The Marconi installation aboard R.M.S. Titanic in 1912 was a great advance in technical progress. With the installation of the state-of-the-art system, Titanic could communicate with other ships and have messages relayed to one side of the Atlantic or another when in mid-ocean. Passengers could enjoy the novelty and convenience of sending messages, which was equivalent to sending electronic emails and texts today.
There were two Marconi wireless operators on board Titanic both of whom were trained at the Marconi School at Seaforth Sands, Liverpool. The senior operator was John “Jack” Phillips and the junior Harold Bride. The day after Titanic set sail on the 11th of April, it was Jack Phillip’s birthday that was celebrated by them both with pasties brought from the first class dining room.
On the evening of the 14th of April, Phillips was sending out messages to Cape Race, Newfoundland, clearing accumulated passengers’ personal messages. Soon after 9.30 pm, Phillips received an ice warning from the steamship Mesaba that reported icebergs directly in the bearing of Titanic.
The message was one of the most important warnings received byTitanic, but it was never delivered to the bridge. The Titanic hit an iceberg at 11.40 pm that night and began sinking. The senior operator Jack Phillips continued sending out distress calls as Titanic was sinking and valiantly transmitted pleas for help until the ship lost power and sank.
Harold Bride the junior operator was a Titanic survivor and arrived in Liverpool from New York on the 18th May 1912. Bride had already made a donation towards the provision of a local memorial for his former colleague Jack Phillips in his home town of Godalming, in Surrey.
Under is an image of the Guglielmo Marconi Memorial Bust situated near Marconi beach Cape Cod, as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore U.S.A.
The memorial inscription reads as follows:
“The Pioneer of Wireless Communication. Son of Italy. Citizen of the World. Born in Bologna April 25,1874. Died in Rome July 20,1937. The Hon. Egidio Ortona. Ambassador of Italy to the U.S.A. The Hon.John A Volpe. Ambassador of the U.S.A. to Italy. Honorary Chairman. Franco FAA DiBruno. Consul General of Italy in Boston, Chairman.
Joseph Bell, Chief Engineer on the R.M.S. Titanic 