Page 64 - All About History - Issue 09-14

The unsinkable ship

and the radio operators had started sending out a
distress signal. The standard distress signal at this
time was the ‘CQD’ signal – ‘CQ’ was the signal to
other ships to stop transmission and pay attention
and the ‘D’ was added to indicate distress. In 1906,
the signal ‘SOS’ was created for the characters’
simplicity in Morse code: three dots, three dashes
and then three dots. The radio operators on the
Titanic used both distress signals – for the help that
they immediately received though they may as
well have invented some new distress signals and
used them as well.
The California – the ship that had earlier warned
the Titanic about ice – was by some distance the
doomed vessel’s nearest ship, although how far
away it was has become a topic of hot debate.
The radio operators called to it, saying: “Come
at once. We have struck a berg. It’s a CQD, old
man.” However, neither this nor any of the other
messages they sent was met with a response. A
later, more desperate message read: “We are putting
passengers off in small boats. Women and children
in boats. Cannot last much longer. Losing power.”

Above This
photograph shows Not getting any response from the California on the
the last lifeboat radio the Titanic began firing their distress rockets
successfully into the air. However, the ship still did not respond
launched from the
sinking Titanic and at a later enquiry apprentice officer James
Gibson admitted that they had seen the lights but,
after attempting to contact the Titanic through
Morse code – not radio – and getting no reply it was
decided that no action should be taken.
On the doomed boat itself, the crew members
were attempting to take control of the situation but
most were criminally unprepared. On that very
morning Captain Smith had planned a lifeboat drill
but for an unknown reason it was cancelled. If it
had gone ahead it is likely that many lives could
have been saved as no one on the ship seemed to
be aware how many people each of the lifeboats
could safely hold. The captain’s call for ‘women
Left Hearses line up and children first’ was, in the main, observed and
on Halifax wharf, the result was that many men stood on the slowly
Canada, to carry
Titanic victims to sinking ship and could only watch as lifeboats were
funeral parlours filled to half capacity before they were lowered
Legacy of the Titanic

The ship was seen as the very embodiment of modern There are a number of Titanic museums and memorial
technology and that it sunk was a shock to everyone. monuments across the world; from an 18-metre (60-
The disaster ended the career of the White Star Line foot) lighthouse built in New York, to memorials in
chairman, J Bruce Ismay, who was on board but survived Southampton, Liverpool and Belfast. The ship was
on a lifeboat. Many believed he should have, like the constructed in Belfast and it is here that a memorial
captain, gone down with his ship and in 1913 the board of statue and a garden was opened in 2002 around the
directors denied his request to continue as chairman. original Titanic monument, which contains 15 bronze
Separate inquiries were held in the US and Britain to plaques listing in alphabetical order the names of all those
identify the cause of the disaster. The US committee who died on RMS Titanic.
was seen in Britain as an attack on the British shipping The ship has left behind a cultural legacy, with a
industry but both committees reached similar conclusions number of films, books and television shows about
and, as a result, improvements to safety were made. the tragedy. At the ship’s 100th anniversary a number
These included a decree that ships has to carry enough of events marked the event, such as a cruise ship that
lifeboats for those aboard, that radio communications on retraced the journey and took part in a memorial service
passenger ships would be operated for 24 hours a day at the spot where it sank. This event led to accusations of
and that the firing of red rockets from a ship must be bad taste, but left no doubt that the Titanic still captures The Titanic signature building in Belfast is a
interpreted as a sign of distress. the public’s imagination. museum dedicated to the iconic ship

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