But the Titanic's crowning technical glory was the advanced wireless communications system set up on Morse Code. Its main transmitter was in the Marconi Room by the bridge with antenna strung from mast-to-mast. Most ships back then could transmit from 100 to 150 miles during the day, but the Titanic had 500 miles day and 2,000 at night.
Passengers loved the idea so much that they inundated the operators on board with messages so much that this came into play on the ship's sinking.
At 11:30 PM, April 14th, the wireless operator on the SS Carpathian, sailing near the Titanic, messaged about icebergs in the vicinity. The Titanic's operator, Jack Phillips, on duty at the time, messaged back, "Shut up. Shut up. I'm working Cape Race," meaning that he was relaying messages to Cape Race, Newfoundland, some 800 miles away.
Once tragedy struck, the Carpathian did not respond to the Titanic's distress calls because the angered operator had gone to bed.
About 12:30 AM April 15th, the Titanic began sinking, one hour after striking the iceberg. The forward part of the ship went down first at 2:05 AM,where the bridge and Marconi Room were located.
Phillips remained at his station and was still sending messages at 2:17. The ship went entirely under at 2:20 and Phillips was not one of the survivors.
Sonar and radar would have helped, but in 1912, sonar was still in the experimental stage and radar was invented for another twenty years.
A Sad Occasion, One Hundred Years Ago. --Cooter
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