In 1912, American ham radio operators were publicly blamed for people dying on the Titanic. The story was that amateurs clogged the airwaves so badly the ship’s calls for help couldn’t get through. You can still find versions of it today, in encyclopedia entries and on government websites.
It isn’t true, and the record says so.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Blamed for the Titanic
01:20 The radio room
02:10 The warning that sounded like small talk
04:13 We know exactly who heard it
05:41 What the complaint was really about
07:05 The story the papers had to walk back
11:14 The Radio Act of 1912
13:14 A man sitting in a Scottish field
14:42 The bands you’re on tonight
SOURCES
Maurice Farrell testimony, US Senate inquiry, day 15, May 9, 1912
https://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq15Farrell01.php
Cyril Evans testimony, US Senate inquiry, day 8
https://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq08EvansCF01.php
Cyril Evans testimony, British Wreck Commissioner’s inquiry, day 8
https://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTInq08Evans01.php
Radio Act of 1912, official Statutes at Large scan (37 Stat. 302)
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-37/pdf/STATUTE-37-Pg302-3.pdf
Radio Act of 1912, readable text
https://earlyradiohistory.us/1912act.htm
Regulations Governing Radio Communication, September 28, 1912 — the 200 meter and 1 kilowatt limits on amateur stations
https://earlyradiohistory.us/1912reg.htm
April 1912 newspaper coverage, Chronicling America, Library of Congress
https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-sinking-titanic
Paul Godley, “Official Report of the Second Transatlantic Tests,”
QST, February 1922, pp. 14-28, 36-40, 46 — background and excerpts
https://rsgb.org/main/activity/transatlantic-tests/tests-2-1/
IMAGE CREDITS
Historical photographs via the Library of Congress, Bain News Service collection (no known restrictions on publication), and Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licenses — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Additional footage licensed via Envato Elements.
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