Blog 147 == TITANIC - PART VII - COMMUNICATIONS AND MARCONI
- ranganathanblog
- Dec 21, 2024
- 7 min read
Communications and Marconi were synonymous at the turn of the century, in the 1900s. How deeply embedded was this shipboard consciousness of Marconi can be related to my service in an Indian shipping company in the 1970s, 6 decades after the Titanic tragedy. While the Radio Officer used to be called ‘Sparks’ (probably because of the ‘Rotary Spark Discharger’ of the Marconi equipment of the Titanic days - my conjecture) by the seniors on board, the Indian crew would respectfully address the Radio Officer as ‘Marconi Sahib’. That was the depth of synonymous relations between communications and Marconi.
Communication between ship and shore was by Morse code, as it was for conventional telegraphy. The equipment only transmitted messages for about 300 miles in daylight, although that figure doubled or tripled after dark thanks to the refraction of long-wave radiation in the ionosphere. Source Science Museum
This wireless communication, first used in 1901, became the all important mainstay of the safety of the ship on an immediate basis.
The efficacy of the Wireless became transparent to all in 1909 when the SS Republic, (ironically) another White Star Liner collided with an Italian steamer off Nantucket Island. The ‘Republic’ sank over a period of 2 days but not before the Marconi Wireless Operator sent out a flood of 700 messages, giving the location of the stranded ship. His actions meant that over 1700 lives were saved.
The installation of Marconi’s Wireless sets on board ships gave an added sense of security. Not only ship-to-shore communication was possible, but also ship-to-ship messaging was possible.
The ‘Titanic’ had on board the latest of Marconi equipment, the ‘Rotary Spark Discharger’, developed in 1912. This enhanced equipment gave the Titanic a stronger signal, even more than her elder sister, the ‘Olympic’.
Titanic was fitted out with some of the best wireless equipment available. But there was not yet an established practice of keeping a clear channel for emergency communications.
Since Titanic's wireless operators were transmitting over the same frequency as other ships, and the channels were jammed with passenger communications, several ice warnings from other vessels were either missed or ignored. - From Science Museum.
During the time of the ‘Titanic’ construction, the Marconi equipment was operated by employees of Marconi, who were not the employees of White Star Line. They continued being Marconi employees even after the official take over by White Star Lines.
Most of the ships had only one Wireless Operator, so he used to shut down the equipment for the night.
The Titanic had two operators, one senior and the other junior - Phillips and Bride.
Passenger communications were a cash cow to the Wireless Operator as well as the Marconi company. Each private message sent or received meant income. This may well have proved to be a very good reason for the Titanic smashing into the iceberg, as two very important messages were not relayed to the Bridge or the Captain - all because it did not start with the prefix MSG. The substance of the message was ignored by Wireless Operator.
It was probably after the Titanic sailed out of Southampton that the Marconi set had some problems. Marconi’s strict instructions to their staff was that they should not try to repair the set. Rather, they should wait for the next port and ask for a Marconi Service Technician to rectify the problem.
But the two Wireless Operators, Phillips and Bride, overstepped and bypassed Marconi Company protocol and took a couple of days to repair the fault in th communications equipment.
Their dedication proved to be a blessing in disguise as, in the last hours of the Titanic, they were able to send out Distress messages, SOS, and the coordinates, which were received by the ‘Carpathia’ and, probably, other ships.
Message received on 11th April
Titanic: Ice warnings on 14 April 1912. Only part of this was known to Captain Smith.
The Ships in the Area
The Carpathia’s Wireless Operator, although technically not on duty, was, still in the Marconi Room - and to the Titanic’s luck, had not switched off the wireless - when he received the first Distress Message from the Titanic. Initially, he was not believed by the duty officers on the Bridge, till he went and woke up the Captain. The Cunard Lines ‘Carpathia’ immediately changed course and headed to those coordinates. They were 50+ nautical miles away. Their maximum speed was 14 knots.
The ‘Californian’ was hardly 17 nautical miles away. They had stopped for the night due to the surrounding ice fields and icebergs. But their Wireless Operator had shut down his equipment a little earlier and, hence, never received any distress messages.
The ‘Californian’ Wireless Operator had tried to send a message to the ‘Titanic’ that they had stopped for the night due to the presence of icebergs, but the Titanic’s operator was busy in sending out private messages, of which he had a big backlog due to the fault in the equipment in the previous days.
The ‘Californian’s last message was sent out at 10:55 pm, the text of it read “Say, old man, we are stopped and surrounded by ice”. (It was not preceded by the letters 'MSG' which would have meant that the message was for the Captain).To which the Titanic’s Operator replied “Shut up, shut up, I am busy. I am working Cape Race”.
Probably if this message had gotten through to the Captain of the Titanic that the ‘Californian’ had stopped for the night because they were surrounded by icebergs, he may have persuaded himself to stop, which would, then, have changed the course of history.
To the Titanic’s Wireless Operators’ credit, had they not put in the effort to repair the fault in the Marconi equipment, there would have been no Distress Messages before the vessel sank. Even the 706 passengers and crew in the Lifeboats may not have survived, let alone be rescued. Nobody would have known ‘what happened that night’.
SOS (· · · — — — · · ·) ( three dots three dashes three dots) is a Morse code. It is used as distress code, to signal danger. It was introduced by the German government in radio regulations on April 1, 1905. It became the worldwide standard when it was included in the second International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed on November 3, 1906.
The Titanic used the Marconi signal of ‘CQD’ (Come Quick, Danger) in their initial calls for help and followed it up with ‘SOS’ too, becoming one of the first ships on record to use the ‘SOS’ signal.
SOS remained the maritime radio distress signal until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.
SOS is still recognized as a standard distress signal that may be used with any signaling method.
The SS Mesaba sent a radio message warning the RMS Titanic of icebergs in the Atlantic on April 14, 1912 at 7:50 PM, nearly four hours before the collision.
The Mesaba sends a warning to the Titanic about an ice field that includes “heavy pack ice and [a] great number [of] large icebergs.” Wireless operator Jack Phillips—who works for the Marconi Company—is handling passengers' messages and never passes the warning on to the Titanic's bridge.
The Mesaba’s warning does not reach the Bridge, as the message does not start with ‘MSG’, which the universal (or Marconi’s) Wireless Operators’ alert that the message is meant for the Captain. The ice field indicated in the message was directly on Titanic’s course.
Number of iceberg warnings received that day: 6
According to Titanic: The Legend, Myths and Folklore by Bruce Alpine, Titanic received three ice warnings from other ships in the area on April 14 (one never reached Smith), as well as three messages from the SS Californian, a small steamer that had stopped approximately 19 miles from the luxury ship. Its final warning, sent at 11 p.m.: "We are stopped and surrounded by ice."
What Happened That Night in the Marconi Room:
Night of the Sinking
Source : Titanica Wiki
Had there been a protocol in place to prioritise the ship’s messages, this tragedy would never have happened.
In the aftermath of the sinking, new regulations and standards were set to ensure that wireless operators aboard ships prioritised safety-related messages and that ships maintained a continuous listening watch on a common frequency. Marconi’s invention had forever changed maritime communication, and the lessons learned from the Titanic disaster would help prevent similar tragedies in the future. - Titanic Voyage History Centre
As Wireless Telegrphy gave way to more modern technology - read telecommunications - like ‘radio’, ‘teletype’ and ‘telex’ the Wireless Operators turned into Radio Officers. Mind you, in spite of the sophistication of transmission, the Wireless set was still a part and parcel of the Radio Room.
In today’s shipping world, the ‘Global Maritime Distress and Safety System’ displaced all the Radio Room equipment in one go.
Within a few years of the GMDSS equipment becoming mandatory, (1999), Radio Offficers were made redundant. Bridge Officers had to undergo courses on GMDSS and were trained in the use of GMDSS.
With the Morse Code having been ‘officially retired in 1999, a huge success story came to an end.
But the Marconi Company story lives on, as most of the GMDSS equipment on board is manufactured by Marconi.
The SAILOR set is the most popular one and in common use.
The GMDSS sets of today are capable of the following:
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) helps vessels communicate and stay safe by providing a variety of services, including:
Distress alerting: GMDSS allows vessels to automatically send distress alerts to shore and other ships.
Search and rescue: GMDSS helps locate survivors of vessels that have sent a distress alert.
Maritime safety information: GMDSS requires ships to receive broadcasts of maritime safety information, such as weather conditions and navigation hazards.
Communication: GMDSS allows for communication between ships and shore, and between ships.
GMDSS uses a number of components, including:
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB): A small, portable, and buoyant beacon that can issue distress alerts anywhere in the world
Search and Rescue Transponder (SART): A portable radar transponder that helps locate survivors
Inmarsat: A satellite network that provides communications worldwide, except for the polar regions
GMDSS equipment requires a power supply from three sources: the ship's normal alternators or generators, the ship's emergency alternator or generator, and a dedicated radio battery supply.
To operate GMDSS equipment, shipboard personnel must hold a General Operators Certificate (GOC). This certificate is obtained after completing a short course and passing an exam.
A Memento of a Tragic Loss
AR
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