£800
THE SHIP'S BELL FROM THE CABLE LAYER S.S. ELECTRA, 1885
cast in brass and inscribed inset lettering ELECTRA / 1885, the bell -- 8 x 8in. (20 x 20cm.) mounted in elaborate brass belfry on wooden plinth base -- 18in. (46cm.) overall
Built by Napier & Sons, Glasgow for the Eastern Telegraph Co. Ltd., Electra was a 1,236-ton purpose-built vessel and could hold 250 nautical miles of deep-sea cable in her four tanks. She was also the first ship of the Eastern group to adopt what was to become conventional cable machinery, i.e. winches on the main deck with drums accessible through the hatches in the deck above - in Electra's case, the awning deck. Based in Gibraltar, she enjoyed a long career before being sent to Genoa for breaking in 1923. These Rooms sold her launching mallet as lot 205, 12th May, 2015.
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28.80% inc VAT*
