COMPAC, the Commonwealth Pacific Cable System, was an

undersea telephone cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried ...

system connecting

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

with

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and Australia. It was completed by closing the last gap in

Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, at 6:25 a.m. B.S.T. on October 10, 1963. Public service of the cable commenced early in December 1963.

History

COMPAC was developed as a complementary system to CANTAT, the system linking Canada to the United Kingdom, which had begun operating in December 1961. COMPAC was designed to extend west towards

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

nations in the Pacific, linking

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and Sydney, Australia, via

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

and

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Di ...

in Fiji. The Auckland – Sydney section was completed in early 1962, followed by the Auckland – Suva section in July, with the entire system completed by October 1963. The system cost a total of $100 million and spanned 14,000 miles, from

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, t ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

via CANTAT to Newfoundland, by microwave link across Canada, then cable on to Hawaii,

( Fiji),

(New Zealand), and Sydney (Australia). Three

cable ships A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding ca ...

(CS ''Mercury'', CS ''Retriever'', and HMTS ''Monarch'') laid the cable. The link contains 11,000 miles of telephone cable, which, at the time, provided 80 two-way speech channels or 1,760

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point (telecommunications), point-to-point and point- ...

circuits. In addition, the cable carried telegraph traffic, leased circuits for airlines, shipping companies and other commercial transmission.

References

{{Submarine communications cables in the Pacific Ocean Submarine communications cables in the Pacific Ocean Australia–Canada relations Canada–New Zealand relations Canada–Fiji relations Australia–Fiji relations Fiji–New Zealand relations Australia–New Zealand relations 1963 establishments in British Columbia 1963 establishments in Hawaii 1963 establishments in New Zealand 1963 establishments in Australia 1963 establishments in Fiji