Steam fog signal (Foulis)
Sirena de niebla de vapor (Foulis)
- Date
- 1859 · confidence medium
- Place
- Partridge Island, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
- Credited to
- Robert Foulis
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A steam whistle or trumpet that emits a code of sounds audible in fog. Foulis designed it after a fog wreck in 1853 and it was installed at Partridge Island in 1859.
Celadon Daboll patented an air-powered fog trumpet in 1851; priority is debated depending on whether the idea or the first steam device is counted.
What it led to
- sound signals at lighthouses and fog-bound coasts
- compressed-air sirens and diaphones
- a distinct sound code for each station