February 12, 2025

This Week in Amateur Radio

North America's Premiere Amateur Radio News Magazine

Titanic: Amateur radio heard SOS in Welsh town 2,000 miles away

When the Titanic hit an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic in 1912, its telegraphers desperately sent out distress calls hoping somebody, somewhere might hear them.

But among the first to respond was an amateur radio operator some 2,000 miles (3,200km) away in south Wales.

Self-taught Arthur Moore received the signal at his homemade station in Blackwood, Caerphilly.

He rushed to the local police station, but was met with incredulity.

The first full-size digital scan of the famous shipwreck was recently revealed, enabling it to be seen without water for the first time.

And while the radio enthusiast could do nothing to help those onboard the Titanic, he went on to pioneer an early form of sonar technology which helped discover its resting place decades later.

Read more – BBC: