SOS
- Alternate use: ISO currency code for Somali shilling
'SOS' is the international Morse code distress signal. It consists of three dots, three dashes and three dots (...---...). This is the same as for the letters S, O and S, except that it is sent as one single letter - that is, with the inter-letter spaces converted to inter-element spaces.
Although thought by some to mean Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship, in actuality the signal was agreed upon because it was easy enough for even an amateur to use or recognize, even with interference.
The original radio distress signal was CQD. Proposed by Marconi and adopted in 1904, the CQ was a general attention notice with the D for distress. It was popularly rendered as "come quick, distress". The CQD signal did not last long; at an international conference in Berlin in 1906 the German standard SOS was adopted and officially ratified in 1908. The CQD signal remained in use for a few more years, especially with British operators who had first proposed it.
The first significant rescue following a radio distress signal was in January 1909 when 1500 people were recovered from the collision of the Republic and the Florida by the Baltic after it had heard the CQD message.
The most famous first major use of SOS was with the sinking of The Titanic on April 15, 1912, when the radio operators used it in conjunction with the older distress signal.
Urgent but not emergency calls used the prefix XXX.
See also distress signal and call for help
Shit on a shingle (S.O.S.) is also an abbreviated military slang term for chipped beef on toast, an infamous dish as served to the U.S. Army.
Referenced By
1904 | 7 January | 7th January | Captain Lord | Captain Stanley Lord | Code word | Currency code | Currency codes | Distress signal | H.M.S. Titanic | Harold Sydney Bride | ISO 4217 | ISO currency code | International Morse code | January 07 | January 7 | January 7th | John George Phillips | List of currency codes | May Day (call) | Mayday | Mor's code | More's code | Mors code | Morse code | RMS Titanic | S.S. Titanic | SS Titanic | Securite | Stanley Lord | TLAs from QAA to TZZ | Table of historical exchange rates | TitaniC | USS Valley Forge (CV-45) | USS Valley Forge (CVA-45)
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