Evening star., 1922-10-29
BY COMMANDER STANFORD C.
HOOPER, UNITED STATES NAVY.
Copyright, 1927

Copyright. 1927
Radio constitutes the equivalent Of the
! ''voice" and also the "ears'' Of a ship.
It speaks loudly and listens intently, es-
pecially when q vessel is in distress far
out at sea.
1t Is the agency through which the
calls for help reach out beyond the
wastes of water and inverted bowl
of sky which surround and envelop
the stricken vessel. Likewise 1t Is
the agency by which the ship listens
l-breathlessly, so to speak-for sig
nails of acknowledgment from distant
ships or from the shore and hears
the words which tell what aid can
be expected and when.
1t is the radio operator. Of course.
| who both speaks and listens for his
ship-thfough the medium of the
limitless ether and the dots and
dashes of the radio code.
He sends out. through his trans
mftting apparatus. the sos distress
signal, followed by the name of his
ship and its position as given to him
| by his captain.
Holds Fate in Hands.
He then irtently explores the
ether" by means Of his receiving
apparatus for responses and trans
| iates the dots and dashes of answer
ing signals into their corresponding
| language as he writes it down on
paper or gives it directly to the cap
tain by word of mouth.
Hence. in emergencies. the radio
| operator, by the very nature Of
things, assumes status Of impor-
tance equal to that of the captain
himself.
1t may be said. in fact, that he
holds in his hands the fate not only
of the vessel, but of the passengers,
the crew, the captain and himself.
This is especially true If the nature
Of the disaster is such that they
! must all take to the lifeboats quick
ly, or even if they only abandon the
ship, and therefore the radio, after
the lapse of a considerable interval
of time, but before a rescuing vessel
appears on the horizon.
Danger in Panic.
There Is little danger that the
radio operator will desert his post
in the possibility of his becoming
unduly excited or actually becoming
panicstricken when in the presence
of grave danger.
Coolness born of courage is re-
| quired at such times at sea. and by
no one in greater measure than the
radio operator. who always is re-
! CURED to act quickly. and, above all
with accuracy.
/ Undue excitement on the part of
the radio operator might easily re-
| suit in the ships position being sent
out in such manner that it would be
impossible of reception by other
ships or on shore-especially IL time
was limited and it had to be broad
casted quickly.
Accuracy Vital.
An inaccuracy in the figures as
! broadcasted denoting the latitude and
| longitude, or the ships position. as
| might easily result in the ships
| boats mover being found by rescuing
vessels.
When a radio equipped vessel at sea
is threatened with or overtaken by
| disaster the captains first act is to
! give to his radio operator the ships s
position. expressed in terms of lati-
| tude and longitude, as exactly as it
| can be determined.
! He directs the operator to broadcast
; the familiar sos signal. with the
! ships position. This the operator
+! does by sending out a series Of dots
! and dashes, which, if sent in the
usual orderly manner. may be read by
| other operators. If they are not in
i terfered with, as easily as the lay
! man would read 1T If printed on paper
| before his eyes.
| When sos signals are picked up by
| ship or shore stations these stations
! cease all other work and devote their
! entire attention to the vessel In dis
| tress.
Contact Usually Rapid.
| This contact is established-usually
| very quickly-between the captain
| Of the stricken vessel and captains of
I other vessels through their radio
| operators, either directly or through
[ stations on land.
4 Obviously the voice" and "ears" of
| the stricken vessel will continue to
! function as long as possible. at least
| until help is in sight. and after all
] other activities on the vessel have
| cea sed.
! Obviously, also. they must function
| through the captain with his knowl-
| edge Of navigation and the radio
| operator with his knowledge OF the
! radio apparatus and the radio code.
| and logically these two will always
| be the last to abandon the ship and
| take to the life boats.
The press accounts Of the recent
burning of the steamship City OF
| the point that the radio operator and
l the captain were the last to leave
! the burning vessel.
| The noteworthy feature is rather
| that the radio operator remained cool
! throughout and did not get excited.
! Many Mere Boys.
| AS a result. the ships correct posi-
tion was accurately broadcasted and
| in such an orderly way that operators
on other ships within range and on
[ shore had no difficulty in reading it.
Within a few hours rescuing vessels
| arrived on the scene and picked UP
| the survivors.
| A large percentage of the radio
| operators on our merchant and naval
| vessels are mere boys.
| They have maintained an unbroken
| tradition for GOODNESS and courage in
| emergencies and have thus measured
| up to the older masters of vessels In
| this respect. They are imbued with
the modesty of the mariner and do
not exploit their deeds.
| 1t has yet to be written In the an
a Az q Az dAA aAA 0AA4A n