Saturday, April 14, 2012

100 Years after the RMS Titanic Sank in North Atlantic Ocean



RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City.
The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried 2,223 people. This is 100 years after the tragic accident and lets pray for the victims and Keep remembering how happy we are as we are safe from accident on road, air and sea.

Since the invention of radio at the end of the 19th century, ships at sea have relied on Morse code, invented by Samuel Morse and first used in 1844, for distress and safety telecommunications. The need for ship and coast radio stations to have and use radiotelegraph equipment, and to listen to a common radio frequency for Morse encoded distress calls, was recognized after the sinking of the liner RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1912. The U.S. Congress enacted legislation soon after, requiring U.S. ships to use Morse code radiotelegraph equipment for distress calls. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), now a United Nations agency, followed suit for ships of all nations. Morse encoded distress calling has saved thousands of lives since its inception almost a century ago, but its use requires skilled radio certified operators spending many hours listening to the radio distress frequency. Its range on the medium frequency (MF) distress band (500 kHz) is limited, and the amount of traffic Morse signals can carry is also limited.

Wireless and the safety of life at sea
News of the Titanic disaster shocked the world. The fact that over 700 people were saved because of wireless telegraphy made people realized that wireless was not just for the sending and receiving of personal messages; it was and would continue to be an essential contribution to the safety of life at sea.

Arrangements had already been made for the third Wireless Telegraphy Convention to take place in London at the end of 1912. This conference established internationally agreed regulations which were expanded by subsequent conventions. These included:

-the reinforcement of SOS as the distress signal

-The 500kc/s frequency was made a compulsory fitting for all ships carrying wireless

-the establishment of formal working hours, example 2 shifts of each 4 hours compulsary to be carried out by R/O (radio Officer on board)

-the formalization of the certification of Wireless Operators (Radio Officer)

-the creation of Silence Periods when all ships were required to cease operating and listen for distress signals on 500kc/s from 15-18 minutes and 45-48 minutes of every hours not to allow to transmit telegraph , reserved for SOS message sending and R/O must monitor and Record on the Radio logs for any SOS signal received. And has to report to Captain in case


-the requirement that at least one lifeboat should carry emergency wireless equipment

-the requirement that all ships should have an emergency transmitter and receiver powered by batteries.

Due to the advance of telecommunication technology and satellite communicator, in 2001, the world has dropped the use of Morse Code in the Sea Going Vessel, 100 years after Marconi made it to b used for ship in 1901.

PS
This is the radio log listed of the Titanic and Carpathia Morse communication:
At about 1.45 am Captain Smith reappeared at the Wireless Room and told the two wireless operators that the ship was sinking and that they should take to the boats. Jack Phillips simply replaced his headphones on his ears and recommenced work, Harold Bride stood by him watching what was being sent and stood ready to take received messages to the wheelhouse.

The last clear message sent by Jack Phillips was to Harold Cottam on the Carpathia, it was more a personal message than an official one. It read “come as quickly as possible, old man, the engine-room is filling up to the boilers”.

The power feeding the spark transmitter was fading fast and signals from the Titanic were blurred and unreadable. At 02.17 Jack Phillips commenced sending his last call. All that was received of it was CQ… and then silence.

At 0217 15 April , let’s pray for the death and the associated causalities caused by this Accident…

HK Snob


PS Picture of RMS Titanic started her maiden voyage on 10 April 1912.

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