History of the Morse Telegraph
Morse keys, the Morse Code and the associated Morse telegraph system may seem
outdated now but they revolutionised World communications and enabled messages
to be sent almost anywhere very quickly. Prior to electrical forms of
communication it took many weeks for messages to be sent to the other side of
the world. Australia was a very remote outpost of the British Empire for
example. However with the introduction of the Morse telegraph system all this
changed. Messages could be sent quickly and efficiently in Morse code and as a
result the system expanded very quickly enabling remote or outlying areas to be
linked to the centres of civilisation.
All this started with an idea that dawned with Samuel Morse when he was
returning from a trip to Europe. He was an eminent artist, but with a keen
interest in the developing sciences, he had visited Europe to further his
understand of the styles used their. On his return by ship he had plenty of
time, and discussions took place on the ship. Out of these discussions ideas
started to dawn in Morse's mind for an electrical communication system.
After his return, progress on developing his ideas for a communications
system were slow. Eventually he enlisted the help of others including a man
named Alfred Vail, a gifted mechanic. Progress became much faster and by 1838
they developed a system using dots and dashes to represent letters. Next they
needed to secure funding for a trial system. This proved to be very difficult to
achieve and the team Morse had brought around him drifted away. Nevertheless
Morse was undeterred by the lack of interest, and he continued without most of
his other partners. Finally he succeeded in securing funding to develop and
install a trial 65 km line between Washington and Baltimore. It was completed in
May 1844 and on 24th May Morse sent the first message "What hath God wrought!".
The content of this message was chosen from the Bible (Numbers Chapter 23 vs 23)
by Annie Ellsworth the young daughter of a good friend.
After the successful demonstration of this first line people quickly realised
the value of the new system and its use spread very rapidly. Within a year many
new companies came into being to run lines to all parts of America. New lines
were installed, often along side railroad tracks. This enabled the railroad
companies to keep in contact with trains and by knowing where trains were and
whether there were any delays they could use the single lines that were
installed more efficiently. It was also found that towns that had been isolated
now had communications links with the outside world. Previously communications
relied on stagecoaches or the Pony Express, requiring days or weeks to cross the
whole of the USA. In fact so successful was the Morse telegraph that only 19
months after the Pony Express was started it had to be discontinued.
An early key and sounder dating from around 1860.
The combination of key and sounder one a single base was known as a KOB (Key On
Base)
Not only was the Morse system used in the USA, Europe and the rest of the
world used it because of its effectiveness and simplicity. The first European
line was set up between Hamburg and Cuxhaven in 1847, and many others quickly
followed suit. Soon the need to link countries across seas and oceans was
realised and in 1866 a submarine cable link was established between Britain and
the USA, and by 1872 a link to Australia was established.
As a result of the vast use of the telegraph, stations were set up in towns,
and in many remote areas repeater stations were required. Often new towns arose
as a result of these. One famous example is Alice Springs in the Middle of
Australia. Here a line was required from Adelaide in the South to Darwin across
the centre of Australia so that messages could be sent to Darwin where an
underwater line enabled messages to be sent to London. Alice Springs was one of
several repeater stations required across Australia and it was located near a
suitable pass in the McDonnell range of mountains. The town was near some water
springs and it was named after the wife of Sir Charles Todd who erected the
line.
The centre of Alice Springs today
Changes
Many changes occurred as a result of the introduction of the Morse telegraph
system. Not only did it enable outlying towns and villages to keep in contact
with the outside world, but it also meant that information reached its
destination far more quickly. This meant changes in many areas of life. The
stock markets that previously only had access to information that was weeks old
now received information that was hours old. Practices had to change to take
account of the fact that up to date information was received.
The speed at which information could be sent meant that many areas of life
started to speed up. At war up to the minute intelligence was of paramount
importance and in the American Civil War, many telegraph operators were in the
front line to send back vital information. The bravery of many of these
operators was outstanding, but as they were not in the Army, none received any
gallantry awards.
The telegraph was also used to carry back the information about the end of
the Civil War. After General Grant accepted the surrender of General Lee on 9th
April 1865, he sent the message: "General Lee surrendered the army of Northern
Virginia this afternoon on terms proposed by myself the accompanying additional
correspondence will show the conditions fully".
Wireless and Morse
The Morse code was widely used for wireless transmissions, especially in the
very early days when it was not easy to modulate a signal to carry sound. As a
result many historic transmissions were made using Morse code. One was the first
transatlantic radio transmission made by Marconi on 12th December 1901. This
made headline news on both sides of the Atlantic.
Some years later another incident of major importance occurred. In 1912
during the maiden voyage of the Titanic, the liner steered a northerly course to
shorten the distance travelled to try to make a record breaking crossing.
Unfortunately she struck an iceberg on the night of 14th April and although she
had been declared unsinkable, the great liner rapidly took on water and sank.
The two wireless officers sent out the distress signals. Alas the wireless
operator on the nearest ship was asleep and did not hear the call. However the
distress signals were heard on both sides of the Atlantic as well as by the SS
Carpathia that was about 93 km away. As a result Carpathia steamed towards the
stricken liner only to reach the area an hour and twenty minutes after Titanic
sank. Fortunately around 700 souls were rescued, but over 1500 people died in
the tragedy.
Recent times
The development of communications systems did not stand still and as a result
the use of Morse has declined considerably in recent years. The introduction of
the teleprinter spelt the end of the use of Morse over landlines. Using the
teleprinter it was possible to use a keyboard to enter messages, and a printed
copy was provided at the far end. In Britain the Post Office discontinued the
use of landline Morse in 1932, although in the USA and Australia its use
continued until the 1960s.
The use of Morse over the radio has continued for many years after this
particularly for ships. However the use teleprinters and then computers combined
with the growing use of satellite communications meant the end for Morse.
Finally from midnight on 31st January 1999, international regulations no longer
required ships at sea to be able to make distress calls in Morse.
Despite this some ships, especially those from the third world still use it
as a low cost alternative to the more expensive satellite systems. Also radio
amateurs still use it widely because it offers advantages in terms of the
simplicity of the equipment and being able to make contact under conditions when
other forms of communication would not be able to get through. As a result its
use will continue for many years to come, continuing a tradition that is over
150 years old.
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