Editing Cable layer (section)

== Modern cable ships ==
Cable ships have unique requirements related to having long idle periods in port between cable laying or repairs, operation at low speeds or stopped at sea during cable operations, long periods running astern (less frequent as stern layers are now common), high maneuverability, and a fair speed to reach operation areas.<ref name=Gill>{{cite journal |last=Gill |first=A. J. |date=January 1947 |title=H.M.T.S. ''Monarch'' |journal=The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal |volume=39 |issue=January 1947 |pages=129–138 |location=London |publisher=The Institution of Post Office Electrical Engineers |url=http://www.samhallas.co.uk/repository/journals/POEEJ/POEEJ%20Vol%2039%20Pt%204%20January%201947.pdf |access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref>

Modern cable ships differ greatly from their predecessors. There are two main types of cable ships: cable repair ships and cable-laying ships. Cable repair ships, like the Japanese ''Tsugaru Maru'', tend to be smaller and more maneuverable; they are capable of laying cable, but their primary job is fixing or repairing broken sections of cable. A cable-laying ship, like ''Long Lines'', is designed to lay new cables. Such ships are bigger than repair ships and less maneuverable; their cable storage drums are also larger and are set in parallel so one drum can feed into another, allowing them to lay cable much faster. These ships are also generally equipped with a linear cable engine (LCE) that helps them lay cable quickly. By locating the manufacturing plant near a harbor, cable can be loaded into the ship's hold as it is being manufactured.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/03/10/technology/internet-cables-oceans.html How the Internet Travels Across Oceans, by Adam Satariano, graphics By Karl Russell, Troy Griggs and Blacki Migliozzi, photographs by Chang W. Lee, ''New York Times'', March 10, 2019]</ref>

The newest design of cable layers, though, is a combination of cable-laying and repair ships.  An example is {{USNS|Zeus|T-ARC-7}} the only U.S. naval cable layer-repair ship. ''Zeus'' uses two diesel-electric engines that produce {{convert|5000|hp|abbr=out|sigfig=2|lk=on}} each and can carry her up to {{convert|15|kn|km/h mph}}. She can lay about {{convert|1000|mi|km}} of telecommunications cable to a depth of {{convert|9000|ft|m}}. The purpose of ''Zeus'' was to be a cable ship that could do anything required of it, so the ship was built to be able to lay and retrieve cable from either the bow or the stern with ease.  This design was similar to that of the first cable ship, ''Great Eastern''. ''Zeus'' was built to be as maneuverable as possible so that it could fulfill both roles: as a cable layer or a cable repair ship.<ref>Sanderlin, T., Stuart, W., & Jamieson, D.R., (1979). ''Cable Laying Ship''. Presented at the April 18, 1979, meeting of Chesapeake Section of The Society of Naval Architects and marine Engineers.</ref>