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History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network

CS Restorer
by Dirk van Oudenol

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| Home | Contact Email | Prologue | 1901 - 1904 | Joint Reports 1903 - 04 | Early Operations | First World War | Peace | Second World War | 3rd Naval Armed Guard Report | Winter Cable Laying | 11th Naval Armed Guard Report | Peace Again | Home And Back To Work | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 1 | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 2 | Services Rendered by C.S. Restorer | The End For C.S. Restorer|

First World War

Big changes came with the outbreak of war, as it was quickly recognized a ship flying the flag of a warring country would not be safe at sea, especially with the event of German raiders. Plans were made to get a neutral flag. At 8:30pm on Sept. 29, 1914, the now grey hull of the Restorer very quietly moved out of Esquimalt, crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca in darkness, and docked in Seattle. On board that night was a newly signed on crew member, destined to be the officer who was most closely associated with the Restorer, the sanguine Sid Pearce, Purser for the next 33 years.

In Seattle following its midnight arrival, the ship soon obtained American registry. To allow this to a ship whose officers were all foreign required the passing of a special act of Congress, an act that only the unique necessity of the situation allowed American unions to accept. With the stars and stripes now flying from its stern, the port of registry was forever after changed to New York.

At the end of 1915 Restorer returned to Esquimalt to be converted in Yarrows Shipyard from coal burning to oil burning. Delays brought on by wartime shortages caused the ship to be there during the great snow of 1916. Some of the skeleton crew were living in the Dominion Hotel in Victoria and couldn't get back to the ship for four days. Even then, the only way was a large box drawn by horses. Time dragged on, and the Royal Canadian Navy needed the space for themselves, so by the end of May, 1916, the ship was back in Seattle.

In 1916 the auxiliary sail capacity was removed from the mainmast, also the compound engine driven generators were removed, and new 1916 vintage Westinghouse pure reaction type turbine driven DC generators were installed. In 1917 the ship was removed to Charleston, near the Bremerton Navy Yard, and with America now at war, the Restorer was used as a naval training ship. The great flu epidemic of 1918 caused the ship to be moved to Port Townsend, WA, to get the specialist crew away from the concentration of young men at Bremerton.

Main Menu
| Home | Contact Email | Prologue | 1901 - 1904 | Joint Reports 1903 - 04 | Early Operations | First World War | Peace | Second World War | 3rd Naval Armed Guard Report | Winter Cable Laying | 11th Naval Armed Guard Report | Peace Again | Home And Back To Work | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 1 | C.S. Restorer's Final Days Part 2 | Services Rendered by C.S. Restorer | The End For C.S. Restorer|

Copyright © 2006 Dirk van Oudenol

Last revised: 22 July, 2006

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