Editing Optical telegraph (section)

===Other regions===
[[File:BremerhavenSemaphore.jpg|thumb|Optical telegraph in the harbour of [[Bremerhaven]], Germany]]
Once it had proved its success in France, the optical telegraph was imitated in many other countries, especially after it was used by Napoleon to coordinate his empire and army. In most of these countries, the [[post office|postal authorities]] operated the semaphore lines. Many national services adopted signalling systems different from the Chappe system. For example, the UK and Sweden adopted systems of shuttered panels (in contradiction to the Chappe brothers' contention that angled rods are more visible). In some cases, new systems were adopted because they were thought to be improvements. But many countries pursued their own, often inferior, designs for reasons of national pride or not wanting to copy from rivals and enemies.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 179–180</ref>

In 1801, the Danish post office installed a semaphore line across the [[Great Belt]] strait, ''Storebæltstelegrafen'', between islands [[Funen]] and [[Zealand]] with stations at [[Nyborg]] on Funen, on the small island [[Sprogø]] in the middle of the strait, and at [[Korsør]] on Zealand. It was in use until 1865.<ref>[http://www.ptt-museum.dk/en/exhibitions/the_permanent_exhibition/the_age_of_invention/ The Age of Invention 1849–1920] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719130848/http://www.ptt-museum.dk/en/exhibitions/the_permanent_exhibition/the_age_of_invention/ |date=2011-07-19 }}, Post & Tele Museum Danmark, website visited on 8 May 2010.</ref>

{{main|Prussian semaphore system}}[[File:Semaphore Line Tower on Winter Palace.jpg|thumb|Former optical telegraph tower on the [[Winter Palace]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia]]
In the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] ordered the construction of an experimental line in 1819, but due to opposition from the defence minister [[Karl von Hake]], nothing happened until 1830 when a short three-station line between Berlin and [[Potsdam]] was built. The design was based on the Swedish telegraph with the number of shutters increased to twelve.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 184–185</ref> ''[[Postrat]]'' Carl Pistor proposed instead a semaphore system based on Watson's design in England. An operational line of this design running Berlin-[[Magdeburg]]-[[Dortmund]]-[[Köln]]-[[Bonn]]-[[Koblenz]] was completed in 1833. The line employed about 200 people, comparable to Sweden, but no network ever developed and no more official lines were built. The line was decommissioned in 1849 in favour of an electrical line.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, pp. 185–187</ref>

Although there were no more government sponsored official lines, there was some private enterprise. Johann Ludwig Schmidt opened a commercial line from [[Hamburg]] to [[Cuxhaven]] in 1837. In 1847, Schmidt opened a second line from [[Bremen]] to [[Bremerhaven]]. These lines were used for reporting the arrival of commercial ships. The two lines were later linked with three additional stations to create possibly the only private telegraph network in the optical telegraph era.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 186</ref> The telegraph inspector for this network was [[Friedrich Clemens Gerke]], who would later move to the Hamburg-Cuxhaven electrical telegraph line and develop what became the [[International Morse Code]].<ref>Huurdeman, p. 76</ref> The Hamburg line went out of use in 1850, and the Bremen line in 1852.<ref>Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 187</ref>

In [[Russia]], [[Nicholas I of Russia|Tsar Nicolas I]] inaugurated a line between [[Moscow]] and [[Warsaw]] of {{convert|1200|km}} length in 1833; it needed 220 stations staffed by 1,320 operators. The stations were noted to be unused and decaying in 1859, so the line was probably abandoned long before this.<ref name="Holzmann & Pehrson, p. 180"/>

In the [[United States]], the first optical telegraph was built by [[Jonathan Grout]] in 1804 but ceased operation in 1807. This {{convert|104|km|adj=on}} line between [[Martha's Vineyard]] with [[Boston]] transmitted shipping news. An optical telegraph system linking [[Philadelphia]] and the mouth of the [[Delaware Bay]] was in place by 1809 and had a similar purpose; a second line to [[New York City]] was operational by 1834, when its Philadelphia terminus was moved to the tower of the [[Merchants' Exchange Building (Philadelphia)|Merchants Exchange]]. One of the principal hills in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] is also named "[[Telegraph Hill, San Francisco|Telegraph Hill]]", after the semaphore telegraph which was established there in 1849 to signal the arrival of ships into [[San Francisco Bay]].