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

1923 San Pedro - Catalina Island Cable

This single-wire 7-circuit telephone cable was laid in 1923 from San Pedro, California to Avalon, Catalina Island, by CS Dellwood for the US Army. The short run of cable was laid from a drum on deck rather than from a coil in the hold.

The cable was operated for the Army by AT&T. Its manufacturer is not known, but it would have been an American rather than a British company. The cable construction is shown in the diagrams below - note the use of rubber insulation rather than the usual gutta percha. The conductor was one copper wire surrounded by twelve.

Research Material Needed

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—Bill Burns, publisher and webmaster: Atlantic-Cable.com