Evening star., 1924-04-20
RADIO GOSSIP AND NEWS

The origin of the distress call of ships
az sea, familiar 20 all operators and
many fans, has caused considerable
curiosity, ana in order that a complete
report could be made the bureau OF
navigation OF the Department of Co n.
merce asked the international bureau Of
the Telegraph Union at Berne for a
resume Of the origin and. history oi
sos
According to advices Just received
from nj. Etienne, director, the first sug-
sestion of distress call for ships was
made by the Italian delegates to the
preliminary conference on wireless teles.
rsphy at Berlin in 1903. They urged
the adoption of a universal signal
"SSSDDD," to be sent by ships in dis.
treSs, explaining that all stations ano
ships should be obliged to receive the
following messages. suspending their
other communications and passing I'm.
mediately to reception. The other dele.
gates agreed to the need for such q sig.
nal. but left the final decision to a, spe-
cial conference
Soon after this suggestion the Marconi
Company recognized the need for a dis
tress call, and on February /, 1904, the
FAMOUS call COD" was instituted on
all their ships by a general order. This
signal was a combination of the general
call co" coupled with the letter "D'
to signify distress. II was used only al
the order of the captain of a ship in dis
tress. or station retransmitting the
signal All stations were to recognize
the urgency of the call and make every
effort to establish satisfactory communi.
cation without delay. The dismissal OF
operators was to follow the misuse OF
the call. Several countries, including the
United States, adopted GOD" and used
it until the Berlin regulations were rati-
fed.
At the radio telegraphic confer.
ence in Berlin in 1906 the German
government submitted the following
suggestion relative to a standard dis
tress call: Ships in distress will
make use of the following specia
Danger signal: - (SOS).
Previously German ships desiring
to communicate with all vessels IL
ther proximity without knowing
inquiry signal soc" Germany plan.
ned to suggest this signal as thu
International signal. but as the last
letter b, represented by a single
DOT, was not believed sufficiently
eharacteristic, being easily susceptible,
tooe' SSPCNAAi1g mOSpnGr
disturbances or in heavy traffic. ol
when careie ssly transmitted, the dele
gates in 1906 suggested the ANAL let.
ter as S," thereby having the honor
TO define what became the universal
Interpretations such as, Save on,
souls and Save our ships" given tn,
call, the Bern hnreau points out
shonld be accepted with reserve. Tht
Italian proverb: IF 1t is not true. 1,
is well invented" they suggest IL An.
pNcable to the literal translations OF.
Tered. In a similar manner, Rerr
reports, the Marconi signal COP
quick, danger"
The distress signal. SOS" wa.
adopted officially and put into eYac,
oy the international radiotele phir
convention of Berlin in July. 1908 7,
was matter of keen regret TO ths
Marconi operators that their old sio-.
naI COD was not adopted, and many
continued to send "coD" as well q,
,,S when accidents occurred
CQD, however, was gradually for.
gotten. In 1912 the United Stafes
adopted SOS" when the internatSonoi
agreement was accepted
The signal today is sos witboul
spaces. the Bern bureau explains. snf
should not be sent