

In 1951, coming from Normandy yards, AMPERE is motorized in Penhoet. In 1956 she lays the cable between Qelibia and Bou Ficha in Tunisia, then between Denmark and Netherlands, in September and October 1957 the first Marseille-Algier telephone cable and in 1961 two electric cables between France and the United Kingdom. One of his missions was maintenance of the Newfoundland telephone network Between two campaigns off Newfoundland, he participated in the search for the wreckage of a plane with Marcel Bayard and Alsace in March April 1969, in November 1969 and March - April 1971. She was sold in Spain in 1984 to be demolished.

MARCEL BAYARD is named after Marcel Bayard, Chief Engineer at the Operations Department telegraph at the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs, Phones. ; she is built in 1961 by the Chantiers et Ateliers Augustin Normand in Le Havre. The 4 cable tanks, with a total volume of 2,280 cubic meters can contain 1000 km of deep-sea telephone cables (1852 km). Her autonomy at sea is 55 days and her average speed 13.5 knots. First modern ship of the French Cable Company, she is the only one to work on French underwaters cables until arrival of Vercors in 1974.She also may develop modern techniques for cables installation. Marcel Bayard was destroyed by a fire during work in La Seyne/Mer on 6 January 1981

Built by the Ateliers et Chantiers du Havre VERCORS was launched on 27 September 1973. 133 m long, a capacity of 4000 tons of cable. Between 1975 and 2000, Vercors carried out no less than 130 various operations In a 60 cm deep furrow, the TAT cable 6 is placed at 800 m of bottom. In 2001, Vercors was sold to Chamarel Marine Services, a subsidiary of Orange Marine based in Mauritius.

Cover of Vercors of Palermo for France with Paquebot mark

The ship represented on the stamp above, issued in 1997, was identified as the Vercors by the professionals of the site https://www.marine-marchande.net/

Vercors lays the optical cable between Palermo and Lechená, Greece; Marmaris, Turkey and Tel Aviv, named Eastern Mediterranean Optical System (EMOS-1) In 2001, the Vercors was taken up by Chamarel Marine Services, a subsidiary of Orange Marine based in Mauritius. Renamed CHAMAREL by the name of a Mauritian plateau, she maintained cables in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic from Cape Town. On August 8, 2012, a fire occured on Chamarel off the Namibian coast. Few months later, she was brocken up.

Built in 1983 by Le Havre yards, LEON THEVENIN is first based in Brest to ensure this maintenance of cables in the Atlantic / Channel / North Sea. Her name comes from the French engineer, pioner in telecommunications, Léon Charles Thévenin (1857-1926). The repositioning of the Léon Thévenin in Cape Town (South Africa) follows the loss in August 2012 of the Chamarel, Thevenin is able to intervene in severe weather.

A ro-ro ferry designed in East Germany is transformed In 2002 in Poland at the Gdansk shipyards and joined the Alda Marine fleet as 4th ship: ISLE DE RE, 143 m long and 6 tanks with a capacity of 4,691 tons is able to lay between 5 and 35 km of cables per day. This cable was held on August 26, 2007 in Tahiti for proceed to the draft of parts of the wreckage of a plane fallen into the sea between Tahiti and Moorea. She has recovered by large funds (more than 400 m) the CVR (cockpit voice recorder), the tail of the plane and some debris. In 2015, Ile de Ré is chartered for the search for the supposed wreck of MS MONIQUE. The cable robot reaches the target by 400 meters deep but it was not Monique

Built in Korea in 2002 for France Telecom (now Orange Marine), RENE DESCARTES is first a global installer, with his four holds, but he can also do the maintenance. 144.50 m long and 22 m wide, René Descartes is one the largest units of the world fleet. She is also among the most powerful:: motorization allows a traction capacity of 125 tons. She operates until 65 tonnes of traction without tug assistance. In March 2003 Descartes carries out a mission to the Crozet Islands on behalf of the UN: the installation of a seismic motion detection station and possible nuclear tests.

SOPHIE GERMAIN joins the fleet of Orange Marine composed of 7 ships and comes to replace the oldest of the fleet, Raymond Croze launched in 1983. Named in honor of a mathematician and philosopher, this ship is dedicated to the repair of underwater cables in the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Black Sea, and will be able to operate for more than 40 years. 100 meters long, . He works through the stern, unlike his other ships..
British cable ships
The first cableships are mainly converted passengers ships At the end of the 19th century, the first ships designed as cable ships arrive.

Built 1861 originally for Samuel Cunard for the Atlantic service, SCOTIA Held the Blue Riband for five years. Purchased in 1879 by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and converted for cable laying. She was finally lost at Guam when she broke her back on a reef in 1904.	DACIA was purchased from Norwood & Co in 1870 by Charles Tilston Bright and converted for use as a cable ship. She was sunk on 03 December 1916 on the Funchal Roads, Madeira by the German submarine

When commissioned in 1898 ANGLIA was the largest cable-laying vessel of the world, special designed for laying of deep-sea cables.

COLONIA was built 1902, Swan, Hunter for the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company Ltd., to lay the Bamfield - Fanning Island section of the Pacific Cable. In 1928 the vessel was sold to the Norwegian Whaling Company A/S	Built 1903 for the Eastern Extension, Australasia and China Telegraph Company. PATROL is transferred to Imperial & International Communications Ltd in 1929 and based at Singapore until 1933 when sold to Japanese shipbreakers for scrap.

Built 1905, for the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company Ltd. CAMBRIA is sold to the Eastern Telegraph Company in 1912. Put up for sale in 1928, but she was taken over by Imperial & International Communications Ltd. in 1929. On the 8th November 1945 while anchored in Montevideo harbour Cambria was hit by the Uruguayan ship Almirante Rodriguez Luis and sank.	LADY DENISON PENDER was built in 1920 as a repair ship and after fitting out by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company based at Aden. 1929 Transferred to Imperial and International Communications Ltd. 1939 Sold to Cable and Wireless Ltd., London. In 1963 she was scrapped in Antwerp..

Built 1923 FARADAY was owned by Siemens Brothers and retained by them when they joined with the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company to form Submarine Cables Ltd. Leaving Falmouth on the 25 March 1941 in convoy, Faraday came under attack at about 7.45 pm from a Heinkel 111 which dropped two bombs which exploded in the oil bunkers causing a serious fire and the crew abandoned ship, which finally sank off St Anne's Head (Walles)	MIRROR was built 1923, for the Eastern Telegraph Company then transferred to Imperial and International Communications Ltd in 1929. Based primarily at Gibraltar as a repair ship. Scrapped in 1964.

DOMINIA was built 1926 for the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company specifically to lay the cable from Canada to Fanning Island for the Pacific Cable Board. On the merger with Siemens Bros in 1935 only one cable ship was needed so DOMINIA was sold to the Russian government in 1937 and renamed NICKOLAI EJOV then Felix Dzerzhinsky in a fleet of prisoner transports. She was removed from the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and have been scrapped .


After the loss of two cable ships, General Post Office decided to have a new one built. MONARCH was the largest cable ship afloat at that time. 1970 sold to Cable and Wireless Ltd., London, and renamed CS SENTINEL. Based at Bermuda, and used for cable maintenance in the Atlantic. 1977 she was broken up at Blyth, U.K.

Built 1954 for Cable & Wireless. RECORDER was built for repair work between Colombo, Sri Lanka and Vancouver, Canada She covering the area between. Iin collision with the Danish vessel URUGUAY her stern was damaged. After repair first based at Gibraltar before she headed to Singapore. 1986 Sold to Indonesian ship breakers.	Built 1960, Glasgow for H.M. Postmaster-General ALERT was primarily assigned to maintain the transatlantic cable in the North Atlantic, working up to depths measuring 3½ miles. 1981 Transferred to British Telecom International. 1995 Sold and arrived at Alang for breaking up.

RETRIEVER built 1961 for and owned by Cable & Wireless. Based at Fiji for maintenance of Canada - Australia cables. Later moved to Singapore to replace CS RECORDER (3) Scrapped in 1995.	NEPTUN built at Lubeck-Siems in 1962 for the West German Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke was purchased in 1975 by Cable & Wireless and renamed CABLE VENTURE. 1998 sold to breakers in Alang, India

LONG LINES (1961) of Transoceanic Cable Ship Company Inc., New York. (the company was part of AT&T Corp.) was based in Honolulu Harbour, and after delivery was she the largest and most advanced cable layer in the world. 2003 Sold to shipbreakers in India

Delivered in 1964. CABLE ENTERPRISE has a range 6,000 miles, and can stay at sea for six weeks. She was mostly used for cable maintenances in the waters of South East Asia and Indian Ocean, and was based in Manila, Philippines. she arrived 2002 in Alang	MERCURY was built 1962 for the laying of the COMPAC and SEACOM cables between end 1962 and 1964. At that time she was the fastest cable-layer in the world. Her twin funnel arrangement allows cable work to be carried out either at the bow or at the stern. When berthed at Bristol on 1 May 1996 she got on fire in the engine-room which caused severe damage. 1997 Sold and 1999 scrapped at Gijon, Spain.

From 1988,Cable & Wireless used SIR ERIC SHARP for cable repair in the Atlantic She is transferred to Global Marine when this one bought de British Telecom and Cable and Wireless then purchased by International Telecom and renamed IT Intrepid, based out of Halifax,	Built by Swan Hunter yards, based from 1984 in Fiji, PACIFIC GUARDIAN is transferred in 1993 to Global Marine and now has Indonesian flag.

Built as a Norwegian supply ship/pipe carrier/ cable ship, FLEXSERVICE 3 is lengthened and converted in a cable ship in 1993. 1996 Sold to Sino British company, becoming FU LAI for China Telecom in 1998, named today HAL ANANT