THE CABLE SHIP ON REPAIRS. 231 



Steamers for deep-sea work designed for repairing purposes 

 only, and therefore not requiring to carry great lengths of 

 cable, have, on the average, a gross tonnage somewhere between 

 1,000 and 1,500 tons, but many are smaller than this, for 

 shallow-water work. Such vessels are usually fitted with three 

 or four tanks, numbered consecutively, commencing from the 

 one nearest the bows. In the cable-ship " Electra," belonging 

 to the Eastern Telegraph Company, No. 1 tank is 14ft. 

 diameter, No. 2, 25ft., and Nos. 3 and 4, 17ft. The tanks are 

 built upon the water-ballast tanks; the largest, No. 2, being 

 about 12ft. deep, and the top reaching to within 2ft. of the 

 upper deck. The tank is entered by going down to the lower 

 deck, climbing up over the edge of the tank, and then descend- 

 ing by the foot-pockets. In some large vessels the pockets 

 are at the side of the tank, after descending which the tank is 

 entered by water-tight doors near the bottom. If the tank 

 contains many lengths of cable, there will be a number of ends 

 sticking out above the top, and lashed to the side of the tank 

 in a convenient position for connecting on leads to the testing 

 room. Both ends of each length of cable are secured, so that 

 in testing any piece both ends may be used, or one end freed 

 or earthed. The ends of each length are labelled, and marked 

 with the type of cable and the length coiled in. Fig. 135a 

 shows a convenient way of fixing the ends. The sheathing 

 wires are opened out and each one soldered to a No. 18 

 galvanised-iron wire. The bunch of wires from each sheath 

 are stranded together and screwed to one of the earth-plate 

 terminals. The cores are also prepared at the ends ready for 

 testing and the testing leads brought near enough with a little 

 slack to connect on. When testing a length of cable in tank, 

 the sheath of that particular length may be used as earth, the 

 others being disconnected from the earth plate, or all sheaths 

 may be used together. If cable is dry and moving, there is a 

 great difi"erence between the earths and it is necessary to have 

 a tank earth and ship earth available as well. The testing lead 

 connected to the core is joined by a binding screw, so as to 

 avoid any surface leakage that might occur from a terminal 

 attached to a fixed support. 



Cable is always coiled in a clockwise direction from the 

 outside of a tank inwards, and, as it cannot be coiled right to 



