Speaking Wires of the Deep
By “Awake!” correspondent in Hawaii
MORE than a century ago a fisherman trawling in the coastal waters of France hauled in what seemed to be a new kind of seaweed. Strangely, it had a metal core. By cutting off a piece to show his friends, he inadvertently wrecked a 10-year project. Many financiers, as well as the English and French governments, had poured more than a million dollars into an underwater telegraph cable that would span the English Channel. On September 1, 1850, it was finally laid. This cable was the ‘new seaweed’ that was cut the very next day!
Telegraph Lines Cross the Seas
By 1850 the six-year-old electric telegraph had spread like wildfire over North America, to England and to many parts of Europe. Although a great success on land, the aerial wires always came to a dead halt at the ocean’s edge. Many brilliant and imaginative minds became absorbed with solving this problem.
The Straits of Dover cable had been insufficiently protected. Only the shore ends were armored in lead tubes. Although it functioned somewhat until the fisherman cut it, the signals from both sides of the Channel were jumbled. It was not appreciated that even though properly insulated, cable becomes greatly altered when submerged. This problem of signal retardation was to baffle many cable engineers for a while. However, in 1851, a real armored cable that was much more successful than its predecessor was laid across the Channel. In just a short time, a network of submarine cables spread over the Mediterranean seabed connecting Europe with Africa and the intermediate islands. With such successes, thoughts soon turned to spanning the seabed of the mighty Atlantic.
The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
Although England pioneered in submarine cable engineering, American businessman Cyrus W. Field persisted in endeavors that finally resulted in the laying of a successful Atlantic cable. In the end, it became a joint effort of the British and American governments. Some of the world’s most noted financiers, oceanographers, telegraphers and scientists on both sides were brought into this enterprise. The talents of such men would prove to be indispensable because of the deep trenches encountered in the mid-Atlantic. Here the earth’s greatest mountain range spreads out 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) long and 500 miles (800 kilometers) wide, completely submerged.
Had Field and his associates known in advance the many years of financial problems and cable-laying disasters that lay ahead, they may well have resigned during their earliest attempts. Cable breakage, adverse weather and the fouling of cable in the paying-out gear of the ships constantly hampered the project. Sometimes hundreds of miles of cable, costing a fortune, were left broken on the ocean floor.
The old problem of signal retardation had to be solved. Someone had to find out how long it would take for a signal to reach the far ends of the cable and how much electricity would be required to fill the cable before the signal got through. This has been compared to a water pipe. A certain amount of water must flow through the pipe before any appreciable amount is seen at the far end. It may require as much as 20 times more electricity to charge up an undersea cable than an aerial one.
Sir William Thomson (better known as Lord Kelvin) wrote his famous “Law of Squares” as the result of his investigations of this very matter. Simplified, his “law” means that if the length of a submerged cable is multiplied 10 times, the rate of signaling will be reduced 100 times. His solution was to increase the size of the conducting core. Nevertheless, because this new discovery was ignored, the poor design of the first Atlantic cable contributed to its subsequent failure.
Finally, though, on August 5, 1858, the first transatlantic submarine cable linked the continents between Ireland and Newfoundland. Eleven days later, a 99-word message of greeting from Britain’s Queen Victoria to United States President Buchanan started through the lines. It was completed 16-1/2 hours later. Sadly, the cable burned out less than a month later. At today’s costs, close to two million dollars of private capital lay sunk in the depths of the Atlantic! What had been called “the greatest achievement of the century” had collapsed. Eight years would pass before Europeans and Americans would speak over the wires again.
During the interim, the two cable manufacturers of England merged, thereby solving many of the earlier cable-making problems. A new and better-protected cable was designed. It was twice as heavy (7,000 tons [6,350 metric tons]) and had a conducting core three times as large as the previous cable. It could hang vertically in the water for 10 miles (16 kilometers) before snapping. And for the next attempt there was a single ship (instead of the two required before) capable of carrying such a tremendous burden. This vessel, the Great Eastern, had a dual propulsion system of two 58-foot (18-meter) paddle wheels, six masts, and a 24-foot (7-meter) screw. This made her the most maneuverable ocean liner ever built. By throwing one wheel into reverse, she could completely rotate around her own axis.
After two more unsuccessful attempts, a truly successful cable was completed on July 27, 1866. It connected Ireland with Newfoundland. But 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) away from the new cable lay one tangled up with lost grappling irons—a victim of the previous summer’s failure. After 30 attempts, it was hauled up, tested and spliced with new cable. This completed the West-to-East portion. When the Newfoundland ends of the two cables were connected, a submarine circuit of more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) came into existence. Across this distance, clear signals were sent. A simple battery made out of a lady’s silver thimble containing a few drops of acid was all that was needed to charge the cable! Since that time, two-way communication has never ceased for more than a few hours at a time between the two continents.
From 1866 onward, cables spread swiftly across the oceans of the world. By the end of the century, 15 cables had been laid across the Atlantic. Some sections of these original cables are still in service, after more than a century of operation!
Wartime Targets
Many remote islands, such as the Cocos in the Indian Ocean, Ascension in the South Atlantic, and Guam and Midway in the Pacific, have become strategic crossroads of world communications because of these submerged cables. As a result, these islands were major military objectives in wartime. Cable stations, as well as the cables themselves, became prime targets. The only two cables owned by Germany in 1939 were cut less than 24 hours after World War II started. A British midget submarine in 1945 cut the Saigon-Singapore and Saigon-Hong Kong cables. This battle of the seabed lasted for the duration of the war.
Cable Enemies
The cable’s inventor, man, has also proved to be the most common enemy of the cable, not only in times of war, but, more frequently, by the dragging of trawls and the use of ships’ anchors. Also on the enemy list are corrosion, sharp-toothed fish, borers and natural phenomena.
A submarine earthquake occurred in Australia in 1888, simultaneously snapping three cables to that continent. Underwater avalanches, triggered by earthquakes, travel initially at about 50 miles (80 kilometers) an hour and easily snap cables. In 1929 an avalanche snapped most of the cables between Europe and America. They broke one after another in rapid succession. It took six months to repair the damage, with a loss to the cable companies of over $1.5 million.
Cables and cable ships are owned and maintained by various nations. Ships ply all the oceans of the world to deal with these cable enemies. Recovering and repairing a damaged cable is no longer the difficult thing it once was. Now electrical measurements locate the break, the ship proceeds to the spot and puts down a marker buoy, and dragging begins.
The Telephone Goes Underwater
After the birth of the telephone in 1875, efforts were begun to achieve with this new instrument what had been done with the telegraph. Almost immediately, the problems that had plagued the underwater telegraph cables began reappearing for telephone engineers, but in a far more severe form. Again, the foremost difficulty was the old problem of signal retardation and distortion. Due to the great complexity of human speech, many years of intense study and intricate engineering were required before good-quality speech of today’s standards would be achieved through submerged wires.
Meanwhile, in 1896, the radio came into being. On its heels, shortwave radio was introduced. This entirely new and unexpected method of long-distance communication provided the underseas cable with what has been called “its greatest challenge.” By way of shortwave radio, the human voice spanned the Atlantic 40 years before the first successful transatlantic telephone cable was laid. From 1927 until 1956, this was the only means of sending human speech across the oceans. Its success, however, was limited, as it depended almost entirely on good weather. Messages sometimes required days to get through. But great advancement was made in radio communication, and, in turn, much of this technical knowledge contributed to the success of the submarine telephone cable.
Transatlantic Telephone Cables
The first transatlantic telephone-cable system linked Newfoundland with Britain by way of Scotland and was laid in three installments. Every splicing joint was X-rayed to be sure that there was not the slightest defect. Some problems arose, primarily due to Hurricane Ione; but they were quickly overcome. The two-cable system was a tremendous success when completed in 1956. Fifty-one repeaters, approximately 40 miles (65 kilometers) apart, magnify human voice currents going eastward. About 25 miles (40 kilometers) away lay the other cable with an equal number of repeaters sending the currents westward. The laying of this cable started an explosion of cable-laying activity across the seas.
Later, due to the very ingenious electronic invention known as TASI (Time-Assignment Speech Interpolation) and solid-state transistors, it became possible to double the number of channels on the cables. This swift-acting device takes advantage of silences in common conversation and switches in other conversations. The 1956 cable had 36 circuits. But think of the potential with cables such as the one completed in 1976 that links the United States and France and that carries 4,000 channels! And with TASI it can be doubled!
The Pacific Voiceway
A telegraph cable had been laid between the United States and Hawaii as early as 1903. Its ends were pulled ashore at Waikiki Beach with the help of a small donkey engine. Hawaii’s first telephone company was established only seven years after the invention of the telephone. But it was not until 1931 that Hawaii was tied in with long-distance telephone through shortwave radio. With the completion of the 2,400-mile (3,800-kilometer) cable from California to Hawaii in 1957, what became known as the Pacific Voiceway came into existence. This $36,000,000 project augmented the 14 radio-telephone circuits existing at that time. It took just eight seconds to put through a three-way telephone call between Hawaii, Alaska and London, and it was as clear as a bell. The cable also carried 36 circuits. Interestingly, at the time, an official stated: “It is seldom that that many people will want to call the mainland at any one time. So some of them will not always be in use.” How wrong he was!
Seven years later, the $80,000,000 (U.S.), 5,300-mile (8,500-kilometer) Voiceway to the Orient came into being. For the first time, the United States was linked directly with the Orient by way of Hawaii. By this time a single cable capable of carrying speech both ways could be used. It has 128 circuits and, with TASI, can be boosted to carry 256 conversations simultaneously. This almost unbelievable project enlisted the efforts of experts in physics, engineering, chemistry, oceanography, fishing, skin diving and volcanology. Yes, the Pacific carries threats that the Atlantic had not presented—volcanoes, coral reefs, tidal waves and the world’s deepest trenches. The Mariana Trench, the world’s deepest known hole, plunges to over seven miles (11 kilometers) between Guam and Midway and could not be avoided when laying the cable. Starting in San Luis Obispo, California, the cable connects with Japan by way of Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam. At present, it is possible to dial directly from Honolulu to most cities on the United States mainland and to many European countries. And, using a 14-digit number, it is possible to dial from New York to any private phone in Japan for a clear-as-a-bell instantaneous connection.
Modernization and Practicality
A whole series of scientific inventions has revolutionized cable laying. Special ships have been built for this purpose. There have been improvements, not only of the cable, but in transmitting and receiving equipment. The repeaters have been streamlined. Instead of the triode radio tubes, transistors are used. A single cable can now replace the two that were formerly needed. Today telephone and telegraph messages, television pictures and a vast amount of electronic data can be sent over them as well.
Instead of communications satellites dooming the underseas cable, as had been feared, these have been a stimulus to them. Because of the increase and efficiency of cables, there has been a virtual communications explosion.
Costs have been reduced drastically. In 1957, the lowest-priced night call from Hawaii to California was $5.25 (U.S.) for three minutes. Now it has been lowered to 80 cents. Instead of taking 16-1/2 hours to get through, messages take less than a tenth of a second to travel the same distance. So if you have a loved one less than a second away, why not use these speaking wires of the deep?