death_place death_date birth_place birth_date article_title name
lowdham , nottinghamshire 30 may 1984 southwell , nottinghamshire 27 january 1891 harold cottam
 harold thomas cottam
harold cottam

harold thomas cottam -lrb- 27 january 1891 -- 30 may 1984 -rrb- was the wireless operator on the rms `` carpathia '' when the sos from the sinking rms `` titanic '' was sent .
it was also he who awakened captain arthur henry rostron after receiving the distress signal .
without his diligence , and the somewhat fortuitous circumstances , many more people might have died in the `` titanic '' disaster .
cottam was off duty and about to go to bed , but he left the radio on and listened to cape race , reputedly to learn the results of saturday 's football matches .
he heard cape race advise that they had private traffic for the `` titanic '' and thought it would be helpful to inform the `` titanic '' of this .
in reply he received jack phillips 's sos call .
cottam received a `` hero 's welcome '' when the `` carpathia '' reached new york .
he continued to work at sea until 1922 , when he took a job as a sales representative .
