The History of the Radio Officer in the British Merchant Navy
£19.95
The History of the Radio Officer in the British Merchant Navy
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The Merchant Navy Radio Officer, known to generations of seafarers as 'Sparks', was as integral a part of life on board as the ship's engine room or funnel.
He (and later, she) provided the channel for orders, weather reports and private messages, and when disaster threatened, was often the only means of attracting help. If the tradition of the sea meant that the captain was the last to leave his ship, then the Radio Officer was usually the last but one.
The nickname 'Sparks' was inevitable from the time that the first Radio Officer thumped away at a Morse key, producing the raspy note and hiss of electrical energy as blue sparks and the smell of ozone radiated from the silver plated spark gap at the heart of his occult contraption.
Today, the advent of satellite communication has rendered the Radio Officer with a Morse key as extinct as the Brontosaurus. He has passed into marine history like the lamp-trimmer on a sailing ship or the donkeyman on a steam tramp, along with his world of dots and dashes, SOS messages and telegram forms. And his or her contribution to life at sea in war and peace deserves to be recorded for posterity.
ISBN: 1-904323-01-4
Format: Hardback
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