When and where was the S.O.S. distress signal first used?

Hamlet.

A few months before the Titanic sinking (April 15, 1912) the French liner Niagara sent out the new distress signal...This occured in the North Atlantic near were the Titanic would later sink. Nov 11 03, 3:54 PM

Senior Moments

The first occasion was earlier than that. The first S.O.S. signal transmitted in an emergency situation occured on June 10 1909 when the Cunard liner SS Slavonia was wrecked off the Azores. Two steamers received her signals and went to the rescue. Source - The New Shell Book of Firsts. A few web sites claim that the first time was when the Titanic hit the iceberg Nov 11 03, 4:02 PM

supermary345

far be it from me to dispute such an esteemed and venerated gentleman but I had thought it was AUG 11 1909 when the Arapahoe was in trouble http://www.on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug11.htm Nov 11 03, 5:19 PM

Linus_337

Several sites - of which those below are just a few - support SM's answer, mo. The "Arapahoe" incident appears to have occurred two months later. Given this, how could it have been the first? http://www.cnn.com/almanac/9806/10/ http://www.datesinhistory.com/cgi-bin/bigphp.phtml?v1=jun10 http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2003-06/10/Columns/In%20History.htm Nov 12 03, 3:02 PM

gimbo

when the Titanic was going down. April 14th, 1912. It was in this book called 882 1/2 questions and answers about the Titanic. Nov 21 03, 3:36 PM

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