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

1963 COMPAC Cable

Manufactured by STC (Standard Telephones & Cables Ltd.), and Submarine Cables Ltd.

1. High tensile non-twisting steel core.

2. Inner conductor, consisting of a thin longitudinal copper tape, box-seamed tightly on to the steel core.

3. Polythene insulation.

4. Aluminium outer conductor tapes (core diameter 0.99 in).

5. Polythene separator.

6. Aluminium screening tapes, interleaved with polythene tapes; these screening tapes reduce cross-talk between cable turns when the cable is stored in the ship's hold during laying.

7. Chemically impregnated cotton tape to inhibit corrosion.

8. Polythene sheath (overall diameter 1.25 in).

Click here for more information on COMPAC.

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.

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