Cable layer

Bow sheaves,[2] 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.

It briefly enabled telecommunication between Europe and North America before misuse resulted in failure of the line.

In 1866 the SS Great Eastern successfully laid two transatlantic cables, securing future communication between the continents.

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.

[5] The newest design of cable layers, though, is a combination of cable-laying and repair ships.

Zeus uses two diesel-electric engines that produce 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kW) each and can carry her up to 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[6] To ensure that cable is laid and retrieved properly, specially designed equipment must be used.

[8] HMTS Monarch[9] (renamed CS Sentinel 13 October 1970)[1] completed the first transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, in 1956[10] from Scotland to Nova Scotia for Britain's General Post Office (GPO).

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:[11] When coaxial cables were introduced as submarine cables, a new issue with cable-laying was encountered.

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.

Modern cable layer CS Cable Innovator docked in Port Angeles, Washington
CS Dependable at Astoria, Oregon, a modern stern sheave design
CS Hooper , the world's first purpose-built cable-laying ship, built by C. Mitchell & Co of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1873, renamed CS Silvertown in 1881
CS Durable was operated by TE Subcom, docked at Keelung port in 2015. This reliance-class ship without bow sheaves.
CS Cable Innovator at anchor in Astoria, Oregon, showing a modern design without bow sheaves
CS Peter Faber navigation systems and other equipment in 2005
The Alcatel CS MV Peter Faber in 2005 docked at Calais, France where Alcatel has a cable factory
Goliath
Cable ship Burnside in Ketchikan , Alaska , June 1911
AT&T Long Lines cable ship working on the cable linking mainland Vero Beach, Florida to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Typical maps, US to Venezuela cable route.
CS Global Sentinel , built in 1992 for AT&T and sold to Tyco Submarine Systems in 1997. Managed by Transoceanic Cable Ship. Laying cable in 2008.
CS Responder in 2008, at the island of Cozumel in Quintana Roo, Mexico
CS Durable , under the TE Subcom operation was at Keelung Port in 2015
USNS Zeus , with both bow and stern sheaves