Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

Pre 1914, Western Australia, Rottnest Island, Undersea Cable, 1900

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Subcollections

Communications Gallery - Centenary of Royal Australian Corps of Signals

Overview

Section of the 1900 undersea communication cable to Rottnest Island. The small diameter line beneath the cable is a modern fibre-optic cable with a 10,000 X carrying capacity of the gutta-percha covered wire armoured cable above.

Historical information

Communication between Rottnest and the mainland was not improved until after the tragic sinking of the City of York, wrecked on Rottnest in 1899. Faulty signalling by the lighthouse keeper was one cause of the ship being wrecked and 11 being drowned.
Premier John Forrest soon promised either wireless or telegraph communication, or a telephone cable A single circuit telephone cable was laid in 1900. This cable served until replaced in 1935 by a higher capacity multi-circuit cable.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-54-520

Contextual Information

This exhibit is located in the Communications Gallery commissioned by the Australian Army Museum of Western Australia as part of the Centenary commemorations of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals in the broader context of the evolution of communications technologies. Communication devices used by the Australian Army also are presented in their operational context throughout the Museum.

Links to additional resources

Trove - Detailed Report on Official Opening

1935 Cable

Rottnest Heliograph

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

Organisation Details
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