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Friday, June 26. 2015

Undersea cable


 An 1866 lithograph by Robert Dudley shows the HMS Agamemnon, one of the first ships to attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable, dwarfed by the SS Great Eastern, the ship that eventually accomplished the task, and the first one large enough to carry the entire cable length by itself.


The story here: A Wire Across the Ocean - The first telegraph cable to span the Atlantic revolutionized communication, but it also transformed business, politics, and even language.

Posted by The Barrister in History at 14:31 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

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You might also enjoy Neal Stephenson's essay in his 2012 collection, "Some Remarks." The essay is titled "In the Kingdom of Mao Bell . . ." And he describes the modern (ca, 1994) business of cable laying. He also has some interesting history of the beginnings of the transoceanic telegraph cable, including the humorous story of Dr. Wildman Whitehouse and his rivalry with William Thomson, who was eventually knighted as Lord Kelvin, with many scientific discoveries to his credit.
#1 Steve in CT on 2015-06-26 20:10 (Reply)
That very first cable failed within weeks, but for the British Government it's entire investment was paid back when one of the first (and practically only) telegrams to cross the sea stopped the sailing of troopships to the Crimea, transporting a unneeded regiment. Lives and money were saved.

Thus establishing the tradition of government support of high tech development.
#2 John the River (Link) on 2015-06-27 09:33 (Reply)
My grandmother came over from England on one of these steam wheelers. She was 16 years old and travelled alone--searching for her father who had left a sick wife and a houseful of kids to go find gold. She got a job as a maid and never stopped to whine. She worked hard and saved enough money to buy her own boarding house that was kept absolutely spotless--I remember that. I always wanted to see what kind of ship it was and now from this picture I get an idea of scale. Thank you!
#3 faculty wife on 2015-06-27 11:37 (Reply)

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