Editing Cable layer (section)

{{Short description|Ship for laying undersea cables}}
{{redirect|Cable ship|vessels that navigate by pulling along a fixed cable guide in a waterway|chain boat}}
[[File:Port Side of CS Cable Innovator.jpg|thumb|Modern cable layer CS ''Cable Innovator'' docked in Port Angeles, Washington]]
[[File:Cable layer ship.jpg|right|thumb|CS ''Dependable'' at Astoria, Oregon, a modern stern sheave design]]
[[File:SS Silvertown 1873 1901.JPG|thumb|CS ''Hooper'', the world's first purpose-built cable-laying ship, built by [[Charles Mitchell (shipbuilder)|C. Mitchell & Co]] of [[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]] in 1873, renamed CS ''Silvertown'' in 1881]]
A '''cable layer''' or '''cable ship''' is a [[deep-sea]] [[ship|vessel]] designed and used to lay underwater cables [[Submarine communications cable|for telecommunications]], [[Submarine power cable|for electric power transmission]], military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable [[sheave]]s<ref name="tat1">{{cite web|url=http://atlantic-cable.com/Cableships/Monarch(4)/|title=History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - HMTS Monarch (4)|website=atlantic-cable.com|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> for guiding cable over [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] or [[stern]] or both. Bow sheaves,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/27/09270209.jpg|title=NavSource Photo, USS Neptune (ARC 2) bow sheaves|website=navsource.org|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref> some very large, were characteristic of all cable ships in the past, but newer ships are tending toward having stern sheaves only, as seen in the photo of CS ''Cable Innovator'' at the Port of Astoria on this page. The names of cable ships are often preceded by "C.S." as in CS ''Long Lines''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlantic-cable.com/CableStories/Parrish/index.htm|title=History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Leo Parrish and CS Long Lines|website=atlantic-cable.com|access-date=24 March 2019}}</ref>

The first [[transatlantic telegraph cable]] was laid by cable layers in 1857 to 1858. It briefly enabled telecommunication between Europe and North America before misuse resulted in failure of the line. In 1866 the {{SS|Great Eastern}} successfully laid two transatlantic cables, securing future communication between the continents.