Short length (including a joint) of submarine cable between Dover and Calais, 1850

Made:
1850 in Islington
maker:
Gutta Percha Company
1950-230 Pt1:
    
    Short length (including a joint) of the

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

1950-230 Pt1: Short length (including a joint) of the
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Short length (including a joint) of the original Cross-Channel submarine telegraph cable laid on 28th August 1850 between Dover and Calais. Cable originally made by Gutta Percha Company, Islington, 1850. With glass presentation tube and baseboard added later.

Short length (including a joint) of the original Cross-Channel submarine telegraph cable laid on 28th August 1850 between Dover and Calais. Cable originally made by Gutta Percha Company, Islington, 1850. With glass presentation tube and baseboard added later.

This cable consists of a single copper wire, with gutta-perch insulation, but no armouring. It was held down to the bed of the sea by lead weights attached at 100-yard (91.4 m) intervals. It was laid between Dover and Cap Gris Nez on 28 August 1850, and failed during the first night, reportedly because a fisherman had caught the cable with his anchor and, without realising what it was, cut it free. The cable was not expected to be a permanent success, and the action of the tides soon destroyed the insulating material. It was intended as a test of the possibility of the idea of laying a cable between England and France. Having proved that it was possible, a second cable was laid the following year in 1851.

Details

Category:
Telecommunications
Object Number:
1950-230
Materials:
copper (alloy), gutta-percha and glass
Measurements:
overall (including glass tube and brass mounts): 55 mm x 485 mm x 80 mm, .45 kg
type:
cable
credit:
Donated by E. E. C. Marsh

Parts

Sample of submarine cable laid between Dover and Calais, 1850

Sample of submarine cable laid between Dover and Calais, 1850

Short length (including a joint) of the original Cross-Channel submarine telegraph cable laid on 28th August 1850 between Dover and Calais. Cable originally made by Gutta Percha Company, Islington, London, England, 1850.

Materials:
copper (alloy) and gutta-percha
Object Number:
1950-230 Pt1
type:
cable
Glass tube and mounts for submarine telegraph cable laid between Dover and Calais, 1875-1950

Glass tube and mounts for submarine telegraph cable laid between Dover and Calais, 1875-1950

Measurements:
overall: 55 mm x 485 mm x 80 mm, .45 kg
Materials:
glass and brass (copper, zinc alloy)
Object Number:
1950-230 Pt2
type:
stand