Event - Titanic SOS man helped save lives (Louthwell/Lowdham)

A wireless operator hailed a hero for his part in the operation to pick up survivors from the Titanic could be honoured with a plaque in his native Nottinghamshire.


The first SOS call from the Titanic was received by wireless operator Mr Harold Thomas Cottam, 21, of Southwell

Mr Harold Cottam — a little-known son of Southwell who later lived in Lowdham — was just 21 when he was first to pick up the Morse code distress call from the stricken liner.

Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage on the night of April 14/15, 1912.

About 1,500 men, women and children perished in the icy waters, but Mr Cottam’s fast actions are credited with saving hundreds of lives.

Mr Cottam, who was born on Church Street, Southwell, and attended the Minster Grammar School, was working on the SS Carpathia, a passenger steam ship sailing from New York City to Fiume (then in Austria-Hungary, now Rijeka, Croatia).

On receiving the SOS call, he woke the skipper, Captain Arthur Henry Rostron, who ordered the vessel to steam to Titanic’s aid.

It was three hours before the Carpathia reached Titanic, which had already sunk.

Despite the terrible loss of life, experts agree if it was not for Mr Cottam, who lived in Lowdham for many years before his death in 1984, aged 93, many of the 705 survivors would have also perished.

On the three-day trip back to New York after the tragedy, Mr Cottam worked with barely any sleep sending wireless messages to survivors’ loved ones.

Among the messages was one to his mother, Mrs Jane Cottam, which read: “Am safe and well. Detained in New York for Senatorial exhibition.

“Am leaving for Washington tomorrow. Home as soon as possible. Love from Harold.”

On the ship’s arrival in New York, Mr Cottam was hailed a hero with a headline in the New York Times reading: “Boy Wireless Saved Them. Rescues Resulted From Cottam’s Untiring Devotion To Duty.”

Maritime historian Mr Graham Anthony, of Cambridge, hopes to have a plaque in memory of Mr Cottam erected in Lowdham in June, and is also looking to have one at The Minster School, Southwell.

Mr Anthony said: “There are some 700 memorials to Titanic people around the world, but not a single one to 21-year-old Harold Thomas Cottam.

“It was his diligence and skill that picked up the SOS call and it was his courage to alert his captain.

“Without Harold Thomas Cottam there would have been no story because everyone would have frozen to death.

“In my opinion he is the most important person in the whole of the Titanic saga, and that is why we should be celebrating his achievements.”

The chairman of Southwell Town Council, Mr Roger Dobson, said he was previously unaware of Mr Cottam’s connections to the town but thought he should be recognised.

Mr Dobson said: “It’s a lovely story and it will definitely be something I raise with the local history groups.”

Mr Cottam served on several more ships before going on to work at the ROF Gun Factory in The Meadows, Nottingham.

Despite becoming a hero he tried to avoid the limelight.

Nottinghamshire Archives has a Titanic display this month documenting those from Nottinghamshire related to the disaster, including Mr Cottam, and three men who were missing presumed dead.

The men working on board at the time were William Moss and Albert Edward Lane, both saloon stewards, and William Ewatt Caunt, a grill cook.

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Titanic-SOS-man-helped-save-lives

Article - My great-grandad, the greatest hero of the Titanic (Southwell)

Next year marks the centenary of the great Titanic disaster. Andy Smart explores a key local link with the tragedy...

THE young scholars from Top Valley were mesmerised as historian Graham Anthony unfolded the tragic details of the Titanic.

1. ​
   Looking back: Nichola Gell, and historian Graham Anthony at Westglade Primary School.

But they got an even greater surprise when he told pupils at Westglade Primary that their teacher Nichola Gell was the great-granddaughter of a Titanic hero.

On the night of April 15, 1912, Notts-born Harold Thomas Cottam was the radio operator on the SS Carpathia when he received a Morse code SOS from the Titanic.

He alerted his captain and the Carpathia steamed at full speed to help the stricken liner.

But by the time the Carpathia arrived on the scene in the freezing north Atlantic, the Titanic was gone, taking more than 1,500 passengers and crew to their deaths.

But 705 survivors were rescued by the Carpathia and historians have agreed that, had it not been for Cottam's alertness and swift action, they may also have been lost.

Mr Anthony, a maritime historian from Cambridge who is planning a book on Cottam's role in the saga, has no doubts that he was the most important person involved that night.

"We need to get him positioned in history," he said.

He is hoping to unveil a plaque next year during the annual book festival in Lowdham, where Harold Cottam spent the last years of his life.

And, after talks with leading figures in Southwell – Cottam's birthplace – he hopes a similar project can undertaken there.

All of which has delighted Miss Gell.

"I want people to know what an amazing man he was," said Nichola, 37, who has only a vague memory of her grea- grandfather. He died in 1984 when she was only four years old.

"I have lots of books and, in my living room, a large picture. After the incident, he was told not to say anything about it, or about the part he played – he even turned down the offer to play himself in the film A Night To Remember because of that."

Mr Cottam was doing voluntary overtime on April 15, listening to news over the telegraph and monitoring messages his friend Jack Phillips was sending from the Titanic radio room to arrange a celebration dinner for when the Titanic arrived in New York.

Then he switched wavelengths — just as the Titanic struck an iceberg.

Less than an hour later, Mr Cottam finally decided it was time to turn in.

But as he was about to leave the telegraph room, he thought about his friend and put the earphones back on.
What he heard was the ship's position being transmitted.

"Does this mean you need immediate assistance?" he sent back.

"Yes, yes, yes," came the desperate reply.

Mr Cottam ran to his captain Arthur Rostron's cabin and shook him awake. At Cottam's insistence, the captain ordered the Carpathia to change course and make for the Titanic, 58 miles away.

From the Titanic came only silence.

When the Carpathia arrived three hours later, they found a mass of wreckage floating on the surface: doors, cases, clothes — and frozen survivors.

For the next four days, Mr Cottam neither slept nor had a decent meal as he tapped out the names and addresses of the survivors to New York.

When the Carpathia docked, he was tricked into going ashore by reporters who told him Mr Marconi wanted to see him.

The lie enabled them to interview a man with a remarkable story, and the ex-Southwell Minster Grammar School boy became something of hero.

But he preferred to stay out of the limelight and, after his seafaring days, he returned home to Notts.

He went to work at the ROF Gun Factory in The Meadows, lived in Chaworth Grove, West Bridgford, and then in a nursing home in Lowdham, where he died in 1984 at the age of 93.

Almost a century on, his great-granddaughter, understandably proud of her illustrious ancestor, said: "Listening to the story again, I got goosebumps."

From: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Bygones-great-grandad-greatest-hero-Titanic/story-13951445-detail/story.html