SOS

Even before the invention of radio in the early 1890s , many different visual and audio distress signals were already used on ships. For this, such communication means as semaphore flags, signal lights and bells were used. Radio (then called the "wireless telegraph") first used the Morse code , a system originally developed for a land-based wire telegraph . When radio stations began appearing on ships, there was a need for standardized communications, but cooperation was hindered by national differences and rivalries between competing radio companies such as the Marconi International Marine Communication Company , Telefunken , and Slab-Arco.

In 1903 , the First International Radio Telegraph Conference was held in Berlin . Procedural issues at that time were outside the discussion of the conference, and although paragraph IV of the protocol of the conference, signed on August 13, 1903, argued that "wireless telegraph stations, if possible, should give priority to signals of assistance received from ships at sea," The standard signal has not been approved.

Since there were no general rules, individual organizations developed their own distress signals. The first signal was CQD ( - · - · - - · - - · · ), which was approved on January 7, 1904 by “Circular No. 57” of Marconi International Marine Communication Company , and was intended for ships equipped with its radio cameras. It was a common call signal of all CQ stations ( - · - · - - · - ), to which the letter D ( - · · ) was added. This letter was chosen because the English word “danger” begins with it. For the combination of CQD, sailors quickly picked up the phrase “Come Quick, Danger . ”

But since this signal was used only on ships equipped with Marconi Co. ”, It could not be called a single international distress signal. Quite often, a call for help was transmitted without any distress signal. So, on December 10, 1905, after a strong prolonged storm, the American Nantucket lighthouse gave a strong leak, which threatened the death of the vessel. Nevertheless, there was a radio installation at the lighthouse , and soon the radio station in Newport received a message: “Help. The Nantucket Floating Lighthouse is in distress. Send help from anywhere. ” For rescue, the Azalea tender was sent, which managed to remove the crew from the lighthouse. The Nantucket sank while towing to the shore.

In 1906, the second International Radio Telegraph Conference was held in Berlin . Representatives of twenty-nine countries, including England , Germany , Russia , the USA , France and Japan, took part in its work.

The main issue on the conference agenda was the establishment of a single radio telegraph distress signal. Representative of Marconi Co. "Insisted on adopting CQD as a single international signal. Representatives of the United States sharply objected to this, arguing that when transmitting and receiving such a signal, it is often confused with a common CQ call. In addition, both of these signals were used by coast telegraph operators in accidents and accidents on the railways. The conference supported the American representatives, and it was decided to replace CQD with some other, clear and precise signal.

The same representatives proposed to receive the signal of the International Code of Signals - a two-flag combination NC , meaning "I suffer distress, I need immediate help." But this offer was rejected.

At the same time, along with the signal system used by Marconi, until 1906 there was also a German system of additional signals ^[1] , used by the operators of the German radio telegraph monopolist - Telefunken concern, which included the Slaby-Arco company ^{[2] [3]} , which produces radio stations for ships ^[4] . In April 1905, Germany adopted a protocol according to which three special additional signals were introduced for special situations, the purpose of which was to attract attention and create a radio silence mode to provide an emergency call. Signals were fundamentally different from all other letters and symbols of the Morse code. These signals did not contain letters, because they did not have letter spacing, and at the same time they contained a large number of characters, which allowed them to be distinguished from the stream of shorter elements of Morse code, because even if the signal was not received from the beginning, then with several repetitions of it the species was determined unmistakably ^[5] . The longest signal was the Notzeichen distress signal ( ... - - -... ), Which consisted of nine characters: three dots - three dashes - three dots (this is generally the only signal with so many signs in the entire Morse system) ^{[1 ]} . This made it possible to isolate Notzeichen in the general signal flow — the signal is the longest “letter” ^[6] . In addition, the signal had a symmetrical structure, convenient for recognition. It was this signal that was adopted as an international distress signal at the 1906 conference. It did not have a letter name, and in the protocol of the conference it was simply called a distress signal and is accompanied by an image in the form of Morse code signs (... - - -...) And an explanation of the procedure for receiving this signal, which is transmitted repeatedly at short intervals ( stop transmitting all other messages, etc.) ^[7] . As for the SOS letter designation, it is a mnemonic tool, as well as verbal semantic names (Stop Other Signals, Save Our Souls, etc.). Since Notzeichen did not contain any letter spacing, it can be conditionally represented as a large number of letter combinations - from three-letter to nine-letter. These can be combinations of VTB, IJS, VGI, SMB, SOS, IAGI, IATNI, EEETTTEEE, etc. The SOS combination has advantages from the point of view of mnemonics, but it is not the signal equivalent (.. - - -...) , and in the record can only be used as a conditional symbol, a kind of backronym that allows you to use letters in documents. It is important that the letter recording of a distress signal in official or training documents on radio telegraphy and maritime affairs has the form SOS (with a bar above), this means that the signal is transmitted without letter spacing. If the signal was recorded by VTB or EEETTTEEE , this would not be an error and would not change the transmission process. In 1910, when the signal (... - - -...) Was already universally recognized internationally, it was called S5S in American newspapers, since in the American version three dashes (- - -) in Morse code meant 5 ^[8] . The mnemonic construction of SOS turned out to be the most stable, as well as some associated phrases, such as Save Our Souls (translated from English - “Save our souls”). For Russian sailors, the “Save From Death” mnemonic was used to interpret the signal.

According to the International Radio Telegraph Convention signed in Berlin on November 3, 1906, a single distress signal for radio communications at sea was set to a signal (... - - -..). Radio stations of countries that signed the convention had to receive it from ships out of turn. With the introduction of this signal, all other distress signals of private firms were canceled.

It should be noted that in the practice of radio exchange, the SOS signal was not transmitted by itself, but was included in the mandatory signal group, which was either transmitted by the radio operator or automatic emergency transmitter, which was equipped with any ship. This group consisted of the following characters: CQ common call signal transmitted 3 times, DE - (this is I) presentation, then the call sign of the vessel, then SOS signal transmitted 3 times, then the latitude and longitude of the vessel, and finally 2 dashes of 12 each seconds for direction finding.

On February 1, 1999, by a decision of the International Maritime Organization, the signal (... - - -... ) Was replaced by an automated distress alert system - GMDSS . In this regard, the value of the "SOS" signal decreased, although it can still be used.

There is a widespread misconception that for the first time in history, an SOS signal was sent from the disastrous Titanic on the night of April 15, 1912, at 00:45. In fact, this case was at least the eighth in a row. ^[9]

Many sources claim that for the first time the SOS signal was used by the steamboat “Slavonia”, which flew into the reefs near the Azores on June 10, 1909. But then the newspapers reported that they transmitted CQD from “Slavonia”. ^[10]

The first reliably known use of the SOS signal occurred on August 11, 1909, when the American steamboat Arapaoe lost its course and drifted along the route from New York to Jacksonville ^[11] . The signal was received by the station of the United Wireless Telegraph Company on Hatteras Island in North Carolina and redirected to the offices of the shipping company ^[12] .

On February 4, 1910, the Kentucky steamboat, sailing from New York to Tacoma , received a strong leak in the Virginia Cape area and transmitted SOS. The signal was received on board the Alamo vessel, which hastened to help.

May 13, 1911 in the fog at Cape Charles ( Virginia ), the Merida and Admiral Farragut steamers collided. Before Merida sank, they managed to transfer SOS from it. The Hamilton steamboat responded to the distress signal and picked up people from the Merida.

On July 30, 1911, the Canadian Niobe cruiser , SOS, collided with a shore in fog off the coast of Nova Scotia .

On August 28, 1911, the Lexington steamer hit a hurricane near the mouth of the Edisto River off the coast of South Carolina . The radio installation was damaged by the wind, 16-year-old radio operator Jack Schitz (Jack Sheetz) climbed the mast, re-established communication and transmitted SOS. To the rescue came the ship Yamakro (Yamacraw).

December 3, 1911 off the coast of Virginia collided coal miner of the US Navy "Sterling" and the ship "Dorothy". The captain of Sterling ordered the SOS to be handed over, but managed to safely land the damaged ship aground at Cape Henry. A distress signal was heard on several civilian and military vessels.

On April 9, 1912, SOS came from the Ontario coastal ship sailing from Baltimore to Boston - a fire broke out on board. There was no real danger to people, but several tugboats and boats were prepared to remove passengers from Ontario.

• In the 1930s, Julius Fucik and Bogumila Silova wrote the fairy tale "Letters from the radio operator’s box." The characters of the tale - three letters: Glory, Olga and Sashenka - wander the world in search of help for shipwrecked people. According to a fairy tale, in 1966, a cartoon was shot at the Kiev studio of popular science films . ^{[13] [14]}
• Mention of SOS can be found in the songs of bards Vladimir Vysotsky (“Save Our Souls”) and Yuri Kukin (“SOS”), singer Rihanna (“SOS”), Abba (“SOS”), Papa Roach (“SOS”) , Stratovarius ("SOS"), Crystal Ball ("SOS"), Running Wild ("Adrian SOS"), Splin ("SOS"), Autograph ("SOS"), After 11 ("SOS"), Indila - SOS is also used as the main theme in the composition “Radioactivity” of the group “Kraftwerk” and “SOS Planete” by composer Vladimir Cosm (from the film “Banzai”) ..
• The motif of the telegraph signal SOS is used in the musical design of a number of films, for example, “ Case in a square 36-80 ”, “ 72 meters ”.
• At the beginning of the song (“Cyanide”) of Metallica, the rhythm of the guitar and drum parts is an SOS signal

• Mayday
• Sécurité
• Distress signals

• Victor Pestrikov SOS radio signal remained in the XX century . // It News - 2005 - No. 8. - S. 26.
• Chliyants George (UY5XE). The first "distress radio signal" is 105 years old! (unspecified) . QRZ.RU (03/23/2004). Date of treatment October 6, 2011. Archived February 13, 2012.
• popmech.ru // History of marine distress signals
• Olga Matveeva The world said goodbye to the SOS signal // Volny Veter [1] ) - 2001. - No. 47 - p. 8
• Article by Alexei Kupriyanov on polit.ru
• The Telegraph Office Magazine Volume II, Issue 1 “'SOS,' 'CQD' and the History of Maritime Distress Calls” by Neal McEwen, K5RW