Wireless

Junior Wireless Operator Harold Bride was only 22 years old when he began working on the Titanic. Although he was working on the Titanic, he was actually employed by British Marconi. Bride was from Bromley in Kent and had been with Marconi for about 18 months. Bride had shifts of working 12 hours on and 12 hours off which he shared with Senior Wireless Operator Jack Phillips.

During the day of April 14/1912, the transmitter had broken down and Phillips got very behind. When it was fixed, he was so backlogged that Bride had offered to relieve him at midnight to help him out as Phillips was exhausted trying to catch up. bride had just finished dressing to go to work when Capt Smith came in and informed them Titanic had struck an iceberg. Phillips began to take over again as they sent their first distress call that night. CQD, which stands for CQ-all stations, and D-distress. CQD was followed by MGY-the Titanic's call letters. At 12:18am, approximately 3 minutes after the first CQD was sent, the Frankfort responded, "Ok-Stand by." A few minutes later the Mount Temple responded saying that they were changing course to meet the Titanic as well as did the Birma and Virginian, however none were nearby. At 12:25am, the Carpathia's wireless operator, who had missed the Titanic's first distress call, casually asked Phillips if there was any traffic waiting for him at Cape Race. Phillips then notified the Carpathia's wireless operatr of the CQD and gave him the position-41.46 N, 50.14 W. After a moment's pause, the Carpathia's operator asked Phillips if he should inform him captain. Phillips replied, " Yes, at once!" A few minutes later, the operator informed Phillips that the Carpathia was only 58 miles away and was "coming hard."

At 12:34am the Frankfort came back with its position-150 miles away. Phillips asked , "Are you coming to our assistance?" The German liner asked, "What is the matter with you?". Phillips replied, "Tell your captain to come to our help. We are on the ice." Just then the Olympic barged in saying she was 500 miles away. Phillips told her to stand by, the captain had just come in to get a report on the wireless situation. Phillips informed Capt Smith about the Carpathia. Capt Smith asked, "What call are you sending?" "CQD", Phillips said. Bride then suggested, "Send SOS; it's the new call, and besides, this may be your last chance to send it!" (recently the international convention had introduced the new distress call. SOS didn't stand for anything in particular, but it was easy enough for even amateurs to send and receive.) They all laughed. At 12:45am on April 15,1912, Titanic had sent the first "SOS" in history. He continued to send out SOS along with CQD, as long as the power lasted. At about 2:05am, Capt Smith walked into the wireless cabin where Phillips was still tapping out distress calls and softly said, "Men, you have done your full duty. You can do no more. Abandon your cabin. Now it's every man for himself."

Phillips glanced at the captain, then went back to tapping out the distress call. The captain continued, "You look out for yourselves, I release you. That's the way of it at this kind of time." He turned to leave the wireless shack-Phillips continued morsing. Bride hurried to gather up papers and the wireless log. A woman was brought in who had fainted and was sitting in a chair. A few moments later she was revived and then left with her husband. The lights were glowing a orangish color now as they began to fade. Phillips was trying to adjust the set to make it stronger. At 2:10am, Phillips sent out two "V"s. It was faintly picked up by the Virginian. that was the last anyone heard from the Titanic. Bride then went behind the green curtain to gather up his money and a few personal belongings. When he came back, he saw a stoker leaning over Phillips, unstrapping his lifebelt. Phillips was concentrating so hard on trying to get the wireless working again that he didn't even realize there was anyone over him, let alone taking off his lifebelt. Bride shouted at the stoker and jumped on him. Phillips jumped up and realized what was going on and began wrestling with the stoker as well. Bride held the stoker's arms as Phillips beat the man senseless. They then dropped the unconcious man on the floor. Bride went to grab the wireless log book but Phillips shouted, "Let's get out of here!" and they both ran. Phillips went aft while Bride ran forward. Bride was on deck when he was suddenly washed overboard and found himself trapped underneath the overturned Collapsible B. Many men climbed aboard the overturned Collapsible B. With every man who climbed aboard, the air pocket that was keeping Bride alive got smaller and smaller. Just then the forward funnel collapsed. The wave it made when it hit the water pushed Collapsible B about thirty yards away from the sinking ship, Bride still caught underneath. More men started climbing onto the overturned lifeboat making it even harder for Bride to stay alive. Bride knew it was now or never and took a deep breath, dove down and kicked his way out from under the boat. He finally made it to the top where he was able to climb onto the lifeboat near the stern. Phillips then somehow made it to the Collapsible B lifeboat as well and was now standing near the stern with Bride. Lightoller was also on that boat and asked Phillips who was coming to their rescue. Phillips stated, "the Carpathia, which would probably make it there by daybreak, the Baltic, the Mount Temple and the Olympic." The lifeboat was sinking due to the weight of all the men aboard. Water was already washing across the men's feet. Phillips was so exhausted from the hard day and nights work and from the figid cold water before reaching Collapsible B that about 4:00am he quietly collapsed and died, his body falling over the side and into the water. Bride eventually made it onto the Carpathia but not before his feet were badly frostbitten. After a few hours rest he relieved Cottam, the Carpathia's wireless operator, and started sending out names of survivors and their personal messages to New York, via Cape Race. Cottam and Bride were informed by the Marconi office that Guglielmo Marconi, founder of the wireless, had made a deal with the New York Times for the boys to sell their story when they reached New York. Each man made only about $20 a month and they were told their stories would earn them each several thousand dollars, which they ended up doing. ** Harold Bride could never cope with the notoriety of being the Titanic's surviving wireless operator. In 1913, he left the Marconi company and vanished. The next three quarters of the century his whereabouts were a mystery until in 1987 a private investigator named David Norris traced Bride. Harold Bride had died in a Glascow, Scotland, hospital in 1956. He had become a traveling salesman after leaving Marconi. He was so successful in concealing his past that even his family didn't know who he really was until after his death.