Why Don't Ships Speak English?

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✩ABOUT THIS VIDEO✩
In this video, we investigate the process of communication between vessels. We touch on signalling flags, morse code, standard maritime communication phrases, and VHF communication.
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➼ Images used under license from shutterstock.com
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[@CasualNavigation]

Try free for 7 days, and get a 60% discount if you join the annual subscription. speakly.app.link/casualnavigation

[@NoNameAtAll2]

any chance for subtitles?

[@marcinkoacz4580]

Radiotelegraphy ;)

[@CaptainBill22]

VHF is pretty limited in terms of range, do ships use HF radios for longer range communications?

[@umi3017]

Does speakely came with Standard Maritime Communication Phrases?

[@k53847]

@@CaptainBill22 Yes, but it's complex as to what you need to carry based on where you go, and a lot of what used to use HF now uses Inmarsat.

[@rebellsky5948]

But how did they communicate with flags back in the day when the world was only black and white? 🤨

[@NoNameAtAll2]

shapes and pictures

[@Prbkkb]

Haha

[@The-model-builder06]

They didn’t they used two things 1:Marconi wireless system 2: Morse lamp

[@fahamedi]

stripes, my friend, and the platonic forms

[@Jacob-W-5570]

and that is exactly why the flags have all the different patterns! with different light/dark colour choises inside simular patters. You can actually identify the flags if you "go back to the black and white era"

[@therealtony2009]

My favorite ships communicate by getting really really close and telling secrets!

[@kanalname5996]

A lot of secrets must have been told to the Empress of Ireland

[@wayanjonathanschiwietz2486]

But...But... loose lips sink ships

[@ABVollen]

Aah, that's why the helge instad hit the sola TS, they just tried to say hello

[@christopherg2347]

@@wayanjonathanschiwietz2486 That is only in port during wartime :)

[@christopherg2347]

Okay, technically speaking sending Radio transmissions will also sink your ship during wartime. But then it is more "loose send buttons" then lips.

[@stewieatb]

It would take far too long to dig out the tweet where someone originally told this story, but it goes something like this: "When at school I was in the Sea Cadets. On camp one year, one of the lads was caught giving himself a seeing to in the barracks. Thereafter he got the nickname 'Zulu', from the code flag meaning 'I require a tug'."

[@quillmaurer6563]

Surely they never lived that down. Afterwards when others asked him how he got that he probably made up a different story, or just said "They just started calling me that."

[@cc-to]

Heck, that would beat "I am maneuvering with difficulty" T-shirt I got years ago at a boat show. Could print the two on inside and outside and just flip the shirt inside-out at the appropriate time of the evening.

[@megamihestia4049]

Now thinking about it, flag language is essentially how modern video games allow players from different countries to communicate. Emotes or auto-translate in some games are basically flags that’s carrying predetermined agreed upon messages.

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Although there is probably a significantly higher proportion of "nice one dickhead" and "fuck you" than you would typically see at sea

[@Kurochana]

🗿

[@ZaHandle]

ATACK THE D POINT

[@notNajimi]

And my teammates still don’t fucking follow directions

[@ShiftyMcGoggles]

rock and stone!

[@wraithcadmus]

My favourite flag code is "I wish to communicate with you in Norwegian" - ZA7

[@a_stone]

Yeah it's so they can Scandinavian. Ba dum tssssssss

[@jamesmccann531]

@@a_stone you just saw the word Norwegian and then proceeded to butcher the joke about the barcodes on their ships...

[@a_stone]

@@jamesmccann531 Has you've considered that perhaps part of the joke is implying that the ships have barcodes on them? No?

[@plusplusplusplusp]

'What's the Norwegian for "Oh cock"?'

[@Deadonstick]

Small correction. The communication method described at 4:50 isn't simplex; it's half-duplex. Simplex is one-way only, period. Half-duplex is two-way; but only one at a time. Full-duplex is two-way; two at a time. Simplex communication would render one ship a permanent receiver and the other a permanent sender.

[@MisterMcHaos]

Ah - I'm not the *only* one who wondered about. (It bugs me that Pratchett cited "co-axial" instead of "full duplex" in his books when referring to the "clacks".)

[@Draftmission]

Went to the comments to look for this one. Totally right!

[@christosgklezos]

Actually it is wrong. What is demonstrated at the video is indeed simplex and full duplex. Half duplex is when you have a shore station that communicates with a ship radio that is of low complexity typically handheld or small craft where you only have one antenna. At that point you can’t use full duplex as both stations need 2 antennas to use full duplex. However what happens is you use the channels that are for use in full duplex and the ship station switches frequencies between transmission and reception. When you push the push to talk you use the ship transmission frequency and the shore station can hear you and as soon as you release it you switch to the shore transmission frequency. The result is the same experience as a simplex, however you can use the radio on the channels that are programmed for full duplex

[@Draftmission]

@@christosgklezos Nah, the result isn't the same experience as simplex. Simplex is by definition one way only. If you can transmit and recieve, but not at the same time, it is half duplex. If you use 2 channels and 2 antennas you can experience full duplex.

[@beardedchimp]

@@Draftmission I thought had I a pretty good understanding of RF terminology, but seeing this confusion made me realise it isn't quite as simplex.

[@daddyalien]

What I found funny whilst at sea was reading emails where non native speakers had picked up very odd English phrases and just used them constantly. “For your perusal” and “for the sake of good order” we’re found in almost every email I saw.

[@twerkingbollocks6661]

I can already imagine the spam mails: "Free viagra for your perusal, for the sake of good seamen"

[@Dhalgrim]

Work at a german port auhority and Yes I get e-mails like this on the daily 🤣 “To whom it may concern” is another classic 😅

[@daddyalien]

@@Dhalgrim I’ve been through Bremerhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg, no doubt youll have had a shit email off of one of my ships at some point!

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Every few years Standardized Hopeless Indian Telescammer English gets an upgrade with similarly off the wall phrases that suddenly appear all over the place...

[@sudonim7552]

@@Dhalgrim "To whom it may concern" is a fairly common mail and email greeting in the US when you are sending a message to an organization or group of people, in which case only some people in the organization may find your mail relevant, but you don't know who specifically they are. Using "to whom it concern" allows the addressee to remain open ended, but still specific in that it only applies to those who find your message to be relevant.

[@Aengus42]

I used to live in Brixham, Devon. The lifeboat station, when it was about to launch, would let off two rockets that you could hear as bangs & at night you'd see a white flash too. That was the signal for me to tune my scanner into the small ships safety channel 67. I've heard some amazing rescues! Plus the air sea rescue helicopter "Whisky Bravo". Their callsign always made me smile as it just had to stand for "Whirly-Bird" 😆

[@zaddicus]

I used to live in Brixham, moved to Wales but my grandparents lived there for many years until they moved to goodrington... Such a lovely town where people knew SOS meant save our souls... Unlike the creator of this video... The museum in the harbour was also pretty cool... Actual ship used during the east indea trading period

[@liquidiced]

I live in Torquay, regularly visiting Brixham! My friend and I walk along the breakwater, sometimes waving at the returning fishing vessels ⚓️

[@a_stone]

@@zaddicus Yeah or you could just do a quick google and find this instead of being a dumbarse. "SOS, when it was first agreed upon by the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in 1906, was merely a distinctive Morse code sequence and was initially not an abbreviation." Officially it does not stand for anything. It's not an acronym, but a backronym. It was chosen because it is extremely distinctive when broadcasted in Morse code and unmistakable when viewed visually as well.

[@TheClintonio]

@@zaddicus This is literally not true. "Save our Souls" is a backronym as another user said. Don't be so confidently wrong. Sure it might have adopted that meaning now, but it's NOT the original intent of the use of the letters S O S.

[@Aengus42]

@@zaddicus Hey! Nice to meet you. My grandparents lived in Goodrington too! Stabb Drive, near the shop & post office. I spent a lot of time there as a kid. Recently, I visited Brixham & drove to my Nan's bungalow. Hasn't changed a bit! Except the post office is now a take-away. I'm still achingly homesick. I lived in Brixham for years and love that little town. Joni was right, you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone! You're right about the SOS thing! That really surprised me! And this guy is taking his ticket for ship's captain? Keep safe mate 😃

[@Deltarious]

My favourite naval communication is to sail in columns with 23 other ships manned by my friends and to signal them Equal Speed, Charlie, London to ask them to move into a single battle line

[@oneilmw]

0:55 Never would I have guessed that HW6 means "I have collided with an iceberg." Such useful life advice. It's so applicable!

[@trinomial-nomenclature]

My father was an offshore fisherman in Nova Scotia, he retired a few years ago, and they still use VHF to communicate to one another and I think to shore as well.

[@owlbuquerqueturkey]

My dad is a communications officer in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and they absolutely still use VHF. Also, I watched a video of a new navy ship coming into the Duluth, MN harbor to be commissioned, and the video had audio of radio communication between the ship and another vessel, and the ship and the lift bridge it had to pass under to enter the harbor.

[@sminthian]

I work with these kinds of maritime wordings. The two versions of rules are "shall" and "may". Shall means you need to do it. May means you can do it, but don't need to.

[@baileywright1656]

How timely! I am almost finished a cross stitch of my daughter's name in signal flags! I have always thought they were neat. I even have a 6 foot Whiskey flag off an old canaler hanging up in my office. I remember being a kid and pouring over the page in our big old dictionary that had them. For some reason, India always creeped me out. Thanks for the video!

[@nothing9260]

Daaaamn, that sponsor transition was smoooth af

[@jaquigreenlees]

Ship to shore connections to telephone system were in use locally until well into the 1980s. My dad had a multichannel handheld vhf unit ( first one ever actually, custom built for him ) for his job as a shipping agent and we regularly talked with him on the system until cell phones came out.

[@tonys1636]

When car phones first appeared mid 60's one had to be connected by a telephone operator the same one that connected the ship to shore phones. Only available London and Birmingham at first 25 mile (approx) from center of each. 01 and 02 numbers and a unique exchange number which when dialled connected one to this operator.

[@seanworkman431]

I was in the middle of Bass Straight between the Australian mainland and the southern Island of Tasmania and got a ship to shore call from my Dad. I don't how many times I had to remind him to say 'over'.

[@jaquigreenlees]

@@seanworkman431 yup I hear ya on that. Though having used the system growing up did help me when it came to get my marine radio license, the proper procedures were already a habit.

[@seanworkman431]

@@jaquigreenlees same, I won't let anyone near the radio if I'm around, makes my ears bleed when I hear some of the nonsense.

[@Dhalgrim]

@@seanworkman431 We have a colleague (german port authority and traffic control for two ports). He has the habit of ending with “Tschüssi”… basically means “buh-bye” in German. For ease and swiftness of procedure we do skip some steps (3 times repeating and so on) but some professionality should still be in place. Especially the police and customs just looooove to hear unprofessional radio chatter and be pissy about it 😅

[@bilbolagginz8493]

Im in the navy and work as a radioman, cool to see you talk about some of my job.

[@JonathanKayne]

Massive respect for saying "dit" and "dah" instead of dot and dash.

[@MisterMcHaos]

Although only the *last* dot is usually voiced as "dit"; the others are "di" because that's how CW sounds. EG, the S0S should've been "di-di-di-dah-dah-dah-di-di-dit". (SOS should have a bar over it denoting no inter-letter gap.)

[@JonathanKayne]

@@MisterMcHaos if we really want to get into this, he got the rhythm for CQD wrong.

[@abrr2000]

I was always taught that SOS stands for "Save Our Souls"

[@Thori45]

Same here

[@Tzizenorec]

A backronym. It's not a bad interpretation.

[@zorilaz]

It’s Save Our Ship !!! But whatever

[@abrr2000]

@@zorilaz for several reasons, no it doesn't. That is just ONE of the things people think it stands for, but is actually just a way to help you remember it. The SOS signal was introduced by the germans (who don't speak english) and was chosen to stand out from normal morse code trafic. The letters don't actually stand for anything. And this is important, because that way the meaning of SOS transcends language. So much so that people who are illiterate in morse code can still send and understand the meaning of this message. What SOS actually means in english is... "Help, I'm in trouble and need saving. Send help!"

[@garyyoung3179]

Similarly I understood the old CQD stood for Come Quick Distress

[@AnonOmis1000]

I'm kinda surprised airplanes don't use that two frequency system. I've heard a lot of accident reports where one of the factors was two people trying to transmit at the same time.

[@ying20000818]

Sure, two frequency system works if both ATC and a pilot tries to transmit concurrently but what if two pilots try to communicate concurrently? Yup, still same issue, one will block the other.

[@scarletlightning565]

As stated, duplex channels only work when both stations agree on who gets to transmit on each half. Aircraft get around the issue by using simplex combined with doctrin and discipline. Any FAA or CASA (US or AU, others might differ) licenced pilot is required to be trained specifically in the use of aviation VHF which includes knowing the standard brevity phrases, structure and pattern of coms. Basically its a call and response "who im talking to, who i am, what I want" system. All pilots are expected to show discipline and not make unnecessary or overly long transmissions. Problems do occur but they're very rare. Plus using simplex allows aircraft to communicate directly without going through a ground controller, very useful when there isn't one (middle of nowhere or small airstrips) or one aircraft is out of range of the controller and another repeats the calls for them

[@AnonOmis1000]

@@ying20000818 fair point

[@jaysmith1408]

Interesting case is our county fire dispatch. Though I believe it’s simplex (though repeater), county can override any communication, almost always due to stuck radios.

[@quillmaurer6563]

@@scarletlightning565 The issue with "don't make overly long radio broadcasts" is when a captain accidentally makes their speech to the passengers over the radio rather than PA. They then face the highest form of punishment possible to any pilot: Public humiliation and controller-sanctioned roasting by other pilots. I have seen videos of this.

[@vinnyjhawer7847]

Love your content, its always clear and concise. Oh, and your illustrations are excellent making things easier to understand. Look forward to your newest content.

[@vj.joseph]

I really love watching your youtube videos. You are a very smart, honest person. Thank you so so much for sharing all these enlightening knowledge to everyone in the world.😊😊😊

[@zachjones6944]

This brings back good memories. I've had the pleasure of communicating using VHF at-sea.

[@Thefreakyfreek]

I live on a boat and here in Holland evry single major city is build around a river you can sail on and evry single city has some for of port Some only sand Heck a lot of villages also have a rivver connection And I can assure you. VHF comunecation is still in full use all the time And not just ship to schip. But also weather report. Bridges and sluises

[@VAM_Physics_and_Engineering]

I found that visual of the radio frequency slowly going upwards until it completed the circuit incredibly satisfying

[@allanmonroe692]

Deck officers aren't required to have the the various flag signals memorized. However, there is a requirement to have a copy of the International Code of Signals or a similar reference available on the bridge. That being said, most of us could still probably name at least half from memory.

[@patlager2110]

I’m enjoying your A/B testing of different title and thumbnail combinations

[@robertsteinbach7325]

Half-Duplex voice channels users can use "Over" after each party is through talking, much like a period in a written sentence. That gives a chance for each party to use the channel as needed without collisions. This protocol is sometimes used in CB radio channels. It also minimizes the training needed to use half-duplex voice channels.

[@shedactivist]

Great topic. A follow up with Direct selective Calling DSC VHF and GMDSS communications would be fascinating

[@JM-lk6wo]

DSC, acronym for Digital Selective Calling. Back in the day, I installed and commissioned many GMDSS outfits, mostly on offshore oil field work boats.

[@karstendoerr5378]

SOS later acquired a meaning, it was interpreted as "Save Our Souls". But there is also the interpretation with "Save Our Ship".

[@dmitrynikolaev5743]

Nah, that's only a memorizing technique.

[@karstendoerr5378]

@@dmitrynikolaev5743 They are backronyms. A backronym is a word whose individual graphemes are subsequently interpreted as the initial letters of words and combined in their entirety to form a word group. Backronym is a portmanteau word made up of back and acronym.

[@tonys1636]

The dash dash dash dot dot dot dash dash dash was easier to hear clearly when a lot of static present as would be during an electrical storm.

[@vaakdemandante8772]

Souls you say... so a prayer is fine then, no need for a life-raft and all that jazz, roger that ;)

[@karstendoerr5378]

@@tonys1636 Right. As the first radio telegraphic distress signal (FT distress call) in the history of seafaring, the British Marconi International Marine Communication Company introduced the letter group CQD in Morse code. This was more complex and also allowed for errors due to its length. But there is also an interpreter for CQD: "Come quickly danger".

[@CLipka2373]

1:14 - Many people don't realize, but not only does "SOS" not stant for anything in particular - that three-letter combination is *NOT EVEN THE ACTUAL DISTRESS SIGNAL* . You see, morse code requires pauses to indicate the end of one letter and the beginning of the next (ideally exactly long enough that another dot could fit in there). The actual letter sequence "SOS" would have such pauses, but the distress signal does NOT - the entire distress signal has the rank of a single letter, comprised of nine symbols stringed together with particular pauses. Funnily enough, you got this detail just the wrong way round, for BOTH the international distress signal AND the older CQD: While the distress signal as a whole is just one huge pseudo-letter (but you erroneously depict it with pauses), the CQD signal was a "shorthand" comprised of three distinctive proper letters, and therefore should have the letter separator pauses (which you erroneously omitted).

[@stephanieparker1250]

For the thumbnails. I’m on the fence about it. I do love seeing a cool finished thumbnail, it draws my attention. BUT.. I also love a surprise as well! Maybe you can do a special extra video twice a month that are part of a theme. Each one a surprise finish! 🎉🎉

[@peterspangenberg7193]

Pilots in the former british empire speak often english to the tower or to other pilots, but in former sowjet Asia and eastern Europe pilots commonly speak russian. Mayor airports there can understand english too, but if you call smaller airports in english language - good luck!

[@robbabcock_]

Fascinating, as always!

[@joaoalbertodosanjosgomes1536]

Less, please. Thank you very much.

[@davidodonovan1699]

Thank you very much for this information. Brilliant work

[@lewisbons2503]

You know what may be a good video? One talking about time keeping on a ship. Before pocket watches and the relationship between this and global position

[@MrsGozdzikova]

This is absolutnego fascinating. Do more about this subject if you can.

[@mirzaahmed6589]

What's absolutenego?

[@zaddicus]

Pick a nautical topic and I can find you a much better video and channel that this fuckery that doesn't even know S.O.S has a meaning

[@MrsGozdzikova]

@@mirzaahmed6589 a stupid autocorrect xD

[@stephanieparker1250]

This was great! I learned a lot, thanks! 🎉

[@nuclearbeaver96]

My favourite flag signal is Mike Mike Papa (MMP), worth showing first trip cadets when they first join!

[@rupertthedrone4717]

I ended up learning all the letters and most meanings of the flags because of a communication error (ironic) but used a really good app called maritime academy (they also do a morse code app)

[@TOBAPNW_]

what was the error?

[@rupertthedrone4717]

@@TOBAPNW_ i thought my tutor told me to learn all of them for a test we had, turns out we didn't and he meant one of the tests for officer cadets 😂

[@johncopenhaver4311]

Every sailors favorite flag is red and yellow 🇧🇹 kinda like that without the dragon in the middle. "Oscah". It's the man overboard flag that you hope to see if you fall into the Sea.

[@randbarrett8706]

I like the way the advertisement duration indicator is implemented

[@rl7012]

S.O.S does mean something, it means save our souls or save our ship. It is an international distress call used to signify that the ship needs urgent help.

[@theuniongovernment997]

Wow. This video just taught me that a cell phone is basically just two walkie talkies taped together but set to different frequencies.

[@EIGYRO]

When I was at sea (70s), one-way only transmission was called broadcast. Two-way alternating on the same frequency was simplex, and two-way simultaneous on a channel-pair was duplex. Looks like my radio school got it wrong. 😑

[@RichardPhillips10]

Maybe a seperate vid on DSC - and indeed SSB / MF/SW - the GDSS system would also be a good subject to cover if you have not done it already.

[@qwertyTRiG]

I know the flags mostly from reading a lot of _Swallows & Amazons_ as a child.

[@LoveHandle4890]

Telepathy of course.

[@pimprijs5358]

Vhf only has a range of 20/30nm so if you want to transmit any further You also have the Mf/Hf transmitter (medium/high frequency) these travel a lot further (Hf world wide) but are a little old school Nowadays satelites are being used to contact these further stations (inmarsat and Iridium)

[@bluesbest1]

Um, "range of 20/30nm" confuses me, and not just in a "I'm an American, decimals are weird" way. "nm" is "nanometers", as in 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter. Even if you meant to say "mm", that's still "millimeter", which puts the range to about an inch rather than one thousandth of an inch, that's still a lower range than turning your head and talking.

[@pimprijs5358]

@@bluesbest1 nautical miles 😁

[@techheck3358]

@@bluesbest1 this is a channel about the sea & ocean. in this context, nm means nautical miles

[@JoostvanDriel4]

@@bluesbest1 nm: nautical miles i presume. And the range is very dependant on how high your antenna is and if you have the power to transmit that all the way. Basically it is just line of sight.

[@frederiknielsen6038]

It's worth noting that HF is only world wide in theory. It's not always possible to get through, depending on your chosen frequnecy and atmospheric conditions.

[@louisbolton7605]

You posted this video on the day of my signals exam, what a coincidence

[@celtspeaksgoth7251]

Informative, concise, well animated and British voiceover. Perfect. Avast ye scurvy knaves and prepare to be boarded ! Aaar !

[@EJL2004]

The tin foil hat really helps! XD I did see a solo kayaker wearing what looked to be a tin foil bishops hat which proved to actually provide a bit of a return on the radar, aside from us cackling away because of all the strange characters around these parts.

[@Ever_2008_ARG]

Hearing CN saying "ditditdit dadada ditditdit" is oddly satisfying

[@desert_jin6281]

Neat and interesting, thank you.

[@glennrishton5679]

I was an AB on watch on a sea going tug pulling a loaded sea going bulk barge headed to Puerto Rico. The mate was making passing arrangements with a ship and the mate said see you red to red. The the ship was foreign and the mate there was heavily accented speaking English. I idly said after they talked something like I wonder if he really understood the mate replied we'll if he didnt that's his problem. Hmmm the ship was a hell of a lot bigger and with the barge we were slow to maneuver so seemed more like our problem. Seemed to me like saying Port to Port or Starboard to Starboard would be more prudent.

[@AlexandarHullRichter]

I like how you implied that Americans and British people can't talk to each other.

[@gerardmdelaney]

The line attributed to either Churchill or G. B. Shaw is "one people separated by a common language"

[@Dhalgrim]

“You can both here anything on the channel”… Sadly yes. I work for the port authority of two ports in North Germany. For some ascinine reason our working channel is channel 15. The same channel as Swinouijsce Port and most ships use it as a working channel on board. So basically on some days (good conditions) we have constant ,for us unimportant chatter’ just droaning away. And cause our masts are more high powered we can hear them but they can’t hear us.

[@sankimalu]

Did you speed up the vocals within your videos? I thought I was listening to it at 1.5x! I’m guessing you felt like you had a lot to say and wanted to cram it into a short video. As always, wonderful video.

[@maggus999]

Simplex is unidirectional, same-frequency VHF is half-duplex!

[@archimedesbird3439]

I think the two methods of communication you listed are half-duplex and full-duplex Simplex means one party can only ever transmit and the other party can only ever receive

[@somebod8703]

Had me thinking, too.

[@christosgklezos]

Nope

[@somebod8703]

I looked it up. Depending on the domain, it's sometimes called "simplex" and sometimes "half-duplex". I knew it as "half-duplex" as well, but apparently, in the domain of ship radio communication, the term "simplex" is used.

[@jaroslavsevcik3421]

Great video! What about thing such as International Emergency frequency? In aviation it is 121.500 MHz.

[@nativeafroeurasian]

1. Question: Do you have advice on how to learn the frequencies (I struggle with that) 2. Request: Please make a video about celestial navigation (noon position and three star position in particular)

[@quillmaurer6563]

I get the sense that you don't really need to memorize frequencies with maritime as they use channels that correlate to frequencies, similar to TV and some walkie-talkies. Aviation and AM/FM radio (at least in the US) use frequencies. As for learning them, I'd suggest making yourself a cheat-sheet, you'll learn the ones you use often fairly quickly just by using them.

[@nativeafroeurasian]

@@quillmaurer6563 Thank you, that should help :) I currently study this and we have to know them (I assume in case the VHF radio (with the channels) breaks down and we need to use MF/HF where only frequencies can be selected))

[@quillmaurer6563]

@@nativeafroeurasian Ah - sounds like they're asking you to memorize an infrequently used thing that experienced mariners might not have memorized. I hate requirements like that.

[@cc-to]

@@quillmaurer6563 Yeah, you never need to know that ch 16 is 160-whatever-point-something unless you're tuning it to monitor it on a scanner or one of the imported open-tuning handhelds, which are not legal to transmit from on these frequencies. More important to know which of the other channels are legal to switch to, in a given area, to continue a conversation.

[@johantaube3022]

Fun fact: the old Nokia phones default SMS notification sound is morse for "SMS" . . . - - . . .

[@MervynPartin]

With the launch (chartered by the shipping agent for crew transport) unable to locate our ship in the fog at Galveston, we incurred the wrath of the Coastguard by attempting to contact the ship on channel 16. Normal practice had been to make contact on 16 then change to a clear channel. With the threats of prosecution, we had no choice but to head back ashore and arrange overnight accommodation for the other officers and crew.

[@cc-to]

Assuming that was Galveston TX: for some time now the US has reserved 16 for urgencies and has set aside 9 as the ship-to-ship calling channel. Vessels not offering emergency response services may (should?) not even be monitoring 16. I believe this is US only; certainly here in Canada (which has its own setting on VHF sets, since we've given a different set of freq's to the railroads) general calling *and* urgencies remain on 16. Your launch operators seriously should have known this.

[@najroe]

Golf= letter G == meaning pilot needed (Guides of the sea). ICOS is important, up there with colregs...

[@Danieloncarevic]

"GOLF" is actually rarely used in practice, as well as most of the signal flags nowadays. I guess "BRAVO" could be mentioned as a flag hoisted any time a vessel is bunkering fuel or discharging sludge.

[@iafozzac]

Alpha, bravo, and hotel are the ones that see the most use Nowadays no one is going to use flags to signal an overtaking for example

[@Phootaba]

So, there are still duplex channels for spontaneous calls on the high seas? Or do they use some other method to negotiate and establish a direct duplex communication?

[@leodavis4242]

1:20 I swear to god SOS stands for Save Our Souls or something. Was no one else told that?

[@adamfoster3482]

Great topic! I have spent a long time in the aviation industry as a pilot. Before that as a soldier & now post covid as a Harbour controller. Radios have been my life & it is interesting to see rather different, yet similar methods to its application on communications. Well presented, thanks for the vid.

[@Dhalgrim]

Greetings to a fellow harbour controller (Two ports in North-Germany here) 👋🏻

[@adamfoster3482]

Gidday! Other side of the world here in New Zealand. Which ports in Germany mate?

[@SteveJB]

4:21 - not sure if a face reveal.... or Casual Navigation's animation really went up a notch 7:03.

[@STRIK9AMV]

That was very interesting

[@mikesgr854]

The communication is not "simplex", is "half-duplex". Simplex is the radio station you tune in your car. You cannot transmit. Half duplex is when both parts can transmit but not at the same time.

[@techheck3358]

in a maritime context, its common to use simplex to mean half-duplex

[@JonathanKayne]

In amateur radio, we would consider it simplex as well. Half-duplex is more of a term when you are dealing with wired data communication like serial.

[@user-lt6tp7wo9m]

1:25 SOS means "Save Our Souls"

[@shykitten55]

I'm going to pull you up on a term. SIMPLEX. 5:08. That is fixed. One station can ONLY transmit. The other can ONLY receive. The correct term is HALF DUPLEX. Both stations can receive/transmit, but not both at the same time.

[@amardave84]

So that's why when Earth invented the warp drive, English became the language of interstellar communication in Star Trek! 😊

[@bertrandmarion1927]

From now on ,i am persuaded that the band The Police have missed the opportunity to use the name "I'll send an S.O.S to the world"" for their song "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

[@Holland1994D]

It's kind of tough when you only speak one language like Americans

[@stylesrj]

0:50 I wonder if that particular signalling flag and code was made specifically because of the Titanic? Sure, ships were struck by icebergs before, but the Titanic is the most memorable Ship VS Iceberg collison.

[@whtiemyth]

I could be wrong since it's been decades since I took my operator's exam, but I seem to remember S.O.S did stand for something, "save our souls" - but who knows maybe the book I studied from just took some liberties.

[@barrytschirpig9328]

I find it amusing that at 6:33 you start to talk about USA railways but show stock footage of a Russian train.

[@timschulz9563]

Could you use CSMA/CD on these simplex channels to give the illusion of duplex or are these analogue signals?

[@JonathanKayne]

You could but then it's not analog anymore, its digital

[@infinitecanadian]

No director's commentary video was present.

[@Sarge92]

i always thought sos was save our souls referring to the practice of referring to people on board as souls on board

[@xemmyQ]

i feel like this is as easy as "not everyone speaks english but everyone uses ships"

[@shadowscall7758]

Its not. Everyone uses airplanes, but they don't all use English, but the international aviation language is English. Ships adapted that as well.

[@LBG-cf8gu]

Nice. Interesting.

[@randomnessx3597]

i would love a video on maritime hf

[@habahabatsutsut2657]

Hey! I see you have/had OOW cert I guess, seeing your channel more. Are you sailing somewhere at the moment? AB here asking :)

[@dylantrinder1571]

I was always under the impression that the morse code SOS stood for “Save our souls”?

[@joiboi5214]

Can you do a video about the sewol ferry in korea?

[@l00k69]

0:44 RMS Titanic's dummy funnel was the 4th, not the 3rd one

[@dorukayhanwastaken]

0:43 As in a constructed language or a "mere" list of predefined meanings?

[@aysnov]

1:02 uh, radiotelePHONy literally means "transmitting voice"... For text / morse code that's radioteleGRAPHy

[@user-rg4sn9by7w]

7:00 why do you think we are here, lol? To hear a knowledgeable brit ramble about all things maritime for hours

[@donovanulrich348]

S.O.S has meaning like R.I.P Save Our Souls. And Rest In Peace

[@deltacx1059]

Imagine people with high pitched voices being considered illegal because the frequency their voice is at was sold to Amazon or something.

[@CTXSLPR]

HK47 Statement: I greatly enjoy this origin story for my phraseology.

[@themangix357]

How about equivalent of an ATC, do ships have those in port too? 🤔

[@pimprijs5358]

Definetly! They are called vts stations (vessel traffic controll)

[@Corvid]

*Hoists Jolly Roger* "Bruv, you gettin' mugged innit!"

[@PsRohrbaugh]

What's the maritime definition for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

[@knownothing5518]

Yay, a sponsor!