Why was Titanic's wireless operator so rude to the Californian?

[@plusplusplusplusp]

Bloody hell, so had Phillips simply followed procedure, the Titanic would have had no way of raising the Carpathia and the survivors would have simply floated about until a passing ship encountered them.

[@phlodel]

In short, they would have died.

[@plusplusplusplusp]

@@phlodel If this was a North Atlantic shipping lane, would a ship have passed by eventually? With no food or drinkable water, the people in the boats would not have lasted very long though (a few days at most for the strongest)

[@phlodel]

@@plusplusplusplusp My point, exactly. Without a radio distress call and a position report as accurate as possible then, it would have been unlikely the survivors would be found in time.

[@thomasball5287]

@@plusplusplusplusp given many survivors were wet and lightly dressed a lack of food would be the least of their worries.

[@m0L3ify]

@@plusplusplusplusp They would have frozen to death before then

[@sadiedavenport]

I love the idea of the wireless operators as a bunch of nerdy tech bros. And I appreciate your shedding light on this misunderstood exchange.

[@warweasel2832]

And having basically invented internet acronyms 70 years early. "GTH OM" is literally just "STFU boomer"

[@EIGYRO]

Yeah. We were sending texts 70+ years before everyone else. We just called them telegrams.😁

[@zombiedoggie2732]

Wireless operators: Nerds before Nerds were cool

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@zombiedoggie2732 where are nerds cool now?

[@zombiedoggie2732]

@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar Simple, it is because our world became so tech based. It's cool to be able to know about computers and fix them now. I am sure "Stranger things" may be helping pen and paper roleplayers.

[@sameyers2670]

It could be said that Phillips saved a lot of lives with having disregarded the rules about repairing the Marconi set. Thank you for this, it was interesting.

[@sameyers2670]

@@Great-Documentaries This is also true

[@garrom5652]

His repairs allowed for communication between titanic and carpathia, so that’s cool

[@talanock]

@@Great-Documentaries this is a stupid line of logic. Lets just push it back to the workers who finished building the Titanic. them finishing it cost 1500 or so llives........lol.

[@kennethschlegel870]

@@Great-Documentaries was it the receive set or the transmit set that was down? i think the Titanic would still be able to receive the reports, its just their ability to transmit that would be hampered on the backup set. In that case Phillips would not have been sending passenger messages, would not have told off the Californian and they may have still be awake when titanic hit the iceberg. Who knows.

[@johnschwalb]

@@Great-Documentaries except it was common practice at the time to go at full-speed only stopping once you spotted ice.

[@jamesmcadams6231]

“The past is a foreign country. They do things different there.” I appreciate that quote and think we can all learn from it.

[@Trucksofwar]

Very apt, I think I will begin using this saying in my work, many people look at the vehicles etc that I work with & utter their disgust over space or how something was done.

[@danielwardin4688]

It's the opening line of L.P. Hartley's novel The Go-Between. In narration it also opens the movie, at least the 1972 version. Regards.

[@gb-jg1ud]

Everyone wants to erase the past now because it was ignorant and evil and they are more educated and civilized and know what's right and correct for history. I don't care about what you have to say about it! This conversation is over...shut up and let me text this.

[@notNajimi]

@@gb-jg1ud huh?

[@gb-jg1ud]

@@notNajimi I am reacting like a woke of today using social media,

[@brycetomecek5065]

By standards of the time and today, anyone who knows what it’s like to work with a deadline and no sleep can relate to telling someone to STFU when interrupted.

[@prabhatsourya3883]

Even discounting the lack of sleep, morse code is difficult to focus on for long durations. The continuous beeps that keep coming into the ears would leave a ringing effect due to the repetitiveness and in addition to that, having your eardrums nearly blown off due to a loud incoming transmission would make people irritated. That is one of the reasons why Morse code was dropped off in favor of better methods (radio communications) and higher frequencies when the technology became advanced enough.

[@roberkraft1982]

@@prabhatsourya3883 I didn’t know thats part of why it fell off I always wondered why even with radio nowadays I feel like Morse would still be used a lot but I guess there ya go!

[@neoqwerty]

@@roberkraft1982 it is still very common, but mostly for ham radio operators. We all learn morse in Canada to become registered operators, and there's some frequencies that are morse-only by general consensus, and some have both morse and "talky" operators. (It's captivating to listen to a conversation between these on the free-for-all frequencies.)

[@JackPorter]

@@roberkraft1982 there exist electronic morse code translators so it isn't as much of a pain to type, and it's not as much of a pain to recieve. it's still in use for weather stations, if you have a Short Wave radio on hand, or like me use KIWI SDR, a open free online radio tracker, you can see them in the higher bands if you use L/USB, you can listen to a great many of these, and what's great is they require much less space than an audio feed, and they are much more clear over long distances.

[@Kaidhicksii]

Indeed. Still no less stupid though. That guy on the Californian should've given it at least one more try if he hadn't already.

[@Hibernicus1968]

Can you imagine the magnitude of the disaster if Phillips hadn't broken the rules and fixed the _Titanic's_ wireless himself? With no way to send out the distress signal that brought the _Carpathia_ to the rescue, probably the only people who might have been saved were a handful of people in _some_ of the lifeboats that other ships basically stumbled across. More people would certainly have died of exposure, or simply lost at sea and never found.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

I think most of the ships that came saw the distress flare (though many also heard the message, the ranges those ships were at, meant that the delay would not have been more than a few tens of minutes, they would have reacted just as to any other ship in distress, one (as was still common) without a radio)

[@Kaidhicksii]

And likely nobody would've known until the ship was overdo. If I may add another scenario, if Titanic hit the iceberg head on. If she didn't walk away badly injured, she would've been crushed like a tin can and gone down in minutes. As one commentator so chillingly said, we wouldn't remember that night as the sinking of the Titanic. We'd remember it as the disappearance of the Titanic.

[@Dallas_K]

@@Kaidhicksii Overdue.

[@David-ln8qh]

@@Dallas_K I do not like your curt reply, You should not want to be "that guy".

[@JohnSmith-ct5jd]

Good point. I never knew about Phillips repairing the set during his off duty time. All I ever heard was him being rude to the California's operator. Shows how history can be distorted.

[@d.k8257]

Simple awnser: because the volume of the Marconi set wasn't adjusted via diall but via distance from the sender. imagine listening to a really quiet song and then it suddenly going full volume air blairing loud. this is what the operator felt, no wonder he was pissed

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Well that’s half of if. Shut up I’m busy” was standard banter Wireless operators used at the time - brought about by the loud interjection by Californian. ~Mike

[@bazza945]

Yeah, close signals are very loud in the MF band.

[@bazza945]

@@OceanlinerDesigns It's easier to be wise in hindsight, but Phillips should have put two & two together: a very loud signal* plus the phrase, "We are in an icefield". He would have known that California's wireless set was low powered, as well. We modernists take away from the Titanic autopsy one major puzzle: why was Titanic steaming at speed through an area where other vessels had also reported ice? Why, indeed, but incredibly it was not unusual in those days where H&S was balanced against arriving 'on time.

[@scootergeorge9576]

@@bazza945 - How would the radio operator aboard Titanic be familiar with the radio on Californian? Titanic was cruising at a moderate speed. Not all boilers operating and the skipper changed course further south as a precaution against ice.

[@neilbain8736]

@@bazza945 A very good point per signal strength and placement.

[@thetman0068]

That transcript from the inquiry reads like a Monty Python skit XD

[@monkeyb0xfilms216]

My god it is

[@KingoftheJuice18]

Totally.

[@anarchomando7707]

@@KingoftheJuice18 we saw it ain't like a chat room

[@Kaidhicksii]

Don't know who or what is but I fully agree 🤣🤣

[@PigmyRhino]

Get to Hell lol

[@TheTarrMan]

It's a good thing he fixed it. Far more people would have died if not everybody if he didn't. We might still not know the location to this day. The way they talk to each other almost sounds like the way we talk on various boards.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

Who cares TTM? By the way, what sounds did you hear?

[@TheTarrMan]

@@roderickcampbell2105 the sounds of me coughing just now.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

Hi TTM. Alright you beat me on this one. I have been punished, and it's not the first time. I mean no harm. Just comments.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

A note TTM. I live fairly close to Cape Race. I may be desensitized about the Titanic.

[@OceanicPearlz1]

Crazy how one small difference of events and decisions could have decided a total different fate…

[@historyarmyproductions]

Very happy to see this. It's a very common thing to take what Philips did out of context, unfortunately.

[@bazza945]

Wireless reception conditions varied throughout the 24 hours, with signals fading in and out due to the prevailing atmospheric conditions, and interference from other wireless transmissions.

[@historyarmyproductions]

@@bazza945 As far as I know it just stopped. A wire In the transmitter burned through its casing.

[@bazza945]

@@historyarmyproductions Crumbs, I forgot about that incident, no wonder the wireless traffic (Marconigrams) banked up. I've experienced that situation, but through ionospheric conditions blocking signals going anywhere.

[@DistractedGlobeGuy]

@@bazza945 yep. If you actually look at the Marconi company records from the offices on the other ships in the area that night, you see a lot of PV notes from the operators complaining about unusually bad interference from what might have been aurora-basically the only ship with clear reception was SS _Mount Temple,_ and in fact, SS _Frankfurt's_ operators later blamed the atmospheric interference for how hopelessly confused their communications became after the first few messages.

[@Minime163]

Nothing personal just good humoured banter while busy obviously your not Irish no the sinking wasn't Philipses fault

[@davinp]

After the Titanic sank, the law required wireless operators to be on 24 hours. Before they were not required to be on at night. Also, since the operators got paid to send passenger messages, they put that as priority not iceberg warnings which they set aside

[@jfangm]

The ice warning from Californian was inconsequential to Titanic, as bergs large enough to sink her were not normally present in the sealanes during that time of year.

[@Kaidhicksii]

@@jfangm Not to mention that Captain Smith had already steered further south earlier that day. It wasn't expected to find ice that far south at that time of year.

[@jerryn.j.vondeling]

That also depended on the telegram having a MSG prefix or not, the Master Service Gram was to be delivered to the bridge immediatly. Some icewarning just didn't have that prefix and were put aside for later delivery.

[@jerryn.j.vondeling]

@K O keep in mind the wireless operators were employed by the Marconi company, not the White Star Line.

[@hullie7529]

They weren't even part of the staff of the ship, as they were employed by the Marconi company, and many ships didn't even have wireless communication, so I guess they were seen as something extra, and probably Marconi sold the service as potentially being useful for the ship besides the main purpose of sending personal messages, but they gave lower priority to messages between ships because their main point was something else.

[@davebillnitzer5824]

On Day 8 of the British Inquiry, Cyril Evans was asked what Phillips meant by "Keep out" and he explained that it was common use between operators, and he specifically added, "And you do not take it as an insult or anything like that."

[@NoName-ml5yk]

That doesn't make for a good movie though.

[@WhiffleWaffles]

Thanks for making this. I see so many people misinterpret it. It's saddening that Phillips and Bride were only 25 and 22 (respectively, and Phillips had just turned 25 recently). May all of those on Titanic rest in peace. Thank you to all of those who did their best to get as many lives saved as possible. I couldn't imagine being able to be that brave...

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

May Jack Phillips also have been redeemed in Heaven after that disaster. Also, Harold Bride actually survived that disaster with only his feet badly injured and despite his injuries, he gladly worked together with Harold Cottam to trasmit messages to shore about the disaster. They knew each other long before that disaster happened and I can’t imagine how they must’ve felt to have been seeing each other again.

[@michaelrundle5279]

The Morse abbreviation QRL has 2 meanings: QRL = "This frequency is in use." QRL? = "Is this frequency in use?" Saying that QRL means "Shut up" is a bit of hyperbole, though not entirely incorrect.

[@bazza945]

QRT is the Q code for "cease sending (immediately)". As a shore radio operator I rarely had to use it, and only in cases where a ship might be interfering with distress radio traffic. A coast radio station sending (Morse code) distress radio traffic would prefix a relay of the original distress message with: DDD SOS DDD CQ de ZLB (sent 3x times) vessel Nonsuch/GBBH reports sinking in position xxxxxS xxxxxW requires immediate assistance.

[@bazza945]

For radiotelephone: MAYDAY RELAY (x3) etc...

[@michaelbujaki2462]

You forgot to mention why the Californian turned off the Marconi. They stopped, they relayed their position, and there was no need to keep the Marconi running because it was not a passenger ship.

[@Sheilawisz]

Californian was a cargo ship but she also had capacity for passenger service, and good cabins for them. In that particular journey, she carried no passengers.

[@johannesbols57]

When a dangerous situation like the ice floes existed and a Marconi operator contacted another vessel, the Marconi operator who sent the message was required to stand by until the Marconi operator he sent the message to acknowledged that the message had been delivered to the rec'g ship's bridge. Our Cyril must have forgotten that bit that night.

[@ToreDL87]

@@johannesbols57 After he was basically told "no", I'd have hung it up too.

[@beneddiected]

@@johannesbols57 read that Cyril's message didn't have the MSG (Master Service Gramme) code, which indicate that the message should be passed to bridge ASAP.

[@annabellelee4535]

@@johannesbols57 The Titanic radio operator did acknowledge it. He clearly responded to the message and that was all that was required. Cyril was free to go to bed because he did his job.

[@trshcln6937]

Without Phillips, the titanic with all of it’s passengers would’ve simply disappeared, we would’ve never known what happened to her

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

imagine someone saying shut up shut up I am driving to your text🤣🤣🤣

[@annoyingbstard9407]

Someone on KZbin would have known. Everyone’s an expert here, remember.

[@s1lence_tiramisu2005]

@@annoyingbstard9407 No the point is no one would survive to tell the tales as no rescure reach them, and we will never know how and why she vanished in the night of 14th April, 1912 and never reach New York. Her wreck may also be lost forever too as no one know the rough location she sank. And worst, no lesson can be learnt, until another ship sink in similar manner

[@peterl.deegan9059]

As a guy in navy myself serving on cruise Tanker and ferries. I can sure back up the commodore stance on this. Based on how current navy reacts to each other. When you are surround by same guys for month you become close. There is very close knit community between the ships. We still talk to each other over radio. My mother used to say when I got home. I had three days sort my language out

[@thepapistyourmotherwarnedy752]

My grandfather had the same experience: he had gotten back from a semester at VMI and was unusually quiet at dinner his mom asks why and he says “I’m scared of what I might say” now I knew his mother, she was a small Virginia woman with a rotten attitude who liked no one, she would’ve more than likely smacked him into the next week and wished he went through Hell Week twice at VMI if he swore at HER dinner table 😆

[@TheRiddle1981]

I live in Jack Phillips' home town and there is a very large memorial park dedicated to him here. At school, we learned about our local hero who died that night.

[@johannesbols57]

Godalming, Surrey. I visited there 10Feb1996 so I could see the memorial garden.

[@plugmanjohnson7456]

Sucks he died. Literally just because he ran the wrong direction 😞

[@Phobos_Anomaly]

Farncombe?

[@debandmike3380]

The titanic was the ultimate learning experience on so many levels. It's just sad it cost so many lives.

[@Cybermat47]

Safety regulations are written in blood, as they say :(

[@wikiuser92]

My father taught me that exact same saying.

[@s1lence_tiramisu2005]

For example: The Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) had been developing since 1955 but only introduced in the 1980s. The system is designed to provide climb instruction and descend instruction to two approaching planes respectively, to prevent collision between them. However, no protocol was designed to follow when the instruction from the system contradict the instruction from the air traffic controller. In 2001 JAL907 and JAL958 almost collided when the pliot of JAL907 chose to follow the instruction from the air traffic controller to descend while JAL 958 chose to follow the instruction of the system and descend as well. The follow-up investigation pointed out this problem but no improvement was made, and the result was the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision, which 71 of all crew and passengers of the involved BTC2937 and DHX611 flights were killed. Only after the disaster, a new protocol of TCAS instructions should be prioritize over ATC instructions was finally made. A lesson paid with 71 innocent lives as price, which was on 100% off discount a year ago.

[@donaldfedosiuk1638]

I like your comparison of radio operators in 1912 and computer geeks of today. My dad went to sea as a marine telegrapher in 1925 and his descriptions of his early fascination with radio and a little later of "going to radio school" to acquire basic radio theory, learn Morse, master the rudiments of repair and maintenance and get his operator's license seemingly mirrored the experience of my generation's obsession with the emerging cyber-world. With, as Dr. Johnson put it, "the added prospect of drowning." lol

[@HiMyNameisAndy91]

Oh my god, the text bit from 7:16 and that 💩 eating grin at 7:31 made me crack up. This is my new favorite channel. I’ve always loved Titanic history since I was a kid. But your videos have made me fascinated by Oceanliners. I’ve nearly binge watched all of your videos.

[@plusplusplusplusp]

Imagine how differently we would see the Titanic disaster had she been unable to use the radio. In the worst-case scenario, all 700 in the lifeboats could have died of exposure, thirst and starvation. Ships would probably have eventually stumbled upon bodies floating in the water and in the boats - no survivors to tell the tale of why Titanic went down. As a lot of ice was sighted in the area, and no other ship was lost (ruling out a collision), I think people would eventually guess that she hit an iceberg, or perhaps suffered a catastrophic fire ripping through the whole ship. But if no one in the boats was picked up by a passing ship in time, we could never be certain. Titanic would be the ship that mysteriously sank one dark night, taking every soul on board with her. Imagine that. There would be movies, books and documentaries speculating on what could possibly have sunk the Titanic. No doubt people like Edward Wilding, involved in her design, would figure out that a glancing blow might open enough compartments to be fatal. Might I add Michael, it's great to see a fellow Aussie ocean liner and Titanic buff (although you certainly leave me for dead in terms of knowledge). Keep up the good work.

[@sickly300salt3]

several ships in the area also spotted the emergency flares; and would have headed for rescue regardless.

[@BoleDaPole]

A good act does not out way a bad act, nor the bad the good.

[@stevenschnepp576]

@@BoleDaPole You keep saying that as if the Marconi operator telling the other guy butting in with casual chatter to hold off a moment was a "bad act".

[@LordVader1094]

@@BoleDaPole Yeah and there was nothing bad about what Phillips did.

[@dogman15]

While it's true that in history, no one on board any of the Titanic's lifeboats were known to have discovered the food and water reserves (only being on the lifeboats for a few hours), it can be presumed that if they were forced to stay in the lifeboats longer, they may have eventually found the emergency supplies. But in that situation, the supplies probably wouldn't have lasted very long.

[@RinaRavyn]

So basicly shipboard communications during an atlantic crossing were the first ever discord chat. I see.

[@eslm-studios2996]

This is very interesting. Since diving deeper into the Titanic Incident, I've been wondering why Philips was so rude. But now that this info's been revealed, it makes sense. He either got annoyed because his ears were ringing from the loud transmission, or might have just worded it to amuse the receiver. And with that in mind, I think it's more than likely that Cyril Evans clocked out around the same time as that was because that was the end of his shift. Amazing how almost the littlest of things can be lost from media coverage or simple interpretations of the events.

[@darryl_quinn]

It is difficult to find informative and comprehensively detailed videos relating to the events throughout Titanic’s service - but your explanation on the event’s that occurred throughout her maiden voyage are brilliant. Super content!

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Too kind thanks Darryl! ~Mike

[@sarahclaireclaire7586]

@@OceanlinerDesigns I'm trying to work out your accent.. 😂... Love your channel it's cool😎👍🦘

[@nadine_ghc3465]

Fascinating bit of actual background that changes the story told. Thank you.

[@drewdederer8965]

There's a book "The Victorian Internet" about Telegraph operators pre-radio. Most of the same things could be said about them (lots of gossip, lots of rough abbreviations). They couldn't cut in on each other, but they would "Salt" new guys/gals (there were a few female operators), by transmitting quickly and in succession (trying to overwhelm the other user's ability to take down messages). Thomas Edison started as an operator and was noted for beating a few of these pranks (he was THAT fast).

[@Sheilawisz]

Indeed, it was the Whats App back then!

[@EIGYRO]

There is a cure for @ssholes like that. Send RPT, and keep sending it til they slow down. BTDT.

[@alflyover4413]

I have that book somewhere. It is a good read.

[@z3r0_35]

Doubly impressive as Edison was almost completely deaf.

[@danwat1234]

64 likes and the book is 256 pages. Base 2, digital!

[@albertbatfinder5240]

Super interesting. I like the way you look at human reactions from another era and see how easily they might relate to what’s going on today. It’s a philosophy I think about often, e.g. A time-travelling Roman senator from AD 70 arrives on Capitol Hill and within three days works out what’s going on.

[@JonahNelson7]

Yeah culture is a very thin lacquer covering who we are. Versions of the very same concepts exist in every culture, including cultures differenciated by time

[@patrickpaganini]

Yes - interesting point. You've might have heard the phrase "Cleopatra was closer in time to us than she was to the earliest pyramids". It reminds you when we look in the past, all we see are the differences (omg a black & white photo, and they wear odd hats) and not the similarities!

[@bazza945]

As a matter of interest, the two wireless operators, Phillips and McBride, were employed by the Marconi Company, who also supplied the whole wireless installation. The operators answered to the master of the ship. Regarding the ship's orchestra, I recollect reading they were independently contracted to a specialist music company. This company supplied musicians to the various shipping lines requiring musical entertainment aboard their vessels.

[@sillyone52062]

Fun fact: A dunning notice was sent to the musicians' families demanding payment for the lost instruments.

[@mikeh2006]

@@sillyone52062 madness

[@jillianmaloney3544]

@@sillyone52062 that’s gross. How awful.

[@Dallas_K]

Marconi operators answered to the Marconi Company.

[@ashhitchner9184]

I love this channel so much! Until recently i felt like i was getting the same recycled stories about the Titanic that I've heard since i was a kid...but you've shined new light on things I never even knew were misunderstood. Thank you so much for what you do!

[@bazza945]

The Titanic's operator was flat out sending radiotelegrams to the main US coast radio station at Cape Race. Wireless was relatively rare on ships in 1912, but the Titanic had the most powerful modern Marconi wireless installation available at the time. The well-off passengers aboard the ship made good use of the novel service, hence the operator's 'impatience' to send wireless traffic while conditions were good. He may have been brisk in telling the other ship to be quiet, but 'might is right' on the night, I suppose. Later a special list of shortcut 3 letter codes was adopted by international agreement, it was called the "Q" Code. The Q code to request a ship to stop sending, usually associated with an urgency situation, was QRT. The request was rare, but when given was always respected.

[@bazza945]

I forgot to mention I was a shore coast station radio operator for 27 years, using morse code telegraphy and voice radio telephony.

[@abelq8008]

Imagine how many wireless messages from passengers were "heigh ho I'm at sea isn't that marvelous? "

[@hagerste]

A small correction: A radio station at Cape Race was not a “US coast radio station.” At the time, Newfoundland was dominion of the British Empire, like Canada. It was ideally situated to exchange wireless messages (Marconi radiogrammes) with ships at sea and was able to retransmit the same onto cities in North America as telegram messages via cables and landlines.

[@joebish6629]

I was a Radio Officer at sea and I only ever received one QRT. First time I called a coast station on my first ship but I hadn't checked the clock and it was bang in the middle of a silence period. Felt just a bit stupid. Which coast station did you work at?

[@abwo47]

100% right Barry. 73's fm an old merchant marine r/o. Still using morsecode/cw being a hamoperator/pa5abw

[@CarloandBailey]

I love this so much. Your smiles were the best part of the video. SUBSCRIBED BABY

[@samsmom1491]

I was a member if the Signal Corp as a RAT (Radio & Teletype) Rig Operator in the military back in the 1980s. We had our own jargon just like these guys and proudly referred to ourselves as rats. Hearing the way they communicated with each other brought back memories.

[@davef.2329]

A quality, informative presentation as always. Thanks. Had young Phillips not taken the initiative to repair the Marconi set himself, no one would have likely learned of Titanic's dire situation until hours later. Lives lost could have at, or near one hundred per-cent.

[@kirkmorrison6131]

Except for the newest (at the time) rotary spark gap transmitters. The earlier ones transmitted from at least 2000 meters wavelength up into the shortwave bands at once. With no filtering it would have been a head crushing noise to Jack Philips

[@hancocki]

This video just came up in my feed. Very well put together and informative, thank you!

[@jamescameron2490]

Titanic, and other pre-WW1 stations, used "spark gap" transmitters. These were electronically very "noisy", and could block the transmissions from other sets within range. This type of transmitter was banned by international law in 1934.

[@jakecavendish3470]

The other thing to remember is that transatlantic liners travelled in lanes, so that if one did get in trouble they could message another by morse or telegraph and ferry passengers to the next one. None of them intended lifeboats to carry survivors on open sea, they were supposed to be used to relay people from a stricken ship to a safe ship. So the airwaves would be chaotic when inside one of the lanes

[@KiwiSentinel]

Yes "Hell" by 1912 standards along with "bugger" and "damn". I remember as a boy saying "damn" in front of my grandmother who grew up in the years before the Titanic. She told me off for using such language, which by the 1970's had lost its shock value.

[@Ayrshore]

As a radio ham myself, this totally fits.

[@bubbleheadft]

The way he describes them sounds exactly like hams.

[@atadbitnefarious1387]

Kind of like how absolutely Vulgar CB is too.

[@Melody-td5hd]

That Senate hearing transcript was actually really funny though lol. It's like a bunch of middle school boys passing around a note, and all it says is "bewbs."

[@adde9506]

Interestingly, this also shifts responsibility for the ice warning not being properly communicated from Phillips to Evans. Evans would have known from experience that not only had he effectively screamed in Phillips ear, but the response he got was of someone concentrating on something else and doubly not listening to him. If he had come back with "I know you're busy, listen anyway," the warning would have been processed correctly. But he just let it go, like what he was saying wasn't important.

[@ZGryphon]

My favorite thing about all this jocular banter between Marconi operators is that they were doing it all in Morse code and _still_ easily recognizing each other's "voices", which was a thing Morse telegraphers familiar with each other's work could do back in the day.

[@zachary2727]

Regardless of the banter allowed you wouldn't give that response to a serious ice warning

[@DerpyPossum]

Because "Say OM we are stopped and surrounded by ice" isn't a serious ice warning.

[@alfi6745]

Hopefully this video gets a lot of attention… It’s really important for people to know this kind of information. Thank you for publishing this video

[@Krommer1000]

Wow. I almost didn't click on this, because I've already heard SO much about this interaction, there's no way someone has a new take on it.... Happy I clicked. Great vid! :-)

[@BigOldBoats]

Absolutely love your videos! Can't wait to see more!! :)

[@Plsgetmetosubscribers-rq9hy]

Big Old Boats love your videos especially the lurine video lol. Edit: SS Lurline

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Thanks Big Old Boats, and likewise :) ~Mike

[@andysim232]

Weird seeing abbreviations that long ago. Can just imagine "OMFG WTF LMAO" we sinks

[@thesmithersy]

Though interestingly, he was rude to the Frankfurt when they had said they were coming to respond to the sinking then 30 minutes later, Frankfurt asked "What is the matter with you?" and Phillips (or Bride) responded "You fool! Shut up and keep out!". Bride also did the same on Carpathia to SS Birma when they offered assistance after the sinking but were told "Shut up" because they didn't use a Marconi wireless set.

[@DerpyPossum]

Lowe didn't have any involvement with the wireless activities, last I checked; he was an officer on the bridge.

[@thesmithersy]

@@DerpyPossum I meant Bride

[@thomaskositzki9424]

Isn't it interesting how we humans do change and then not at all? Those Marconi operators talked to each other pretty much like modern folks often do in internet chats, forums and comment sections. Reminds me of gamer lingo in particular. Only striking difference is the extreme increase in profanity since back then.

[@gwenallwood]

I love thinking of these wireless operators as the computer geeks of the time. I was also thinking how they worked in a small space, not seeing the light of day much, just them and their geeky technology. So cool.

[@mbryson2899]

This one made me squee! I was a radio dispatcher for the Security & Safety department at a large Chicagoland hospital for years, communicating with from five to 15 fellows during every shift. Outsiders listening to recordings of our radio and phone traffic could have concluded that trout live in trees. We had our own language amongst ourselves for certain, and it did not translate well to those not in the game. Our shorthand comments and barbs were ours but they got the point across. THAT is the point of radio communication; maximum information in minimal time, with personal situations and messages blended in.

[@bazza945]

As an ex coast radio station morse operator for just over two and a half decades, I worked thousands of hours communicating with all sorts of vessels. I can vouch that on a sked that involved intense concentration, such as copying a very weak signal and through QRM and QRN, everything else going on in the room seemed to fade out of your consciousness. After the sked finished it was if something in your mind had reset your external awareness. On most skeds you were usually aware of the background noises and conversations going in. Conversely, your ear could pick up your callsign being sent even if it was barely ledgable, it seemed instinctuall to hear it.

[@joebolling]

You mean on top of the theories of conspiracy involving the intentional sinking of this ship, the ship’s radio was expected to be down and unrepairable until reaching port??

[@klobiforpresident2254]

One should remember that many of the leadership positions such as senior officers had spent decades faring the sea without this newfangled wireless equipment. The thought surely was similar to : "Back in my day we used flags and lights and got along just fine. So what if we have to do that again?" Additionally the radio operators were employed by the radio company, so it likely was also just the standard "wait for a qualified technician before you break it even further (or fry yourself trying)."

[@jfangm]

@@klobiforpresident2254 What do you mean "back my day?" Lights and flags are STILL used to this day.

[@klobiforpresident2254]

@@jfangm They certainly are but they aren't used *exclusively*.

[@anarchomando7707]

@@klobiforpresident2254 this is why right to repair is so important

[@turricanedtc3764]

Titanic (like many of the newer large liners) was fitted with a secondary "emergency" wireless set. It was much less powerful than the primary apparatus, but the ship would not have lost the ability to communicate entirely. That said, had Philips and Bride not broken the rules and repaired the primary set, it's doubtful that the emergency set would have had the range to hail Carpathia.

[@tteokbokkibxtch]

I kinda love this and find it weirdly endearing. It's like Internet speak but from a hundred years ago. "Get to hell, old man" is basically old-timey "bro stfu"

[@MrDaiseymay]

According to Lightholler, he and another survivor dragged Philips out of the sea and onto the upturned Lifeboat they were standing on, but within minutes, he collapsed and died, probably of the cold. junior operator Harold Bride survived.

[@bigchap5794]

I was waiting for a little "Cape Race" at the end there 7:26

[@VanceWarren83]

I remember saying “I can’t open the damn thing” in front of my Gran…. She told me if I use fowl language like that, she will wash my mouth out with soap. I was born in 1983…. I didn’t understand what I was being told off for lol.

[@SergeantExtreme]

A similar incident happened to Gordon Ramsey. He said something like "You need to actually fix this damn hole, not shove crap into it." To which the person he was yelling at responded with "watch your language." To which Gordon replied, "What?!? Do you mean the word 'hole'??" He genuinely didn't realize he was swearing. 😆

[@Minime163]

@@SergeantExtreme damn is very mild language if I or anyone I know use it it's a sign we're mildly pissed off it's very rearly used these days.

[@johnroscoe2406]

I was born in 1983 and I wouldn't have said "damn" in front of my grandmother, at least my dad's side...

[@johnroscoe2406]

@@SergeantExtreme ..........That was Gordon being Gordon. He knew he was swearing. Are you daft?

[@krashd]

@@johnroscoe2406 The religious swear words like damn, hell, Christ, etc are not really considered swear words in the UK as we're not a religious bunch, so I can understand Gordon being perplexed, although he would be smart enough to know such words might irk a conservative American.

[@agranero6]

QRL is one of the standard Q code messages created in 1909 and used to this day: It only means "I am busy" with no expletives, and no emotion conveyed: it only means the operator can not answer at this time. A QRL followed by a question mak means "Are you busy?" About the other messages you can see that those abbreviations predate in much the invention of cell phones.

[@darthhull85]

The book on your shelf “On Board the Titanic” the think blue kids book, that’s the book that started it all for me in 94 when I was 4. Obsessed ever since.

[@FormerGovernmentHuman]

This has always been a curiosity of mine. How personalities and micro cultures shaped history. Having served in the SOC for several years I got to know these elite men personally and they were wildly different than I had always imagined them to be. It’s always made me wonder how did Alexander and his companions shoot the shit, or what was the daily life of a soldier on campaign under him. Would it be recognizable to me or foreign?

[@fexzitfhydrinds7058]

in which ways were they different?

[@staceyblankenship1940]

Jack Philips was mainly the one to blame. Had he paid attention to the warnings, the Captain would have had the time to turn the Titanic and miss that iceburg. Titanic would be like the Queen Mary and be a back in time capsule.

[@quillmaurer6563]

So the Marconi operators were basically like stereotypical male friends. When they're polite to each other, you know it's a tense peace between guys who don't like each other but have to work together and cooperate. When they give each other crap and refer to one another as "shithead," it's a sign of endearment showing that they are very close and deep friends. Think of Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, and James May.

[@patrickrichmond9896]

What Jack Phillips did was that he turned his wireless radio up pretty high to get a strong signal coming from Cape Race. And he had to turn it up so he could hear Cape Race. The Californian was so close that when the wireless operator chimed in about the iceberg, that was pretty loud for Jack and when he was in the middle of sending a message from a first class passenger, we could say that he was pretty provoked as the announcement coming to him very loudly scared him quite a bit.

[@484berkshire]

Just imagine if Phillips hadn't fixed the Marconi in the first place. Would the survivors in the lifeboats have ever been saved? Would one of the other nearby ships just happen to spot the cluster of lifeboats in time, or would the first sign of trouble have been when Titanic was a few days late to New York, by which point the survivors might've died of exposure?

[@DANIELLE_BREANNA_LACY]

More survivors definitely would’ve died from exposure if he hadn’t fixed it. If he hadn’t fixed it when he did, the Carpathia wouldn’t have been informed that Titanic was in trouble and needed their help because the Carpathia’s wireless radio operator Harold Cottam was the only one still awake and was in the process of getting ready for bed when he picked up that distress call so he fixed it just in the nick of time.

[@HinckleyBranchRailfan]

7:31 that pop up smile killed me 😂

[@andidubya3840]

Just in case it helps the youtube algorithm "good work well done" - again. I'm really liking the content here, as you were

[@Electroceratops]

I doubt I'm the first to say this, but: that saying is in fact a literary quote, from "The Go-Between". My mother likes to amend it to, "The past is a foreign country; the future's an alien planet."

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

If someone from 1912 came to today, they would faint from what is said and shown on tv today. Also, I'd say the sheer lack of clothing, especially in summer, would shock them too. You go from quite large and non-form fitting dresses in the 1910s to tight tank tops and daisy dukes today. You're right. The past is a foreign country

[@katherineberger6329]

If someone from 1912 came to today they would also faint from how little we've done to secure the future against the environmental crises we now face. "Freedom" in 1912 involved obligations to justice. "Freedom" in 2021 has been rebranded to mean the ability to do anything you want regardless of how anyone else is harmed by it.

[@jamieblanche3963]

@@katherineberger6329 Well put!

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

@@katherineberger6329 How little we've done? Back in 1912, the primary fuel used for heating, electricity, and ship propulsion was coal. The exhaust went into the atmosphere unfiltered. We also used to dump raw sewage into rivers

[@MarcABrown-tt1fp]

@@thomasvlaskampiii6850 No kidding... Back then it was carefree dumping of our waste. You name it, which ever waste we had on hand we dumped it...

[@sabotabby3372]

@@thomasvlaskampiii6850 we also used to break bosses kneecaps over labor disputes and get into shootouts with the national guard and army Funny how many more labor protections they won back then

[@cat-a-tonic150]

OK, I'm subscribed to too many channels already but, this guy is my kind of nut job.

[@mkosmo]

It's amazing how ham radio conversations still carry much of the same language (q-codes and other shorthand) today.

[@michaelnp2323]

"Shut up, shut up I'm busy. I'm on KZbin" 😂

[@davel9909]

Interesting to know that even in 1915 people were telling each other to STFU, GTFO and GTH cos I'm OMW!

[@tavi9598]

Titanic did feature a backup Marconi set, but it was a considerably weaker one that wouldn't have had the range needed to call for help, much less contact Cape Race. As far as Phillips was likely concerned, if he was going to have free time he might as well make productive use of it. Aside that he no doubt wasn't keen on hearing the complaints from the passengers that would come as a result of his inability to do his job. So, like people in such a situation are likely to do, he decided he would rather make his life easier by repairing the set. It was in defiance of the rules, but who was going to snitch on him?

[@moaningpheromones]

yeah, filthy rich passengers with all their charm and understanding.

[@IndeedQuiteSo]

7:15 "Shut up. Shut up. I am on KZbin. 😁" That is a quality Marconi-based joke, sir.

[@Frserthegreenengine]

Unrelated but at the same enquiry, Senator Smith asked Harold Lowe what an iceberg is composed of. To which Lowe responded with: "Ice, I suppose sir?"

[@jaspervlogt3843]

The senator deserved that response for that question, ngl. Its like asking:"Was the Ocean water wet?"

[@ellenkingsley]

Lowe sounds like a real sarcastic person 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@MrKevinp0]

Love your cheeky "Yup, I just did that face!" @ 7:31. Well done sir!

[@marianoschaller9066]

Well... still, rude or not, there is a vessel saying " we are sorrounded by icebergs". I think that is important information.

[@DerpyPossum]

It was probably seen in the moment as information on par with that which had already been relayed to the bridge dozens of times throughout the voyage.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@DerpyPossum Moreover. Californian did not give her position, as her Marconi operator hadn't been given one by the bridge officers.

[@princessinmittens4783]

i enjoy your humour. It's cheeky and witty and because I don't expect it, it makes me chuckle.

[@SiVlog1989]

I remember hearing about this in Seconds From Disaster's investigation into the loss of the Titanic. They mentioned about how messages intended for the Captain, like weather reports, were prefixed on the Wireless with the letters "MSG", short for "Master Service Gramme." Cyril Evens' message to all ships in the area of the Californian didn't have that prefix. Phillips had no reason, based on the layout of that message, to take it seriously

[@annabellelee4535]

Which is the pity because the Titanic would have been a successful ship if the master of the Titanic had been as smart as the master of the Californian. Lord knew to stop for the night for safety reasons.

[@SiVlog1989]

@@annabellelee4535 actually, the Captain took an approach which, while insane today, was in fact considered normal for the day. The ship was only considered to be in danger as long as it was in the Ice Field, therefore get out of there as quickly as possible. The biggest problem is that the Board of Trade regulations regarding the construction of liners was hopelessly out of date. At the time of its construction in 1910/11, Titanic had actually more than enough lifeboats because they thought that half the passengers would be able to be evacuated before the rest would be picked up by rescue crafts. However, on the night of the accident that left her sinking, the closest ship that could come to Titanic's aid, SS Carpathia, was still 4 hours away from Titanic even at top speed. They didn't anticipate that the ship would sink so quickly after being hit by an iceberg

[@annabellelee4535]

@@SiVlog1989 Obviously the Californian didn't think it was normal because they stopped for the night due to the dangers of low light and calm seas coupled with an ice field. They were not the only ship to stop for safety. And guess what? They survived and the ship that refused to stop for safety is on the bottom of the ocean.

[@Frserthegreenengine]

@@annabellelee4535 actually going through the Ice field at speed was standard procedure *at the time*. Hard to believe now, but that was the case, hence why Captain Smith ordered to sail through, he was just following standard procedure of the time. With the benefit of hindsight we know this was a mistake but they weren't to know at the time, procedure has changed to reflect this. You can't really blame the Captain (not master btw) of the Titanic for doing what everyone else did, none of them could foresee the disaster.

[@Frserthegreenengine]

Not to mention that the Bridge on the Titanic were already aware of the icebergs and had even dispatched lookouts. The Californian's warning to Titanic, in the grand scheme of things, would have made no difference in preventing the disaster.

[@Weesel71]

Interesting image of SMS EMDEN on the wall. Is there a story there? I can believe the operators were very informal with each other. OM was still in use in the 1980's when I chased ditties. I'm sure it hasn't gone out of use for those who still use Morse, and it had to start somewhere and sometime. Good story.

[@medea27]

It's all about context... every profession, hobby, and friend group has their own 'language' or shorthand for communicating, so I'm surprised that people jump to the conclusion that he was being rude. Clear & concise language is a necessity with radio transmissions.... when you're limited by bandwidth, time, or reception you don't have time for niceties. I think some people really struggle to understand conversations or statements when they can't hear the tone being used... it's easy to take things like sarcasm the wrong way if you don't have the tonal cues to work with, or you don't understand the context.

[@Swaggs907]

The wireless operators of the ships in North Atlantic being in a group chat is mad funny. “Yo, we sinking.” “Lol dam fr?” “Git gud.”

[@manoflego123]

Wow, this perfectly coincides with my childhood obsession with the Titanic and adult love for humorous archaic mannerisms. Good show.

[@gg-zj4ji]

I love this channel so much I find ocean liners so interesting

[@Rebelheart1985]

I laughed my ass off at two points on this video: The text you sent and the story of Lowe saying that to Ismay lol

[@justsayin5609]

I discovered your channel in the early morning hours across the pond (chuckled, as I thought this was purely a Canadian thing ) and have been binge watching for the past 2-1/2 hours or so. I must say your vest, tie, bookshelves and magnificent dentition make for a professional, legitimizing presentation. I'll be looking forward to more! Indeed have saved a number to my 'watch later' file as for me, it's more efficient than a subscription which I never seem to get to. Especially enjoyed this video as I was a ham radio operator in high school. 73 & 88. (Still remember those as a girl in the 70s which was very unusual, got lots of them 😂).

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Hey thanks for watching! You might like my “How Carpathia Rescued Titanic’s Survivors” video as the W/T is at the centre of the story :)

[@eglantinepapeau1582]

"WOULD YOU STFU!!!" Jack Phillips, 1912

[@MrAnonymousization]

Thank you so much for that context. I thought all this time he was just being an asshole, turns out they were all playfully assholes to one one another, which is hilarious and endearing.

[@ChickVicious237]

"Not unlike what those of us with a Blackberry had to use in the 2000's" YES! Starting to show your age there, OM. J/K! The abbreviations are coming back but yeah, early PDA days were interesting. Thankful to Tom Lynskey for sharing his love and enthusiasm over the Marconi operators, and thank you for the well framed argument for Jack Phillips' actions being in no way unethical or a detriment to the Titanic's situation that night.

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

Haha TU OM!

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

LMFAO. The “gasps” after the “get to hell” was said. 🤣🤣🤣

[@thesmithersy]

Well given that saying "Hell" back then was as bad as saying the C word today, the gasps would have been audible in the inquiry too I bet.

[@paulheenan9098]

Interestingly enough, Marconi himself was invited to sail aboard the Titanic, but turned the offer down since he had a lot of paperwork to do and preferred the services of Lusitanina's public stenographer. He was booked for the return voyage, however. Interesting to think that, if he were on the ship, he likely would have repaired the wireless much faster than Phillips did, saving him the stress of dealing with the extra workload clearing the backlog of messages.

[@theminingassassin16]

I love the passion that goes into these videos.

[@rabbit251]

Yesterday I watched a documentary about the Californian in the sinking of the Titanic. This has always been a controversy, one of them being of whether it was even there. In the video it was clear the ship was there. The crew had seen the lights and seen flares which they took for signals to their company's ships. They also noticed the lights going up. They reported this to the captain who was asleep, but he dismissed it all. At 8:30 the next morning the wireless operator turned on his set and heard of tragedy. The captain ordered the ship to power up and race to the scene but to no use. The ship sailed into Boston but was called into the hearing we just heard of here where this testimony was given. The captain would later be fired because of the bad PR he gave that company but he got jobs on other smaller ships. That morning it took the Californian 3 hours to sail to sight. Using that time the ship wouldn't had made a difference that night. But how much had the ship drifted in the night? Was it closer the night before and had they responded promptly then been able to save people?

[@dannydillon997]

Lol when Mike got the call I lost it laughing lol

[@rcm926]

So it's basically the equivalent of 4chan users calling each other slurs, but everyone gets to wear cool hats?

[@OceanlinerDesigns]

So true! ~Mike

[@joeyfitz9]

'The past is a different country." Brilliant!

[@NotAFirefighter1]

Can you do a video on what boarding was like, how passengers waited at the dock in different claases and how they were boarded

[@wandamorris7042]

Dang phillips being a mad lad and lowe having a sick burn.

[@larsrons7937]

Very interesting story. Sometimes reality can be so much different than you think if you don't have all facts.