I grew up in the Welsh valleys. That's in Wales. I imagine many of the Americans reading this won't know where Wales is, well, to put it simply it's a country which forms part of the United Kingdom. You'll find it on a map. 'The Valleys' is a nickname for the mountainous area toward the south of the country, near the capital; Cardiff. I come from a small town called Caerphilly. You probably haven't heard of that place either. But that's okay, many people haven't. Although Caerphilly has a few things to be famous for. We have a large castle and our own cheese, but we're a small community and like most of the south of Wales we're nothing to write home about. But...
When I was growing up I heard a story. About a man who once lived not to far from my home town. Who, 93 years ago became the first person to hear the Titanic's distress signal, apparently. I thought this was all a bit questionable. Surely, other ships heard it first, and if someone on land did hear it, they would have been in America. I never followed up on this story, I thought it was all very romantic, but unlikely to be true and I sort of wanted it to be. But years later, I moved to Southampton (where the Titanic began her maiden voyage) and curiosity got the better of me. I googled wisely, using relevant keywords. And I found out, that the man did exist, and he did live 10 miles to the north of my home town, and his name was Arthur 'Artie' Moore.
On the night of Sunday April 14th 1912, the White Star Line's 'unsinkable' ship, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink. Between then and her demise on the ocean floor some two hours and forty minutes later, wireless operators; Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, sent out a distress signal. Combining the international distress signal: CQD (a signal used by Marconi wireless operators) and the less well known, SOS signal (which was a new signal, not regularly used by British ships, but had been used prior to Titanic's sinking, despite popular belief that this was the first time it was used). Their distress signal was picked up by four ships in vicinity, but even the closest one, the RMS Carpathia (at 58 miles away), did not arrive in time to make a successful rescue of all of Titanic's passengers. The SS Californian was close enough to see the lights of Titanic, but had shut off their wireless system for the night. The only place on land, it is believed, to pick up the distress signal was at Cape Race in Newfoundland, to the north-west of Titanic's position. At least they thought it was the only place to pick up the signal.
Artie was a native of Pontllanfraith, a place near the town of Blackwood, Wales. At a young age he was disabled by an accident at his family's mill, which left him with a wooden leg. So unable to do much he spent his time developing amateur engineering projects. It was here, at the Gelligroes mill that he began work on his home made wireless device. This was around 1910, and it is believed that Artie, along with an engineer friend; Richard Jenkins, developed the first wireless used for business communication in Welsh history. The next year, Artie became quite famous after he discovered the transmission of Italy's declaration of war on Libya. But it was the year after this, in 1912, at the age of 26, that Artie's wireless skills had developed to such a skill that he was able to intercept the Titanic's distress call. Artie notified locals and the police of the distress signal, but no one paid attention. It was believed at this time that a wireless such as the one used by the Titanic could only transmit up to 2000 miles (in darkness). To have reached Artie the signal would have to have travelled 3000 miles, and be picked up by his home made wireless system. But two days later the news hit the UK. And Artie's knowledge of Titanic's combined use of the CQD signal and the lesser known SOS signal, proved the worth of his declaration.
The events of 1912 opened many doors for Artie. Offered a place at the British School of Telegraphy by the local Monmouthshire Education Committee, Artie studied for only three months before taking and passing the government exams for Wireless Telegraphy and Morse Code. He went on to work for the famous Marconi Company, with a personal invite from Marconi himself. At the outbreak of World War I he began work as a wireless technician, but in peace time he went on to work for the Marconi Company until his death in 1949 at the age of 62. During this time Artie aided in the development of thermionic radio valve and patented his own early version of the sonar system.
Artie's legacy is small, considering his impact on the development of the wireless, and his place in history. The Blackwood Amateur Radio Society was originally started using Artie as inspiration and is still going strong today. Although the old mill is now just a storage facility, locals sometimes set up their own radio station there using Artie's old call sign. And they try their hardest to find out more about Artie and celebrate his place in history. But until they discover enough information about him he will mostly be known as that man who, a long time ago, in a mill loft, in a place of no consequence, became one of the first and only people to hear the distress signal of the sinking ship, Titanic.