Many may not know, but the RMS Titanic sent at least two distress calls that pinged the Hatteras Island Weather Station in North Carolina. Station operators Richard Dailey and Horace Gaskins received the message “CQD: Have Struck Iceberg” at 11:25 p.m.
It was an urgent message from the Titanic. They immediately forwarded the message to their headquarters in New York. David Sarnoff, the future president of the Radio Corporation of America, thought it was a hoax. The two operators were reprimanded for the earlier call.
While many believe “CQD” stands for “Come Quickly, Distress,” it was a message of “Security, Distress.” A second distress call also pinged Hatteras Village but was not forwarded. This may have been the first distress call received from the Titanic due to the time stamp.
The record of this transmission was lost to history for almost 100 years and was only discovered in 2009 during a restoration project. It was found rolled up inside a wall as insulation.
The Titanic disappeared beneath the Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, around 2:20 a.m.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr