Robert Charles Halpin (born February 16, 1836 in Wicklow, Ireland) captained the gigantic SS Great Eastern which laid transoceanic telegraph cables in the late 1800s. 1836 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Wicklow (Cill Mhantáin in Irish) is the county town of County Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland. ... This article describes the ship the Great Eastern. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... A submarine communications cable is a cable laid beneath the sea to carry telecommunications between countries. ...

Halpin left home at age 10 to become a seafarer. As such, he led an adventurous life. In 1851 Halpin survived the wreck of the brig Briton while many others were lost. At age 22, he was appointed master of the Propellor and later of Circassian, both steamships. Two years later, while commanding S.S. Argo, it collided with an iceberg and sank. In 1860, Halpin delivered two troop ships to South America for Spain. During the American Civil War, he was a blockade-runner, re-supplying the Confederacy, and in 1864 he was captured and released by Union forces. A sailor is a member of the crew of a ship or boat. ...

The Great Eastern, by far the largest ship in the world, was converted from passenger liner to cable-layer. Halpin was an officer on it when one of the first transatlantic telegraph cables was laid. Later, as captain, Halpin laid a total of 26,000 miles of cables. The cable routes included Bombay-Aden-Suez, Madeira-Brazil, Australia-New Zealand-East Indies, Madras-Singapore-Penang, and Transatlantic. For Halpin's services Brazilian Emperor Pedro II made him Knight of the Order of the Rose. Cyrus Field was the instigator of the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable between North America and Europe August 5th 1858. ...

Returning to Wicklow, Halpin became chairman of the Wicklow Gas Company and a member of the harbour board. He also stood for political office but was unsuccessful. In 1894, Robert Halpin died at age 58 of gangrene resulting from a minor scrape. A granite obelisk in the center of town commemorates his life. 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

External links

• Robert Halpin - Mariner Supreme