![]() ![]() The Marconi suite on the Titanic was relatively spacious. The two stayed up all night diagnosing and repairing the problem, which was a violation of Marconi Company policy, but showed considerable dedication to their employer. The young men, 22 and 24 respectively, worked long hours to service the demand, made worse by a failure of the brand new radio gear – it had only been installed a week before sailing – the day before the collision. The Marconi service proved so popular that in the first 36 hours of the crossing that Titanic‘s two radio officers, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, sent approximately 250 Marconigrams to shore stations in the Marconi network. It cost 12 shillings and 6 pence for the first 10 words, the equivalent of $63 dollars in 2017. Catering to the whims of well-heeled passengers, however, many with the desire to flaunt their wealth by sending a “Marconigram” from the middle of the Atlantic was very profitable. Sending messages back and forth to other ships or using the system to contact shipping agents on shore to arrange berthings were important use cases, but not terribly profitable. The Marconi Company was a commercial venture, and as such needed to monetize their service to the greatest extent possible. In practice, though, safety of life at sea was a secondary consideration in including wireless telegraphy into the design of ocean liners. ![]() Radio changed all that, and the lifesaving potential of being able to send a distress signal was used by shipping lines to justify the expense of adding a Marconi system to a ship. Before Marconi, once a ship was beyond sight of land, it may as well not have existed. It had only been in business for twelve years at that point, and had only been installing “Marconi Rooms” in ocean liners since 1903. ![]() The Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, popularly known as the Marconi Company after its founder, Guglielmo Marconi, was established mainly to provide wireless telegraphy services to ships at sea. When Titanic‘s keel was laid down in 1909, commercial radio was in its infancy. It’s a controversial plan, of course, but it is technologically intriguing, and it’s worth taking a look at what’s down there and why we should even bother after all these years. And now, more than a century later, there’s an effort afoot to salvage that gear, with an eye toward perhaps restoring it to working condition. The 2.5-mile slow-motion free fall destroyed the structure of the room, but the gear survived relatively intact. The radio room of the Titanic landed on the ocean floor with the bow section of the great vessel. She boasted the latest in propulsion and navigation technology and an innovation that had only recently available: a Marconi wireless room, used both for ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship communications. Few ships have been as unlucky as the RMS Titanic, sinking as she did on the night of Apafter raking across an iceberg on her maiden voyage, and no ship has grabbed as much popular attention as she has.ĭuring her brief life, Titanic was not only the most elegant ship afloat but also the most technologically advanced. I honestly can't believe how much I got into these old time ships from their channel alone - I love the history and just the sheer size of the ships - they were so far ahead of their time.For some reason, of all the ships that have sailed the oceans, it’s the unlucky ones that capture our imagination. Seriously check out the "Titanic honor and Glory" you tube channel - it's fascinating and they cover all of Harland and Wolf/white star lines tragedy's (most people only think the Titanic sunk) not just Titanic. They are being very careful with the game as they want to do it justice. I highly recommend watching their videos on your TV. They have a simulated real time sinking of the Titanic (the full 2 hours plus) - sounds boring until you watch it, no talking, starts from just before the ship hits the iceberg to the final plunge - I recommend watching the entire thing - all key events pop up at their designated times. I follow their you tube channel closely - these young dudes are very committed to their work and even a lot of Titanic historians refer to them. ![]()
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