Editing All Red Line (section)

==Construction==

The first [[Transatlantic telegraph cable|transatlantic cable]] connected Ireland and [[Colony of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] in 1858, although it later failed.<ref>{{cite web |title = Transatlantic telegraph cable – 1858 |website=National MagLab |url=https://nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-academy/history-of-electricity-magnetism/museum/transatlantic-telegraph-cable-1858}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Transatlantic cable – 1858 |series=IET Library |url=https://www.theiet.org/resources/library/archives/featured/trans-cable1858.cfm}}</ref> In 1866, the {{SS|Great Eastern}} laid out a lasting link from [[Waterville, County Kerry]] and nearby [[Valentia Island]], in Ireland, to [[Heart's Content, Newfoundland and Labrador|Heart's Content, Newfoundland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The SS ''Great Eastern'' and the amazing story of the transatlantic telegraph cable |url=http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/the-ss-great-eastern-and-the-amazing-story-of-the-transatlantic-telegraph-cable-11363992848355}}</ref>

By 1870, [[Suez]] was linked to [[Bombay]], and from there to [[Madras]], [[Penang]], and [[Singapore]]. [[Australia]] was linked to British telegraph cables directly in 1871, by extending a line from Singapore to [[Port Darwin]], although it ran through the Dutch territory of [[Java]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1871 Java - Port Darwin Cable |date=2014-11-05 |work=History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications |url=http://atlantic-cable.com/Cables/1871Java-PortDarwin/ |access-date=2015-01-03}}</ref> By 1872, messages could be sent direct from London to [[Adelaide]] and [[Sydney]]. Australia was linked to [[New Zealand]] by cable in 1876.{{efn|name=Darwin-route-not-Perth|The path of the line through Australia depicted in the image is incorrect: It should instead enter through Darwin and not Perth, with the overland telegraph line moving straight down to Adelaide through [[Alice Springs]] then connecting into Australia's existing telegraph network.}}

To complete the All Red Line, therefore, the final major cable laying project was the trans-[[Pacific]] section. A resolution supporting such a project was passed by the [[First Colonial Conference]] in 1887 and more detailed plans were approved at the [[1894 Colonial Conference]] in Ottawa which was called specifically on the topic of the cable project. The "Pacific Cable Committee" was formed in 1896 to consider the proposal and in 1901 the '''Pacific Cable Board''' was formed with eight members: Three from Britain, two from Canada, two from Australia and one from New Zealand. Funding for the project was shared between the British, Canadian, New Zealand, New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland governments. In 1902 the ''Colonia'', a newly-built cable vessel, began laying the 8,000&nbsp;tonnes of cable needed to complete the [[Bamfield, British Columbia]], to [[Fanning Island]] section of the cable. The final cost was around £2&nbsp;million.

Originally, the British government felt the All Red system should have sea-landings only on British-controlled soil for security purposes. Due to this, Britain actively sought to acquire [[Fanning Island]] (now [[Tabuaeran]] in [[Kiribati]]) to use for a midpoint power regeneration / relay station between Western Canada and Australia on the trans-Pacific Ocean branch of the system. [[Fanning Island]] was annexed to the British Empire in 1888.