# Titanic's signal flares **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973 "2000-11-28T03:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/1 "2000-11-28T03:43:16Z")
I recently saw the 1996 TV movie “Titanic,” and there was something mentioned in that version that I had never heard before: Captain Smith (portrayed by a hopelessly miscast George C. Scott) voices distress when he is told that they have only **white** signal flares, that they really need the **red** ones–to indicate distress. Any truth to that, or is that just some artistic license? Possibly–if true–the Californian might have shown a little more urgency in responding. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/2 "2000-11-28T04:45:53Z")
You mean the Carpathian? I was under the impression that they were a day or so away when they got the radio message - way too far to see any color of flare. I’m hardly a Titanic-ophile, though, so feel free to correct me. Like you need my permission… ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/3 "2000-11-28T05:09:14Z")
I think Smeg ment Californian. That was the ship that slipped away in the night (and gave Captain Lord an infamy that would follow him the rest of his life). The Carpathia arrived on the scene at 4:30 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/4 "2000-11-28T05:11:13Z")
I think _Mjollnir_ ment Californian. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/5 "2000-11-28T05:46:21Z")
The _Californian_ was the ship in the vicinity of the sinking _Titanic_. The _Californian_ was close enough that the _Titanic_’s lights could be seen and several signal rocket launches were observed by her officers and crew. Second Officer Herbert Stone woke up Captain Stanley Lord and notified him of the rockets. Lord reportedly asked what color the rockets were (which could substantiate what Mjollnir wrote) and told Stone to try contacting the other ship with a Morse lamp (which he failed at because of the distance between the ships). Eventually the lights from the other ship could no longer be seen and Stone assumed the other ship had sailed away. Later when the truth of the situation was discovered, Lord admitted that he had been sleeping so soundly that he didn’t even recall the conversation with Stone. Lord also implausibly attempted to claim that there was no proof that the ship observed by the _Californian_ was the _Titanic_ and could have been another unidentified ship which sailed away after firing rockets for some unknown reason. The _Carpathia_ which recieved the radio distress signals from the _Titanic_ and sailed to rescue survivors was approximately fifty eight miles away from the _Titanic_ when she received the message. She arrived at the scene about four hours later. Captain Arthur Rostron was later awarded a thousand dollar gold metal by the United States Senate for his actions. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/6 "2000-11-28T12:42:30Z")
I saw Cameron’s _Titanic_ on Friday night, and when the flares (white, IIRC) are sent up for the second (or third time), a distant shot is shown indicating that you’d have to be reallyreally close to see them. I had no idea that another ship than the Carpathia was in the vicinity. How far was the Californian? It was not mentioned at all in the film. Very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/7 "2000-11-28T17:00:04Z")
> [@](#): > > How far was the Californian? Within nineteen miles of the _Titanic_. The _Californian_ was a freighter and only had one radio operator, Cyril Evans, who was off duty when the Titanic was attempting to call for help. However, the _Californian_’s Third Officer Charles Groves was interested in radios and was learning how to use them. He stopped in the radio room around midnight, only a few minutes after the _Titanic_ began signaling for help. Groves considered turning on the radio but decided he shouldn’t attempt to use it without Evans present to tell him what to do. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/8 "2000-11-28T17:11:03Z")
The Californian was VERY close. Perhaps less than ten miles. A TV documentary I saw said that the crew aboard the Californian knew the other ship was the Titanic, speculated on what the flares were about, and concluded that it was either some sort of private signalling used by White Star, or they were lighting up the deck for some sort of festivities for the passengers. Another feature of the incident was that the radio telegraph operator aboard the Californian had shut down and gone to bed less than an hour before the Titanic’s distress signal. They had done nothing wrong in doing this - radio telegraph was a new device at the time, and no rules had been established for its use. One of the outcomes of the Titanic inquiry was establishing rules that all commercial ships with radio telegraph had to monitor them 24 hours per day. It’s dead certain that had Californian realized what was going on, they would have been easily able to render assistance before the Titanic sank, and many more lives would have been saved. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/9 "2000-11-28T17:17:19Z")
The _Californian_ had stopped for the night because of the ice field; Captain Lord didn’t want to take a chance on hitting an iceberg. _Titanic_’s bridge crew was able to see her lights (or according to Captain Lord, they were able to see the lights of the third ship between them). I don’t think the signal rockets were a standard form of distress call in 1912. Usually they were used to identify the shipping line the vessel belonged to. Thus white rockets = White Star Line. In more pleasant circumstances two passing ships might shoot flares as a form of greeting. But if it’s the dead of night and a nearby ship is desperately firing off its whole inventory, it would seem only reasonable to try to find out why they wanted your attention. History has judged _Californian_’s captain to be a villain and _Carpathia_’s captain a hero. I agree with this. But by turning around and making full steam for _Titanic_’s position, the _Carpathia_ was taking a terrible risk. If they’d hit an iceberg themselves and doubled the tragedy, rather than ameliorating it, it would be a very different story. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/10 "2000-11-28T20:13:01Z")
This site has a very detailed and authoritative discussion of the sinking of the Titanic: [http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/index.html](http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/index.html) Going to **Terminology** and then to **Distress Signals** you find: \*\*"In 1912 the internationally recognised distress signals were as set out below. The only one employed by Titanic was the third among the night signals. Fourth Officer Boxhall told the British enquiry that he fired socket signals, which were rather like mortar shells, rather than rockets as commonly understood. All were white in colour. Two little Titanic mysteries are why 65 minutes elapsed after the collision before they were fired and why the huge foghorn was not tried. It should be noted that these lists do not mean that there was an order of preference. Each signal was equally valid. It was also provided that a doubtful signal was to be taken as a distress signal Signals of Distress. When a vessel is in distress and requires assistance from other vessels or the shore, the following shall be the signals to be used by her, either together or separately: By Day. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. The international code of distress indicated by NC. The distant signal, consisting of a square flag, having either above or below it a ball or anything resembling a ball. The distant signal, consisting of a cone, point upward, having either above it or below it, a ball or anything resembling a ball. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus. By Night. A gun or other explosive signal fired at intervals of about a minute. Flames on the vessel (as from a burning tar barrel, oil barrel, etc). Rockets or shells, _throwing stars of any colour or description_, (my emphasis) used one at a time at short intervals. A continuous sounding with any fog-signal apparatus."\*\* So the colour isn’t important - it’s the timing. If you’re interested in the Titanic, it’s well worth reading through the whole site. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/11 "2000-11-28T22:27:15Z")
I suggest Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On, as well as Robert Ballard’s Discovering the Titanic. The fact is-Lord WAS negligent. The least they could’ve done was to wake up the wireless operator. What ship would be sending up distress signals (and that’s what they were, I believe), just for kicks at 1 am? While Lord may have kept his own ship safe, he didn’t even try to find out what was going on…that is where he was negligent. And if you want to get into steaming into an icefield, look at Captain Arthur Rostron of Cunard’s _Carpathia_. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2000, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titanics-signal-flares/42973/12 "2000-11-29T03:06:19Z")
Ah ha. I told you I knew next to nothing about the subject. Carry on.