352 



SUBMAEINE CABLE LAYING AND KEPAIEING. 



When being transferred from ship 

 to tanks, cable is taken three or 

 four times round the drum of this 

 gear, which supplies the power to 

 pull it from the ship some distance 

 away to the front of the tank house, 

 whence it is lifted to the tanks by 

 a small hauling machine. When 

 simply turning over cable from 

 one tank to another it is only neces- 

 sary to drive the hauling machines 

 over the two tanks, and experiments 

 at this depot have proved it most 

 convenient and economical to drive 

 them by an electric motor supplied 

 with current from a dynamo in the 

 engine shop. Sometimes one cable 

 is being taken aboard from the tanks 

 and another ashore from the ship at 

 the same time. 



The tank shed at Cape Town (Fig. 

 203) encloses 6,000 sq. ft. of floor 

 space, and contains three tanks, one 

 of 30ft. diameter and 6ft. deep, and 

 two of 40ft. diameter and 8f 6. deep, 

 capable of taking in 500 miles of 

 cable. Foundations of rough con- 

 crete 1ft. 6in. deep are prepared, 

 and when properly set the tanks are 

 got into position and held 2ft. above 

 the floor by screw jacks, while a 

 Ifin. layer of cement and sand is 

 spread over the concrete bed. Before 

 this has had time to set the jacks 

 are lowered and the tank bedded 

 and grouted in all round. The 

 inlet and outlet water-pipes come 

 in at the bottom of the tanks in the 

 centre, and to facilitate drainage 

 a layer of cement is run inside the 



