A telegraphist (BrE), telegrapher (AmE), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be transmitted electronically by land lines, or wirelessly by radio.
History
During the
Great War, the
Royal Navy enlisted many volunteers as radio telegraphists. Telegraphists were indispensable at sea in the early days of wireless telegraphy, and many young men were called to sea as professional radiotelegraph operators who were always accorded high-paying officer status at sea. Subsequent to the
Titanic disaster and the Radio Act of 1912, the International Safety of Life at Sea (
SOLAS Convention) conventions established the 500kHz maritime distress frequency monitoring and mandated that all passenger-carrying ships carry licensed radio telegraph operators.
Notable telegraphists
See also
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Amateur radio
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Casa del Telegrafista (House of the Telegrapher), a museum in Colombia
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Commercial Cable Company
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List of obsolete occupations
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Transatlantic telegraph cable
