Titanic received six ice-warnings the day of the collision.
Radio (then known as "wireless")
was a brand new contraption. The signal was limited to
Morse code - voice was not yet possible. Titanic had an unusually powerful
Marconi
wireless system, and was able to send and receive much farther than most
other ships
on the Atlantic. But as the messages about ice came in throughout the day,
there was no
standard procedure to ensure that they reached the appropriate ship's officers.
The most
crucial message, at 9:45 PM, told of field ice and large ice bergs directly
ahead of Titanic...
|but that message was never delivered to the Captain or his officers. The
wireless operator
was too busy sending out personal Marconigrams for the passengers.