A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, for electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cable over bow or stern or both. Bow sheaves, some very large, were characteristic of all cable ships in the past, but newer ships are tending toward having stern sheaves only, as seen in the photo of CS Cable Innovator at the Port of Astoria on this page. The names of cable ships are often preceded by "C.S." as in CS Long Lines.
The first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid by cable layers in 1857 to 1858. It briefly enabled telecommunication between Europe and North America before misuse resulted in failure of the line. In 1866 the successfully laid two transatlantic cables, securing future communication between the continents.
Modern cable ships Cable ships have unique requirements related to having long idle periods in port between cable laying or repairs, operation at low speeds or stopped at sea during cable operations, long periods running astern (less frequent as stern layers are now common), high maneuverability, and a fair speed to reach operation areas.
Modern cable ships differ greatly from their predecessors. There are two main types of cable ships: cable repair ships and cable-laying ships. Cable repair ships, like the Japanese Tsugaru Maru, tend to be smaller and more maneuverable; they are capable of laying cable, but their primary job is fixing or repairing broken sections of cable. A cable-laying ship, like CS Long Lines, is designed to lay new cables. Such ships are bigger than repair ships and less maneuverable; their cable storage drums are also larger and are set in parallel so one drum can feed into another, allowing them to lay cable much faster. These ships are also generally equipped with a linear cable engine (LCE) that helps them lay cable quickly. By locating the manufacturing plant near a harbor, cable can be loaded into the ship's hold as it is being manufactured.How the Internet Travels Across Oceans, by Adam Satariano, graphics By Karl Russell, Troy Griggs and Blacki Migliozzi, photographs by Chang W. Lee, New York Times, March 10, 2019
The newest design of cable layers, though, is a combination of cable-laying and repair ships. An example is the only U.S. naval cable layer-repair ship. Zeus uses two diesel-electric engines that produce each and can carry her up to . She can lay about of telecommunications cable to a depth of . The purpose of Zeus was to be a cable ship that could do anything required of it, so the ship was built to be able to lay and retrieve cable from either the bow or the stern with ease. This design was similar to that of the first cable ship, Great Eastern. Zeus was built to be as maneuverable as possible so that it could fulfill both roles: as a cable layer or a cable repair ship.Sanderlin, T., Stuart, W., & Jamieson, D.R., (1979). Cable Laying Ship. Presented at the April 18, 1979, meeting of Chesapeake Section of The Society of Naval Architects and marine Engineers.
Equipment
To ensure that cable is laid and retrieved properly, specially designed equipment must be used. Different equipment is used on cable-laying ships depending on what their job requires. In order to retrieve damaged or mislaid cable, a grapple system is used to gather cable from the ocean floor. There are several types of grapples, each with certain advantages or disadvantages. These grapples are attached to the vessel via a grapple rope, originally a mix of steel and manila lines, but now made from synthetic materials. This ensures that the line is strong, yet can flex and strain under the weight of the grapple. The line is pulled up by reversing the Linear Cable Engine used to lay the cable.Thomas N. Sanderlin, Stuart M. Williams & Robert D. Jamison.(1979).Cable Laying Ship.Presented at the April 18, 1979, meeting of Chesapeake Section of The Society of Naval Architects and marine Engineers.
The most common laying engine in use is the Linear Cable Engine (LCE). The LCE is used to feed the cable down to the ocean floor, but this device can also be reversed and used to bring back up cable needing repair. These engines can feed of cable a minute. Ships are limited to a speed of while laying cable to ensure the cable lies on the sea floor properly and to compensate for any small adjustments in course that might affect the cables' position, which must be carefully mapped so that they can be found again if they need to be repaired. Linear Cable Engines are also equipped with a brake system that allows the flow of cable to be controlled or stopped if a problem arises. A common system used is a fleeting drum, a mechanical drum fitted with eoduldes (raised surfaces on the drum face) that help slow and guide the cable into the LCE. Cable ships also use “plows” that are suspended under the vessel. These plows use jets of high-pressure water to bury cable under the sea floor, which prevents fishing vessels from snagging cables as thrall their nets.Frank, D. Messia; Jon, B. Machin; Jeffery, A.Hill. (2000). The Economic Advantages of Jet-Assisted Plowing.Source: Oceans Conference Record (IEEE), v 1, p 649-656, 2001; ; DOI: 10.1109/OCEANS.2001.968800; Conference: Oceans 2001 MTS/IEEE – An Ocean Odyssey, November 5, 2001 – November 8, 2001; Sponsor: Marine Technology Society; IEEE; OES; Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
HMTS Monarch (renamed CS Sentinel 13 October 1970) completed the first transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, in 1956 from Scotland to Nova Scotia for Britain's General Post Office (GPO).
The Ocean Marine System Group used a cable laying software designed by Makai Ocean Engineering Inc., in five of their cable installation and repair vessels. The MakaiLay software has been used by 90% of the worlds' global fleet of cable ships. These five OMS vessels were installed with this software on August 23, 2023, to reduce failures during installation and increase reliability, safety, speed, and accuracy: CS Cable Vigilance CS Île de Ré (Formerly Alcatel/Alcatel-Lucent/Nokia ship) CS Lodbrog (Formerly Alcatel/Alcatel-Lucent ship) CS Teneo Peter Faber (Formerly Alcatel-Lucent/Nokia ship)
Repeaters When coaxial cables were introduced as submarine cables, a new issue with cable-laying was encountered. These cables had periodic repeaters inline with the cable and powered through it. Repeaters overcame significant transmission problems on submarine cables. The difficulty with laying repeaters is that there is a bulge where they are spliced in to the cable and this causes problems passing through the sheave. British ships, such as HMTS Monarch and HMTS Alert solved the problem by providing a trough for the repeater to bypass the sheave. A rope connected in parallel to the repeater went through the sheave which pulled the cable back in to the sheave after the repeater had passed. It was normally necessary for the ship to slow down while the repeater was being laid.K. R. Haigh, Cableships and Submarine Cables, pp. 211–214, Adlard Coles, 1968 . American ships, for a time, tried using flexible repeaters which passed through the sheave. However, by the 1960s they were also using rigid repeaters similar to the British system."Two new British cable ships completed", New Scientist, No. 240, p. 716, 22 June 1961.
Another issue with coaxial repeaters is that they are much heavier than the cable. To ensure that they sink at the same rate as the cable (which can take some time to reach the bottom) and keep the cable straight, the repeaters are fitted with parachutes.
List of cable ships
Princess Clementine was a passenger ferry, in 1849, installed of cable from the coast of Folkestone to the shoreline of railway telegraph lines. Charles Vincent Walker of the South Eastern Railway Company conceived this cable for to have ship to shore telegraph messages communications. Goliath, the first ship to lay an ocean cable in 1850. Done for the Submarine Telegraph Company across the English Channel. Blazer, the hulk vessel laid the South Foreland and Sangatte cable by Submarine Telegraph Company in 1851. Red Rover in 1851, a steam tug, worked on the South Foreland and Sangatte replacement cable with new section of armored cable. HMS Widgeon in 1851, the vessel provided a slice at sea on the new section cable of South Foreland and Sangatte with the failed rendezvous with Red Rover. (1830–1883), first ship to be permanently fitted out as a cable ship (1852–1870) a converted British warship, involved in the first Ireland and US cabling of 1857. Cable laying began off Ireland's Ballycarbery Castle in County Kerry. During this operation, of cable were stored on each ship, but of cable was lost over a region known as Telegraph Plateau in the North Atlantic with depths nearly . Attempts with USS Niagara failed twice that year and work was abandoned, until next year, both ships met in the mid-Atlantic for spicing of their cables and HMS Agamemnon traveled east towards Valentia Island. Additional breakage in the cable occurred and another attempts to lay the cabling were sort of successful. A failure occurred in the installed cable after a month due to engineer mishandling causing damage. (1855–1885) a converted American warship, worked with HMS Agamemnon on the first US and Ireland cable run attempt failed route of 1857. In 1858, another attempt was done with middle Atlantic splicing meet by both ships, and USS Niagara laying cable as traveled westward towards Newfoundland. Three attempts were done due to further breaks in the cable. After a month of service, the cable became useless when damage was done by an engineer handling. , worked as a cable ship from 1865 to 1870. This paddle wheel steamship vessel was originally made as a passenger ship and performed duties during the interim until being re-fitted as a liner, showboat, and advertising vessel. In 1890, she was scrapped. (1901–1902) custom built-ship used on the 1901–1902, first trans-Pacific telegraph cable by Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company (Telcon.) , built in Newcastle, launched 29 March 1873 for Hooper's Telegraph Works, first cable ship designed to lay trans Atlantic cable, renamed CS Silvertown in 1881. In 1901–1902, operated under CS Silvertown for the first trans-Pacific telegraph cable laying. The cable was from San Francisco, California along Hawaii, Midway, and Guam to Manila, Philippines, and continued undersea along China and Japan. A collaborated effort between two other vessels, CS Anglia and CS Colonia, and the two operating companies of the vessels: India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works Company with Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company. (1901–1902) custom-built ship used on the first trans-Pacific telegraph cable of 1901–1902. The vessels' operator, Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company (Telcon) collaborated with India Rubber, Gutta Percha, and Telegraph Works Company on the CS Silverton. CS H. C. Oersted, named for Hans Christian Ørsted (1872–1922) built for The Great Northern Telegraph Company 1872, was the first ship specifically designed for cable repair. Scrapped in 1922. CS Seine, maiden voyage 1873 , built in 1874 for Siemens Brothers , the first cable ship ever to be sunk; she was rammed by another ship in the 1870s while laying a cable for the Brazilian Submarine Telegraph Company.Huurdeman, Anton A., The Worldwide History of Telecommunications, Wiley, 2003 . , chartered by Siemens Brothers Ltd. from W.T. Henley's Telegraph Works Co. to lay cable between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Chuy, Uruguay to complete work after CS Gomos sunk. Foundered 29 November 1874 in the Bay of Biscay with loss of 58 crew and the cable.