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

CS Chiltern
by Bill Glover

CS CHILTERN

Built 1866 by Wm. Denny and Company, Dumbarton.

Length 262.0 ft.  Breadth 31.3 ft.  Depth 22.6 ft.  Gross tonnage 1,391.

Single screw. Compound engine of 240 hp, brig rig.

Purchased in 1867 by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company and fitted out for cable work.

Two cable tanks were installed with a total coiling capacity of 13,119 cubic feet. Twin bow sheaves on the end of a boom, and a single stern sheave were fitted. The paying out and picking up machinery was designed and manufactured by the company.

Sold to the British‑Indian Submarine Telegraph Company in 1870. Transferred in 1872 to the Eastern Telegraph Company and used for both laying and repairing cables. Used as the terminal station at Alexandria following the cutting of the cables during the bombardment of that city.

Fitted with new cable machinery in 1890 this time supplied by Johnson & Phillips. Stationed at Zanzibar from 18 December 1902 following the loss of Great Northern. Relieved in July 1902 by Sherard Osborn.

Withdrawn from service in January 1903 and then sold to Rudolf Neugebauer and Company of Hamburg for breaking up. Shortly before being sold Chiltern collided with CS Mirror (1) and sank, but was raised and made seaworthy.              

CABLE WORK

Research Material Needed

The Atlantic Cable website is non-commercial, and its mission is to make available on line as much information as possible.

You can help - if you have cable material, old or new, please contact me. Cable samples, instruments, documents, brochures, souvenir books, photographs, family stories, all are valuable to researchers and historians.

If you have any cable-related items that you could photograph, copy, scan, loan, or sell, please email me: billb@ftldesign.com