What is mackay-bennett?

The Mackay-Bennett was a cable-laying ship designed and built by J & G Thompson Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1884. It was named after its owners, Mackay and Bennett, who were both prominent businessmen in the cable-laying industry. The ship was constructed with a length of 335 feet and a beam of 45 feet, and it had a gross tonnage of approximately 3,600.

The Mackay-Bennett was primarily used for laying telegraph and telephone cables on the ocean floor between Europe and North America. In 1912, the ship was famously involved in the recovery of victims from the Titanic disaster. It was dispatched to the site of the wreckage and recovered over 300 bodies, which were then transported to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Mackay-Bennett was also involved in several other notable events throughout its career, including the laying of the first transatlantic telephone cable in 1956. The ship was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1965 after over 80 years of service.