Every now and again I take the chance to study the electronics of the camera boats I’m in. Sometimes I see things that really peak my interest.
The photo with this is a case in point. Besides the names of landmarks I noticed the notation of “submarine cable.”
I’ve fished the Arkansas River my whole life. During World War II around the Pine Bluff Arsenal the US Army put in Submarine traps. The idea being a German U Boat could come through the Gulf of Mexico, up the Mississippi and then the Arkansas River to cause all sorts of problems. The end of the war and lock and dam system made those submarine traps obsolete. They are virtually rusted away these days. But I have caught fish around them many times.
So that’s where my mind went. Submarine cables must be here to stop any nefarious enemy from invading New York through the waterway. But I’ve not been able to find anyone to verify that or even know what I’m talking about.
So I turned to the only source you can find to get an answer, Google. Not sure if it’s right or wrong but it is an answer.
This is what I found for Submarine cables:
“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. … Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic.”
The whole time I’m thinking I’m stumbling around an 80-year old war story. Come to find out it’s a new age way to transfer information. You may be reading this blog thanks to that cable, which would be cool. But I can’t guarantee you there aren’t any enemy subs lurking around out there this week.