Morse Code and the Titanic

The sinking of the Titanic is one of the best-known maritime disasters and would have been even worse if it were not for the use of Morse code via Marconi's radio.

Those who have been saved, have been saved through one man, Mr Marconi... and his marvellous invention.

— Herbert Samuel, Postmaster General (April 1912)

Marconi had made the first radio transmission in 1895 and the Titanic was one of the first ships to have a Marconi radio installation. The radios did not carry audio: Morse code was used, so it was the combination of Guglielmo Marconi's radio and Samuel Morse's code that saved lives.

The Titanic, sailing from Southampton (UK) to New York (USA), hit an iceberg late on 14th April 1912 and began to sink. The ship's two radio operators sent out distress signals using Morse code which were picked up by several ships including the nearby ship Carpathia, which was able to rescue 705 survivors (leaving 1514 dead). Titanic's main radio operator, Jack Phillips, stayed at his post until the ship sank, and died, and his assistant Harold Bride managed to survive by clinging to an upturned lifeboat.

Of the 908 crew who sailed on the ship, 724 were from Southampton, and of those 542 died leaving an indelible mark on its history. In one school in Northam, Southampton, 120 of the 240 pupils lost their father.

Photo of the Titanic departing from Southampton

Morse Code Messages

The Titanic was a British luxury trans-atlantic liner and employed two radio (or “wireless”) operators to maintain communications using Morse code. Primarily the communication traffic was personal telegrams (or “Marconigrams”): short messages sent by radio to and from the wealthy passengers and their friends or business associates on the mainland. Mr Bride stated that between leaving Southampton and the disaster, 250 telegrams were sent (over the course of 5 days).

When the Titanic hit the iceberg and the captain determined that the ship was in trouble he told the operators You had better get assistance. and the signal CQD MGY was sent half a dozen times. The Titanic did not initially send the SOS signal (see below). The signal CQ means “Attention all stations” (i.e. everyone listen; a “station” being a radio installation) and the addition of D indicates “danger” or “distress”. The letters MGY were the “callsign”, or identifier, for the Titanic.

Photo of the two radio operators: Harold Bride and Jack Phillips

Play CQD MGY with the player below:

Attention all stations		Distress	Titanic
C	Q	D	M	G	Y
■■■ ■ ■■■ ■	■■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■	■■■ ■ ■	■■■ ■■■	■■■ ■■■ ■	■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■

Speed

Pitch

Volume Vol

Why not SOS?

The international distress signal is now well-known to be SOS but SOS was only introduced as a standard around 1908, four years before the Titanic sailed. Since 1904, Marconi operators had used CQD and so in 1912 both signals were still in common use. Initially the CQD signal was sent (see above) but Mr Bride reported afterwards that he had joked Send SOS. It's the new call and it may be your last chance to send it. and so the SOS signal was sent as well, alongside CQD.

As stated by Marconi himself in the USA enquiry, The call of the Berlin convention, which has only been recently introduced, is this S.O.S. call, but the Marconi companies have used and use the C.Q.D. call.

Other Messages

After the initial distress signals, the operators sent out the ship's position and various other messages (click each one to hear it):

Come at once. We have struck a berg. It's a CQD OM. Position 41.46 N 50.14 W
The abbreviation OM meant “old man”: a friendly term used between operators and still used in amateur radio today. The “position” was Titanic's latitude and longitude coordinates so that other ships could come to its aid.
Tell your Captain to come to our help. We are on the ice.
We are in collision with berg. Sinking Head down. 41.46 N 50.14 W. Come soon as possible.
We are putting the women off in the boats.
Engine room getting flooded.
Engine-room full up to boilers.

Use of a Morse Lamp

The British Wreck Commissioner's Enquiry Report describes how the fourth officer, Mr Boxhall, sent up white flares and also used a Morse lamp (a bright focussed light which can be turned on and off or, more recently, covered with a shutter to enable it to flash) to try to signal a nearby ship (which was later determined to have been the Californian). The Californian was close enough to see the Titanic but the Californian's wireless operator had gone to bed and so did not receive the distress signals. The Californian's first mate, Herbert Stone, saw the flares but it did not occur to him that they were a distress signal. The Californian did try to signal back with a Morse lamp but it was too far away for it to be seen.

It is not known what signal was sent with the Morse lamp, but the CQD MGY signal that was sent by the radio operator seems likely. By pressing the “Light” button above in the player you can see that signal sent via flashing light.

Continental and American Code

The Marconi operators on the Titanic and the other ships involved in the rescue used what was then known as “Continental Morse code”. This is the form of Morse code better known as “International Morse code” or, just “Morse code”.

In 1912 the older “American” or “Railroad” Morse code was still used by some American operators. In the enquiry following the sinking of the Titanic, Marconi reported that the operators on the US Navy ships Chester and Salem worked slowly, or that they did not seem to be well acquainted with the continental Morse code.

Titanic's Radio Equipment

The radio equipment installed on the Titanic was owned by the Marconi company and installed in the “Marconi Room”. Marconi described the radio equipment installed on the Titanic to the British Wreck Commissioner's Enquiry. It was explained that radio equipment had been installed for the first time on a large liner in 1900 and that the equipment on the Titanic was what we call a 5 kilowatt installation; it was of very modern type and guaranteed I think for a distance of about 350 miles.

Photo of the Marconi Room on the Titanic

Marconi also added that:

it carried two operators (employed by Marconi, and able to maintain round the clock operation);
the essential parts of the apparatus were in duplicate (so that communication could be maintained even if there was a fault with one part); and
it had a spare battery by means of which it could be operated in case of the current being cut off (in the event of engine failure for instance).

Changes Following the Disaster

The second International Radiotelegraph Convention met in London in 1912 (as planned, but coincidentally shortly after the disaster). The Titanic disaster had an influence on the Convention and several changes to the regulations for radio communication at sea were made. The most important of these were:

Most coastal stations and some ships had to have a permanent 24-hour radio watch.
Ships had to maintain radio silence for the first 10 minutes of each hour to listen for distress calls.
Some ships had to have radio equipment capable of operating for at least 6 hours off their own battery, with defined minimum range.

The Titanic had high quality radio equipment and a 24-hour radio operation but these new regulations were intended to improve the general standard of radio communication at sea and, had they been in place at the time of the disaster, might have saved more lives.

Sources

The information this article is based on is:

Titanic Inquiry Project - transcripts of the enquiries into the disaster.
Interactive Map: Titanic Crew
The Daily Echo - Southampton's local newspaper.
London International Radiotelegraphic Convention - scan of the original document.

Also of interest to readers may be the following:

Marconi Calling - archive of Marconi's own account of the disaster.

Article compiled by Stephen C. Phillips (resident of Southampton, UK).