Failure™ Magazine

Cable Ready

Cyrus Field and the epic struggle to lay the first transatlantic cable.

Written by Jason Zasky   Filed under History

Wired
Aside from overcoming the challenge of physically laying cable across vast expanses of saltwater, Field & Co. needed to purchase cable that would not deteriorate under the harsh conditions. Without the benefit of any technical expertise Field was forced to rely on the opinion of John Brett, head of England’s Magnetic Telegraph Company and the world’s foremost authority on submarine telegraph cable. For the company’s maiden project Brett recommended a cable made up of three copper wires, each individually insulated by gutta-percha, with the bundle then wrapped in tarred hemp, covered with another layer of gutta-percha and encased in galvanized iron wire.

In the end, the original cable didn’t function well anyway, mostly because of its small diameter. “It was only about as big around as a little finger,” recalls Gordon, “so it was subject to breaking and just wasn’t big enough to carry the electric load that needed to be carried.”

Show Me The Money
With the company flat broke, Field turned to England for additional financing. Owing to its far-flung empire, the British government had a keen interest in supporting any technological advances that might speed international communications. At the same time, they were decidedly passive in their approach. “They said, ‘once you raise the capital and lay the cable and it works, we guarantee to use the cable to the extent that it will pay the interest on the capital.’ It makes it a lot easier to borrow money if you have a guaranteed customer,” reminds Gordon.

In October 1856 Field chartered the Atlantic Telegraph Company (ATC) in London and began selling stock in the new venture. Although British investors snapped up three-quarters of the stock in a matter of weeks, Field was forced to hold twenty-five percent of the company, leaving him financially vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government was far less enthusiastic about the project. Many Congressmen felt the cable would be of little practical use to the United States, while others distrusted new technology or resented England’s involvement. “You hardly ever encounter it anymore,” says Gordon, “but there was this distinctive Anglophobia, basically a hangover from the Revolution and the War of 1812.”

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