Instructions for use
Select an object to view from the list below. To rotate either click on the rotate icon located in the bottom right hand corner of the image or click and drag within the object window.
Section of Dover to Calais cable, 1851
Radio coherer-detector, c. 1901
Cable code key
Globe Ashtray
Crystal Detector
Baby Turtle
Grapnel
Wheatstone auto-transmitter, late 19th century
Section of deep sea cable
Grapnels were used to pick up telegraph cables from the seabed. Different shapes were used depending on the surface of the seabed, which could be sandy and smooth or rocky and uneven. They were dropped to the bottom on the end of a long rope and dragged from side to side across the path of the cable until it was hooked and could be lifted to the surface for repair on board a cable ship.