History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications
from the first submarine cable of 1850 to the worldwide fiber optic network

1921 Dutch East Indies Cable
Soerabaja - Macassar - Donggala - Menado

This cable sample has a hand-lettered label which reads:

The seven-strand copper conductor is insulated with gutta percha, surrounded by a brass tape to prevent the intrusion of teredo worms, and armoured with ten steel wires.

The cable was laid in 1921 by Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke A.G., using a chartered Norwegian steamer, the Flint.

The system length was 1710 nm. and the cable connected the Dutch East Indies territories on the route Soerabaja - Macassar - Donggala - Menado.

Research Material Needed

The Atlantic Cable website is non-commercial, and its mission is to make available on line as much information as possible.

You can help - if you have cable material, old or new, please contact me. Cable samples, instruments, documents, brochures, souvenir books, photographs, family stories, all are valuable to researchers and historians.

If you have any cable-related items that you could photograph, copy, scan, loan, or sell, please email me: billb@ftldesign.com