Editing Lord Kelvin (section)

=== Disaster and triumph ===
Thomson's fears were realised when Whitehouse's apparatus proved insufficiently sensitive and had to be replaced by Thomson's mirror galvanometer. Whitehouse continued to maintain that it was his equipment that was providing the service and started to engage in desperate measures to remedy some of the problems. He fatally damaged the cable by applying 2,000 [[volts]]. When the cable failed completely Whitehouse was dismissed, though Thomson objected and was reprimanded by the board for his interference. Thomson subsequently regretted that he had acquiesced too readily to many of Whitehouse's proposals and had not challenged him with sufficient vigour.<ref>[[#Sharlin|Sharlin]], p. 144.</ref>

A joint committee of inquiry was established by the [[Board of Trade]] and the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Most of the blame for the cable's failure was found to rest with Whitehouse.<ref>"Board of Trade Committee to Inquire into ... Submarine Telegraph Cables', Parl. papers (1860), 52.591, no. 2744</ref> The committee found that, though underwater cables were notorious in their lack of [[Reliability engineering|reliability]], most of the problems arose from known and avoidable causes. Thomson was appointed one of a five-member committee to recommend a specification for a new cable. The committee reported in October 1863.<ref>"Report of the Scientific Committee Appointed to Consider the Best Form of Cable for Submersion Between Europe and America" (1863)</ref>

In July 1865, Thomson sailed on the cable-laying expedition of the {{SS|Great Eastern}}, but the voyage was dogged by technical problems. The cable was lost after {{convert|1200|mi|km}} had been laid, and the project was abandoned. A further attempt in 1866 laid a new cable in two weeks, and then recovered and completed the 1865 cable. The enterprise was feted as a triumph by the public, and Thomson enjoyed a large share of the adulation. Thomson, along with the other principals of the project, was [[knighted]] on 10 November 1866. To exploit his inventions for signalling on long submarine cables, Thomson entered into a partnership with [[C. F. Varley]] and [[Fleeming Jenkin]]. In conjunction with the latter, he also devised an [[automatic curb sender]], a kind of [[telegraph key]] for sending messages on a cable.