Harold Thomas Cottam (January 27th, 1891 – May 30th, 1984) was a British wireless operator on the RMS Carpathia who fortuitously happened to receive the distress call from the sinking RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912. Cottam's decision to awaken Captain Arthur Henry Rostron and relay Titanic's message in spite of the skepticism of the officer on watch allowed Carpathia to arrive at the scene hours before any other ship and is "credited with saving hundreds of lives." He was a personal friend of the Titanic's wireless operators Harold Bride and Jack Phillips and after the Titanic tragedy, he and Bride stayed in contact for many years.
Early life and career[]
Cottam was born on January 27th, 1891 in Southwell, Nottinghamshire to William Cottam and his wife Jane. He had four younger brothers.
At 17, Cottam left home to study eleven months at the British College of Telegraphy in London, becoming the school's youngest graduate in 1908. Afterward, he obtained a posting with the Marconi Company as second wireless operator on the RMS Empress of Ireland, sailing between Liverpool and Quebec. At the time, despite being stationed in a variety of locations on ship and land, wireless operators remained employees of the Marconi company.
As a Marconi employee, Cottam was subsequently assigned as a telegraphist at the British post office where, on separate occasions, he met and befriended both Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, who would later become the Titanic's wireless operators. He also served as the wireless operator aboard the SS Medic, on which he made two voyages from Liverpool to Sydney, Australia.
Cottam had been employed by the Marconi Company for three years before joining the crew of the Carpathia in February 1912 as the ship's sole wireless operator.
Gallery[]
