ROUTE SELECTION AND CABLE LAYING 321 



were brought up the sides of the cable tanks, secured along the arms of 

 the crinoline and up the sides of the hatch coamings to the deck, clear 

 of the running length of cable and from where the repeater could be 

 drawn forward along the deck on the dolly. 



When the time came for a repeater to be laid, speed was reduced and 

 the ship finally stopped head to wind. A 6x3 compound rope from the 

 starboard cable drum was secured to the cable just abaft the bow baulks. 

 Sufficient cable was then paid out until the tension was taken up by this 

 rope. The turns of the running cable were then removed from the port 

 cable drum and the resulting slack cable worked overboard by paying 

 out the starboard drum rope which was holding the tension. When the 

 excess cable had been cleared from the deck, the repeater on its dolly 

 was carefullj^ hauled along the fore deck to the traveling hoist of the 

 o\'erhead gantr3^ Cable was then drawn from the tank so that the turns 

 could be re-formed on deck and replaced on the port cable drum. The 

 repeater was lifted from the trolley and traversed outboard as soon as 

 it was high enough to clear the bow baulks. It was then lowered to the 

 water's edge and when the tension had again been taken by the cable, 

 the quick release grip was slipped and the starboard diTim rope cut. 

 Paying out was then resumed. 



Laying Program ^ 



On February 1, 1956, Monarch, having returned to Ocean Works, 

 Erith, after refitting, commenced loading the various sections of cable 

 to be used for the Terrenceville-Sydney Mines route. The sections were 

 all carefull}^ tested and measured in the Works before loading. The cable 

 ends were clearly marked and dogged together by a length of rope which 

 was not removed until the repeater had been jointed into its connecting 

 sections of cable. 



Loading of the cable and splicing in of repeaters was finished by April 

 10 and the system tested and checked. Monarch sailed for Sydney Mines 

 on April 18 and arrived there April 30. The cable station is situated 

 about 1^ miles inland from the shore, with a small lake intervening. A 

 length of Type B, insulated outer conductor, lead covered cable had 

 previously been laid from the station across the lake to a narrow strip 

 of land which separates it from the sea. The joint to the main cable was 

 to be made on this strip. Two medium sized shore based motor boats 

 were used to tow the end of the double armored section of cable from 

 Monarch to the shore. During this journey the cable was supported by 

 empty oil drums at close intervals. When the motor boats had reached 



