The Alaska Communication System (ACS), also known as the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS), was a system of cables and telegraph lines authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1900 and constructed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The communications lines were to serve both military and civilian needs in the territory of Alaska. By 1904, ACS comprised some 2,100 miles (3,400 km) of undersea cable, over 1,400 miles (2,300 km) of land lines, and a wireless segment across at least 107 miles (172 km). [1] On 15 May 1936 WAMCATS was renamed the U.S. Army Alaska Communication System. [2] The Alaska Communication System remained under the control of the Army Signal Corps until 1962 when it was taken over by the U.S. Air Force. The ACS handled the radioteletype, radio telephone, 500 kHz ship-to-shore frequencies, collected communications intelligence, and other services for more than half a century in Alaska. [3]
The Army Signal Corps (which develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of all the U.S. armed forces) connected military posts with each other and with the rest of the continental United States. This system of thousands of miles of suspended landlines and submarine cable included the first successful long-distance radio operation in the world. The telegraph was also the first major contribution to Alaskan infrastructure provided by the U.S. federal government, marking the beginning of the government's central role in the development of Alaska. [4]
At the start of the 20th century, when the United States was committing American troops to military engagements around the world, the Signal Corps in Alaska worked to make sure military communications could flow. [4] An important message, such as General MacArthur's World War II demand for the surrender of the Japanese, was received, automatically recorded as printed text and parallel punched holes on paper tape, and could then be relayed on to other stations. [5]
The ACS also provided a vital lifeline – sometimes quite literally – to the many remote and almost inaccessible communities across Alaska: it enabled the icebound city of Nome to alert the outside world about a diphtheria outbreak which led to the successful 1925 serum run to Nome.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Alaska was a cold and inhospitable place where travel, let alone news, took a month or more to happen. In 1870, Alaska had just recently been sold to America by the Russian Empire. In the U.S. that year, the U.S. Army Signal Corps began to establish isolated forts (meteorological stations) throughout the Western territories. These stations were usually not much more than cold, lonely huts manned by a single telegraph operator or soldier. [5] [6]
In 1900 the Congress appropriated nearly a half a million dollars for the purpose of establishing a land and underwater communications system connecting the various military posts in Alaska with the rest of the United States. [2]
The communications system was operated by signal soldiers assigned to the depot companies at the various forts around Alaska. WAMCATS soldiers reported directly to the Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army. [6]
Wired telephone poles eventually were put in place in Alaska, however, they were not reliable. One of the problems was that the heavy snow and ice typical in Alaska would cause the telephone poles to fall over, breaking the connections. During the winter there might be six feet of frozen snow that could topple poles. [7] Laying cable underwater would solve part of that problem, and would also help the military with ship to shore communications.
The first submarine telegraph cable laid by the United States Signal Corps was in the Philippines in 1899. Soon thereafter, underwater cable was first laid in Alaska in 1900, when the vessel CS Orizaba connected Unalakik to St. Michael and St. Michael to Safety Island, Cape Nome. [8]
Between 1900 and 1905, Army soldiers of the 59th Signal Battalion (also known as the "Voice of the Arctic") constructed a telegraph line linking the U.S. Army posts across Alaska with each other, including a 107-mile (172 km) wireless system crossing Norton Sound on the west coast of Alaska. In 1903 an underwater cable between Sitka, Alaska and Seattle, Washington was laid by USAT Burnside, [9] allowing rapid communication between Alaska and the lower continental U.S. [2]
By 1918, the 1st Signal Service Company was activated at Valdez, Alaska and 2nd Signal Service Company at Fort Gibbon to operate WAMCATS in Alaska. The 2nd Signal Service Company was not formally inactivated until 1927. [6]
The vessel CS Dellwood undertook the laying of a new submarine cable in 1924 between Seattle and Alaska with a post at Ketchikan. [8]
From 1931 the Army Signal Corps did not own a cable ship and so the system deteriorated until the beginning of World War II in 1941.
The first submarine telephone cables were laid in 1956 with the Army cable ships Albert J. Myer and Basil O. Lenoir undertaking the work. The cable came ashore at around 40-mile (64 km) intervals. [8]
The ACS was transferred to the Air Force in July 1962. [6] RCA purchased ACS for $31.5 million in 1970. [10]
Electrical telegraphy is a point-to-point text messaging system, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems called telegraphs, that were devised to send text messages more quickly than physically carrying them. Electrical telegraphy can be considered the first example of electrical engineering.
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not. Ancient signalling systems, although sometimes quite extensive and sophisticated as in China, were generally not capable of transmitting arbitrary text messages. Possible messages were fixed and predetermined, so such systems are thus not true telegraphs.
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents, such as the first transatlantic telegraph cable which became operational on 16 August 1858.
Communication with submarines is a field within military communications that presents technical challenges and requires specialized technology. Because radio waves do not travel well through good electrical conductors like salt water, submerged submarines are cut off from radio communication with their command authorities at ordinary radio frequencies. Submarines can surface and raise an antenna above the sea level, or float a tethered buoy carrying an antenna, then use ordinary radio transmissions; however, this makes them vulnerable to detection by anti-submarine warfare forces.
A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, for electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cable over bow or stern or both. Bow sheaves, some very large, were characteristic of all cable ships in the past, but newer ships are tending toward having stern sheaves only, as seen in the photo of CS Cable Innovator at the Port of Astoria on this page. The names of cable ships are often preceded by "C.S." as in CS Long Lines.
The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Major Albert J. Myer, and had an important role in the American Civil War. Over its history, it had the initial responsibility for portfolios and new technologies that were eventually transferred to other U.S. government entities. Such responsibilities included military intelligence, weather forecasting, and aviation.
Alascom, Inc., doing business as AT&T Alaska, is an Alaskan telecommunications company; specifically, an interexchange carrier (IXC). AT&T Alascom is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T Inc. AT&T Alascom, previously known as Alascom and many other names, was the first long-distance telephone company in Alaska. AT&T Alascom has extensive telecommunications infrastructure in Alaska, including three satellites, undersea and terrestrial cables containing optical fiber, and numerous earth stations.
Military communications or military signals involve all aspects of communications, or conveyance of information, by armed forces. Examples from Jane's Military Communications include text, audio, facsimile, tactical ground-based communications, naval signalling, terrestrial microwave, tropospheric scatter, satellite communications systems and equipment, surveillance and signal analysis, security, direction finding and jamming. The most urgent purposes are to communicate information to commanders and orders from them.
Alaska Communications is a telecommunications corporation headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska. It was the first telecommunications provider in the state of Alaska to maintain a third-generation wireless network and the only provider in Alaska that owned fully incorporated infrastructure for the major telecommunications platforms; wireless communications, Internet networking, and local and long-distance phone service. Alaska Communications wireline operations include advanced data networks and an underwater fiber optic system. The Alaska Communications wireless operations included a statewide 3G CDMA network, and coverage extended from the North Slope to Southeast Alaska.
USNS Albert J. Myer (T-ARC-6) was the second of only two Maritime Commission type S3-S2-BP1 ships built for the US Army near the end of World War II intended to support Army Signal Corps communications cables. She is named for Brig. Gen. Albert J. Myer, the founder of the Signal Corps. The other ship was the William H. G. Bullard, later USS Neptune, which Myer later joined in naval service.
The British Armed Forces operates a wide range of communications and information systems (CIS). Some of these are specialised military systems, while others are procured off-the-shelf. They fall into three main categories: satellite ground terminals, terrestrial trunk communications systems, and combat net radio systems. Every part of the British Army uses combat net radio, but only the Royal Corps of Signals and the Royal Air Force operates trunk systems and multi-channel satellite communications.
USS Nashawena (AG-142/YAG-35) was a United States Navy cable layer constructed during World War II for the Army as the wooden-hulled self-propelled barge BSP 2008. The barge was completed converted to cable work for U.S. Army Signal Corps as the cable ship Col. William. A. Glassford supporting the Alaska Communications System in the shallow island waters of Alaska. She was transferred to the United States Navy in 1947 as a miscellaneous auxiliary and assigned to cable-laying duties for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
AT&T Corporation, an abbreviation for its former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, was an American telecommunications company that provided voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.
The Government Cable Office in Seward, Alaska, United States, is a historic building that served as a telegraph office that connected Seward with communications in the rest of the United States.
Mount Billy Mitchell is a prominent 6,919-foot (2,109 m) peak located in the Chugach Mountains, 35 miles (56 km) east of Valdez and 12 miles (19 km) west of the Copper River in the U.S. state of Alaska. This mountain forms a prominent and easily visible landmark between mile markers 43 and 51 of the Richardson Highway, as the highway passes just to its west between Tonsina and the Thompson Pass.
The Russian Signal Troops , also known as the Signal Communications Troops, is a Combat Arm of the Russian Ground Forces, responsible for military communications.
USAT Burnside was the first American cable ship in the Pacific. Between 1900 and 1905 she laid 3,000 miles of submarine cable which connected many parts of the Philippines and Alaska to the rest of the world for the first time in history. She was responsible for maintenance of the Army cables on the Pacific coast of the United States for two decades.
The Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army was a position which was established during the American Civil War. Over the course of a century, the chief signal officer was the commanding officer of the U.S. Army Signal Corps which at various times was responsible for combat communications, strategic communications, military aviation, homing pigeons, designing and purchasing the Army's radio, radar, and other electronic equipment, weather reporting, Army photography and motion pictures, collection of signal intelligence, and research and development of technologies as diverse as wig-wag flag signaling, cryptography, FM radio, submarine cable, and satellite communications.
