Wednesday, November 1, 2023

the Wireless Survivor page 2

 the Wireless Survivor page 2 by ric gustafson


My job that fateful night was to relieve the other wireless operator from midnight until some time in the morning. Before that shift, I was asleep. I was actually up earlier to relieve Phillips. The wireless broke down earlier in the day. Since it broke down early, we were able to fix it in time. Phillips and I worked for seven hours to fix it. We found the problem and fixed it before the iceberg struck.
In the wireless cabin were three rooms. One was a sleeping room. Another was a dynamo room. The third was an operating room. 
When I woke up from sleep, I noticed how tired Phillips looked. When I told Phillips that I would relieve him, the Captain peeked into the cabin. " We've struck an iceberg".
We stared at each other in shock.
" I'm having an inspection done for damage". He frowned. " You better get ready to send out a call for assistance".
He left. He came back in ten minutes.
" Send the call for assistance". He left.
Phillips began to send a message C.Q.D.
Five minutes later, the Captain came back. " What are you sending?".
" A message C.Q.D.".
" You better send a message S.O.S".


research help: ' The Story of the Titanic' by Jack Winocour


Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric

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