SOS distress signal
Señal de socorro SOS
- Date
- 1906 · confidence high
- Place
- Berlin, Germany
- Credited to
- International Radiotelegraph Convention of Berlin
- Field
- Communication
What it is
A Morse distress signal (three dots, three dashes, three dots) adopted by the Berlin conference to replace Marconi's CQD. Its pattern is easy to identify and remember.
SOS does not stand for 'Save Our Souls'; it is a sequence chosen for its simplicity. Its first documented use by a ship was by the Slavonia (1909).
What it led to
- standardised maritime and aeronautical distress calls
- the SOLAS convention after the Titanic
- today's GMDSS distress systems