History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network
La
Société Française des Télégraphes Sous-Marins
by Bill Glover
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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |
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La
Société Française des Télégraphes Sous-Marins |
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LA SOCIÉTE FRANÇAISE DES TÉLÉGRAPHES SOUS-MARINS The French Minister of Posts and Telegraphs agreed to support the company, La Participation des Câbles des Antilles, in the laying of cables to connect French territories in the West Indies. A contract was awarded to the W.T. Henley Telegraph Works Company in 1887 for half the core and all of the armouring while La Société Générale des Téléphones supplied the other half of the core, with Henley’s undertaking the laying of all the cables. By the time the cables were ready the company had been taken over by La Société Française de Télégraphes Sous-Marin. Laying took place during 1888 as follows and the cables came into service the same year.
Cables laid by CS Westmeath. Santiago de Cuba - Guantanamo, Cuba 50 nm Cables laid by CS Roddam. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - Willemstad, Curacao 453 nm The following cables were laid during 1889-91 using CS Westmeath. Cables were manufactured by La Société Générale des Téléphones, who were now in a position to carry out the armouring. Henley’s undertook the installation.
The next cable laid by the company was between Mon Repos, Bundaberg, Australia and Téoudié, New Caledonia. CS Francois Arago, formerly CS Westmeath, laid the 793 nm long cable in 1893. The cable was abandoned in 1898. In the face of intense competition from British companies the two French companies, La Société Français de Télégraphes Sous-Marin and La Compagnie Français du Télégraphe de Paris à New York, merged in 1895 to form La Compagnie Français des Câbles Télégraphiques. |
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Last revised: 30 January, 2021 |
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