Ship to shore

This article commemorates the 100th anniversary of RMS Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage. On 15 April 1912, more than 1,500 of the 2,340 passengers and crew of the 'unsinkable' luxury liner drowned in the freezing waters of the North Atlantic after the pride of the White Star fleet struck an iceberg.

The radio operator, Harold Bride, survived and later described to a journalist how he witnessed the largest passenger ship in the world taking a nosedive beneath the icy waves with all her lights blazing and the band still playing. Before swimming for his life, Bride sent out a distress signal from an early 5 kw Marconi wireless set, and it is thanks to this steadfast radio operator and the then state of the art transmitter that the lives of hundreds of people were saved in the early hours of that fateful day.

After RMS Carpathia picked up the survivors she docked in New York. Guglielmo Marconi went aboard with the New York Times to interview Bride. On 18 June 1912, Marconi gave evidence to the Court of Inquiry on the loss of the Titanic regarding wireless telegraphy at sea and emergency procedures. The British postmaster general was in awe, saying: 'Those who have been saved have been saved through one man, Mr Marconi'¦ and his marvellous invention.'

Improving safety

There was very little wireless law before the Titanic disaster, which is hardly surprising as this technology was still in its infancy. The first statute, the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904, was no more than a finance bill permitting the postmaster general to raise revenue through issuing licences (subject to such terms and conditions he saw fit) to people wishing to experiment with radio transmission. Pursuant to section 2(1) of the 1904 Act, where an applicant satisfied the postmaster general 'that the sole object of obtaining the licence is to enable him to conduct experiments in wireless telegraphy, a licence for that purpose shall be granted'. Special licences, at reduced terms, were granted under section 2(3) 'for the establishment and working of wireless telegraph stations, to be used exclusively for the transmission within the United Kingdom of news to public registered newspapers'.

Prompted by the sinking of the Titanic, the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904 was amended by section 2(3) of the Merchant Shipping (Convention) Act 1914 to compel every person in charge of a wireless telegraph station under licence from the postmaster general to refrain from using the radio waves when receiving ice alerts (to allow sufficient time for other stations to receive the warning message). Part III of the Act went on to impose wireless telegraphy requirements on ships carrying 50 or more persons. Such a ship had to install and maintain a wireless telegraphy service including certified operators and watchers. Wireless telegraphy inspectors were appointed by the postmaster general under section 20 for the purpose of inspecting ships to ascertain whether the requirements of the Merchant Shipping Act, relating to wireless telegraphy, were being complied with.

The Merchant Shipping Act also implemented a number of other safety measures on the high seas including setting up an ice patrol service in the North Atlantic and a study of ice conditions. Section 3 of the Act obliged a master of a British ship to 'proceed at a moderate speed, or change his course' on the report of ice. Thus, the Titanic disaster led to improved safety procedures on most sea going vessels and extended the use of ship to shore radio.

The ghost of Titanic's radio

Shortly after its discovery, the wreck of Titanic was explored in 1986 by a small remotely operated submarine controlled from aboard DSV Alvin (a USA naval ship involved in deep-ocean research). The submarine, known as Jason Junior, found Titanic's radio room, untouched by man since Bride's hasty departure in 1912. Nothing now remains of the historic radio except an insulator connecting rod and the electrical distribution box hanging from the wall by the ship's power cables.

The Titanic story will rightly remain in the history books for another hundred years or more but the loss of the most famous ship in history should also be remembered for developing early radio telegraphy law in this country.