A first attempt

With Bright having linked Ireland to Great Britain, and Gisborne and Field having tied Newfoundland to the American mainland, it was natural that all should consider the Atlantic.

Field was unable to raise the necessary capital in America and so, with Samuel Morse assisting, he sailed for Britain. On September 29, 1856, John Brett, Charles Bright and Cyrus Field pledged themselves to form a telegraph company to operate a telegraph between Ireland and Newfoundland. The company was registered on October 20. Many famous names were associated with it including William Thomson (Kelvin), Isambard Kingdom Brunei and Samuel Morse. The required finance of £350 000 was raised in a fortnight. Bright became chief engineer, and his colleague from earlier ventures, E.O. White house, was appointed the company's "electrician".

Field's "dynamic energy" pushed the project ahead at breakneck speed. Bright objected to the size of the single conductor and wanted it increased, but was overruled. He also wanted the two ships involved to start laying by splicing the cable in mid-ocean and then sail for opposite shores, but was again overruled. Kelvin wanted to wait for the completion of the Great Eastern, which was to be the biggest ship in the world, and he found variations in the quality of the copper core. Field again ignored the warnings: he had ships on loan from the respective navies and wanted to lay the cable in mid-summer when the weather could be expected to behave.

The cable was loaded into the USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon and the shore end landed at Valentia in Ireland on August 5, 1857. When laying began the cable broke after only five miles. When it broke again after 380 miles the end was lost and the attempt abandoned. The cable was stored for the winter while additional lengths were manufactured ready for a fresh attempt.

As Bright put it, "It has been proved beyond a doubt that no obstacle exists to prevent our ultimate success; and I see clearly how every difficulty which has presented itself in this voyage can be effectually dealt with in the next". He was a little optimistic.

The original backers put up more cash, the two navies agreed further support of ships and men, and the paying out machinery was redesigned. The following summer the fleet re­assembled and sailed for mid-Atlantic, Bright's plan now being adopted. The two lengths were spliced and cable laying began again; but again the cable broke after 160 miles and the ships returned to base independently.

Another try

Disappointment brought disagreement. The board chairman recommended abandonment of the project and some members agreed with him. Some resigned. But Field pushed on and won the day. The fleet put to sea again on July 17. The cable was spliced in mid-ocean on July 29 and without further ado it was laid successfully, both ships reaching shore on August 5. During the subsequent celebrations the roof of the New York City Hall was set on fire by fireworks.

Signalling through the cable was nev­er easy and after only one month and 732 messages the insulation failed. Probably several factors were involved, including Whitehouse's use of too high a voltage. But to have achieved any suc­cess at all on such a venture when practice was so primitive was remarkable in itself. Though the success was short lived, Bright as chief engineer and Field as chief proponent had proved that telegraphic communication could be achieved across the Atlantic.

Financial backing for a third attempt proved much harder to find. After other expensive submarine cable also failed a British Board of Trade inquiry was set up to look into the technology and methods used. Bright was amongst those consulted. It reported its findings in 1861 and many improvements resulted. Inevitably a new attempt was made, with Bright as consultant to the project. In 1865 the Great Eastern laid cable all the way from Ireland to within 600 miles of Newfoundland before it broke. The next year complete success was achieved with yet another new cable and the 1865 cable was grappled, spliced and also completed.

Five years before the 1866 success. Bright had resigned from the Magnetic Telegraph Company to go into business as an independent consultant in partnership with Latimer Clark, another famous engineer of the time. They experimented with the insulation of wires and are remembered for "Bright and Clark's compound", a bituminous sealant used with later cables.

Bright was consultant to many telegraph companies needing major sub­marine cables including the Anglo-Indian, the Anglo-Mediterranean, the British-Indian Extension, and the China Submarine Telegraph Company. It was he who broke the jinx of failure in the deep waters of the Mediterranean. Also he was instrumental in setting up the British Association committee on electrical standards, on which he served with other distinguished scientists and engineers such as Maxwell and Wheat-stone. It was this committee which established electrical units such as the ohm and the farad.

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