Friday, April 19, 1912
3pm
3pm
After a 1-hour and 40-minute recess, Senator Smith called Guglielmo Marconi to the witness stand. He is the third witness to be called on the first day of the American Inquiry.
Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, electrical engineer, physicist, and politician, known for his creation of a practical radio wave based wireless telegraph system. As the founder and president of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, his testimony regarding the marine telegraph systems functions and the procedures for emergencies at sea, were influential to the American Inquiry. He will be called to testify three more times during the length of the inquiry.
His descriptions of how the wireless telegraph functioned, and the responsibilities of the operators, gave the inquiry insight of what it must have been like for Titanic's wireless operators that fateful night.
Titanic's wireless operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride were not employed by the White Star Line but by the Marconi International Marine Communication Company. During the sinking, distress signals were sent and received by the Carpathia. It took a total of 17 minutes to receive and decode the distress signals sent by Titanic. Other ships received Titanic's signals but for various reasons Carpathia was the only ship to understand the seriousness of the situation and come to Titanic's aid. Carpathia was 58 miles away and was not able to reach the site before Titanic sank, only to find numerous lifeboats scattered across the horizon containing only 712 survivors.
When Carpathia docked in New York, Marconi went aboard with a reporter from The New York Times to talk with Bride, the surviving wireless operator. After this incident, Marconi gained popularity and became more recognized for his contributions to the field of radio and wireless technology.
The wireless telegraph system became a required and essential part of safety at sea.