Thomson took part in the laying of the French Atlantic submarine communications cable of 1869, and with Jenkin was engineer of the Western and Brazilian and Platino-Brazilian cables, assisted by vacation student James Alfred Ewing.
汤姆森参加了1869年法国大西洋海底通信电缆的敷设，并与詹金一道担任Western and Brazilian和Platino-Brazilian电缆的工程师，同时还有假期学生James Alfred Ewing协助。