This post is shamelessly ripped off from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) website. Before you jump all over me, anything published by the U.S. government is in the public domain.
If you’ve seen the movie Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, then you’ve watched the star-crossed lovers’ untimely end and the tragic sinking of the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Titanic. What the movie didn’t show is that radio played a role in the ship’s communication efforts — though it lacked standards that could have saved many more lives.
The tragedy of the Titanic raised awareness that improvements to wireless communication were needed and led to new regulations and legislation by Congress to improve wireless technology, radio equipment and standards for maritime navigation. Leading the charge to make this happen was the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The Role of Wireless Technology in the Titanic Tragedy
The RMS Titanic was a luxury passenger liner making its first trans-Atlantic voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. The ship was an impressive 269 meters long, just a little shorter than the 300-meter height of the Eiffel tower (minus the tip). In the late evening hours of April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg about 640 kilometers (400 miles) off the coast of Newfoundland. By 2:20 a.m. on April 15, the ship had sunk, and only about 710 people survived. More than 1,500 people, including passengers and crew, were lost.