Talk:SOS

Which ship was first?
The article states: "The first ship to transmit an SOS distress call appears to have been the Cunard liner Slavonia on June 10, 1909, according to "Notable Achievements of Wireless" in the September, 1910 Modern Electrics." and "The first recorded use of SOS as a distress signal was by the steamer SS Arapahoe on August 11, 1909."

Which is correct?2.29.91.193 (talk) 19:01, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

To the sentence starting with "From the beginning EK", 69.87.196.168 added "but with the dashes extended in duration to double their usual length to make the signal unmistakable in static." None of my early sources from 1905 to 1935 refer to long dashes, so I've removed this clause from the "From the beginning" sentence. I have no information that the long dashes were ever used, so if this clause is added back it needs to specify when and where the long dashes were used. Thomas H. White November 25, 2005 sos some ones stupid — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.93.31.200 (talk) 01:49, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Still, is there any evidence of SOS (not CQD) signal transmition by the Slavonia liner? The June 13, 1909 issue of The New York Times explicitly states it to be "C.Q.D.", and the Daily Mirror of June, 14 reads: "The Cunard liner Slavonia called distress signal of Marconi system", which, as we know, was "C.Q.D.", not "SOS" 93.125.49.240 (talk) 20:44, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Modern Electrics
Has anyone found a copy of Modern Electrics? This would be very useful. I don't see a copy scanned online. A search of California newspapers does not show Arapahoe, Slavonia, City of Racine, or Ohio. The steamship Kentucky is covered in many of the newspapers. These early uses of SOS would be sensational news and would "make the papers," so why don't we find more? MikeVdP (talk) 05:28, 16 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Americanradiohistory.com has added a number of issues online. "Notable Achievements of Wireless" on page 315 of the September 1910 issue states that the Slavonia transmitted an SOS on June 10, 1909.Thomas H. White (talk) 00:36, 4 October 2019 (UTC)

SOS
My Godfather was a Royal Navy radio man (1938-1945) and he told me that SOS meant Send Out Succour. SUCCOUR n. aid or assistance that relieves from difficulty or distress
 * I read this article in Highlights (the children's magazine) a while back that said it stood for "Sierra Oscar Sierra" but I don't know what that has to do with anything.


 * Sierra means "S", Oscar means "O". The rest of the alphabet has clearly heard words associated (mainly used by radio hams, the police, etc): see 7 3 Gordo 14:08, 3 November 2006 (UTC)


 * It's more widely used than that. See NATO phonetic alphabet.--agr 14:16, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Well I always thought, SOS was derived from "Save Our Soles". But I have no source to verify this, even though I feel it might be a good idea to add it to the article.
 * From what I can see, the SOS code in and of itself was first proposed by the Germans in 1905. If this is true, then any acronyms associated with SOS would logically be backronyms, simply because it was first concieved in German, not English. --Ourai 17:20, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

My mother works for a company SOS, what about them?

I just wanted to add a new phrasology to SOS that has become apparent to me since becoming active in political forums and debate SOS = Stuck On Stupid, not that I would want to see this on the main page, but it may give those that are into the debate aswell a chuckle.

a Ns Nasrudin (talk) 22:40, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

SOS means nothing whatsoever. It's a simple three-by-three prosign. Three repeated anything, in any medium, means "danger" or "help". SOS is easy to remember, even when you're terrified, and to recognise, even for people who aren't otherwise rated for Morse code. All of the "Save Our Souls" schemes that have been dreamt up since the Germans invented it are just fantasy. Laodah 20:33, 12 May 2018 (UTC)

Overbar format
Is there a reason that the SOS-with-overbar is being represented in mathemtical symbols ( $$\overline{\mbox{SOS}}$$ == $$\overline{\mbox{SOS}}$$), instead of regular HTML with CSS ( SOS == SOS )? --Psiphiorg 15:43, 31 July 2006 (UTC)


 * None whatsoever, from what I can see. Having changed the overbar instances from to  , and it does indeed look better, especially since it does not mess with the line spacing. Thanks for having pointed that out! --Ourai 17:20, 12 August 2006 (UTC)


 * The CSS version won't render for visitors with no CSS capability, or with CSS turned off. Andy Mabbett 15:59, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Nursing
SOS is also used in nursing - si opus sit - means if there be need, and means a doctor has agreed that medicine can be given if a nurse sees fit.Malick78 19:04, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Latin Abbreviation
s.o.s. is a Latin abbreviation not only used in nursing meaning "si opus sit", translation: "if there is need", "if occasion require", "if necessary" (source: http://www.herbdatanz.com/pharmaceutical_latin_abbreviations.htm). I don't know if this has anything to do with the naval term, but shouldn't this be in the article somewhere?


 * Yes, it should be added to the disambiguation list. Feel free. --78.86.173.96 (talk) 19:22, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

under "early developments"
the paragraph starts "Prior to the development of peepee radio communication" what is peepee radio? or does it predate poopoo television...? 76.217.120.247 14:56, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Reverse code
Does "— — — · · · — — — " have any special meaning? It seems to me that a panicked or novice user might transpose the code thus, and it would be useful to have it carry the same "emergency" meaning. Andy Mabbett 15:58, 14 July 2007 (UTC)


 * It is sent out on continuous stream: "— — — · · · — — — · · · — — — · · · — — — · · ·", so it doesn't really matter anyway if you start it in wrong beeps. 82.131.5.123 (talk) 18:51, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Having been both an operator in the Royal Navy, Merchant Navy and as a shore based civilian I can only say that I've never heard ---...--- sent. It has no meaning that I know of. As for being accidentally sent by a panicky or novice user this is absolutely impossible. If you were in a ship for example you'd have to be able to turn on the radio, tune in to the right frequencey (500khz), transmit the sos, receive the reply (hopefully), help ships find you and so one. If you were that competent you would of-course be the Radio Officer and know the morse code back to front. Watchkeeper (talk) 19:14, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Sound file
I don't think that the sound file sounds right, that is not an SOS.


 * Your right its not it sounds like 3 dits and 3 dashes Usnn 16:42, 22 August 2007 (UTC)


 * I've just spent the last 40 minutes trying to upload a fixed .ogg file - it seems to be virtually impossible both on Commons and here in WP. The problem with the existing SOS.ogg is that it plays the three letters S, O and S.  SOS, however is a prosign, with no letter-spacing.  I have a fixed version here on my desktop, with the two letter-spaces reduced to the length of a dit each, but the world is going to have to do without it.  Maybe someone else who has plumbed the depths of the frankly idiotic logon/modify/upload/download/licence/rename system, and has a copy of audacity or similar, can fix it, because I now officially 'give up' :-) --Nigelj (talk) 16:18, 11 January 2009 (UTC)


 * When I heard it I immediately thought it was wrong. But I think the first three sounds are played in quicker succession than the last three making it a bit confusing (assuming we are talking about the same audio file). Overall I think it's correct but perhaps the timing is out? --djduckworth :8:32 24 August 2014 (it's been years without a correction).

Sending an SOS
I've added a bit about XXX (or the words Pan Pan Pan if used in Radiotelephony). These were used for issues of ship or invidual safety. A ship losing a propeller way out at sea would use this and not an SOS.

I've also added a bit on how an SOS would actually be sent. Most people think and SOS message is just a series of SOSs sent by morse.

My source for this addition is my own experience as a Radio Operator at sea both in the Royal and Merchant Navies. The same information is also contained in the 'Post Office Handbook for Radio Operators' published by HMSO. Watchkeeper (talk) 20:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

SOS to the ICRC. Have you seen the massacres going on in Egypt now against the peaceful demonstrators in Rab'aa square who are asking for democracy and legitimacy. It's 4:55 am now and killing by the police and army started five hours ago. Tens of people are being killed and thousands are being seriously injured with no help at all. People there are screaming and shouting for help. The field hospital is so limited in supplies and staff. No enough room for the killed and injuries. They are calling now for help. Please help them. Please help them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.55.197.1 (talk) 09:26, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

"SOS created in Germany" section
I have changed the rather odd heading "SOS created in Germany" to "Formalization." The fact that SOS's formulation was in Germany is notable, but it's not very relevant to the information being presented. The sense of the heading also didn't follow on from the previous section ("Early developments"). --Gilgongo (talk) 19:49, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

The sound file SOS.ogg needs modifying
The sound file currently linked here is not quite correct: in contradiction of the article, it plays the three separate letters S, O and S, not the prosign SOS. I just downloaded it from Commons and spent a few minutes fixing it in Audacity (after downloading and installing that on this machine). But then I ran foul of the labyrinthine complexity of uploading a file to Commons - only to be told in the end that, because I hadn't first created a logon for that site, my upload had failed (although my donations would still be welcome ;-). Even if I had succeeded, it appears I had taken a wrong turn somewhere as my upload could not be treated as a modification to Image:SOS.ogg, but would have to be Image:SOS2.ogg or something else. I have the fixed copy here, but of course I can't attach it to this. It only takes a minute to fix - can someone who has already mastered the magic of Commons do the job for us all, please? --Nigelj (talk) 20:09, 17 August 2008 (UTC)


 * It doesn't even play the same letters. The three letters S.O.S are ...---... .  (Last stop here is sentence full stop.)


 * The ogg file has ...---.. which would produce SOI.


 * Petrus4 (talk) 05:42, 4 March 2011 (UTC)


 * I've digitally re-generated the file from scratch, using Audacity. The tone is A440, 80% amplitude, and the ratios between tone and silence have been corrected, according to best Morse code practice as taught in radio school.  Since the file was assembled by cutting and pasting "dit" and "dah" snippets, the timing is essentially perfect.  One second of silence was prepended and appended to the sequence to allow the OGG decoder in most browsers to stabilize, which should take care of dropped sound.  Editing work was performed with lossless WAV files, and the OGG file was exported at the highest quality setting.  Yes, it makes the file considerably larger than before, but, eh, there were so many previous failed attempts at creating the file that had it been done correctly from the start, the storage space would still be less than the accumulated cruft, including other sound files that made false attempts at illustrating "SOS" in Morse code. — QuicksilverT @ 20:02, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Cultural references?
Here in Argentina at least, and probably around the world, SOS in morse code is a popular ring tone (I actually realized when reading this article and saying SOS out loud that I had heard it before). Should this be added? 186.136.144.120 (talk) 01:33, 6 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I think you'll find that's SMS. -- Ian Dalziel (talk) 07:55, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

SMS ... -- ... sent as three distinct letters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.78.162.197 (talk) 22:20, 26 December 2010 (UTC)

Badly Translated Word
"lesser after "Securité" distress call: "Panne (French for 'Alarm')" spelt "Pan" in English

Panne means breakdown, that is, when something that worked no longer is, or isn't anymore able to (Broken, damaged, out of fuel...) No relation with "Alarm" in this. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-pan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.147.137.177 (talk) 00:17, 15 October 2011 (UTC)

I was on the point of making that very correction even before I saw your comment. Certainly 'Alarm' seems to be a poor translation. However, http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/panne# has the maritime definition 3A, . This might be the relevant definition after all; 3B has the 'breakdown' meaning, which I thought to be the appropriate one, but... Comments? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.102.122.2 (talk) 16:36, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

CQD
I believe that the Marconi CQD signal was not sent as individual letters. Rather, the CQ_(call), CQ sent as a one letter group (– · – · – – · – ) being the standard “calling all stations” prefix, was followed by D (– · · ) being sent as a separate letter. RichardRegal (talk) 19:59, 18 July 2013 (UTC)

SOS Prosign isn't part of International Morse Code?
The special distress signal (short short short long long long short short short, no letter breaks) does not actually appear to be a part of M.1667 International Morse Code as this article claims; at least not in the 2009 version. That standard does not make a distinction between any special distress code and the sequence of letters "s o s" (assuming that sequence is still recognized as distress). Since I have no first-hand knowledge I am not removing the claims right now, but I am adding citation-needed tags and will remove them at some point in the future if nobody can verify. --JCipriani (talk) 23:52, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Why does it have an overbar
Can anyone explain why the article name and some instances of SOS have a bar over them?

Might it also be worthy of explaining this in the article as I'm sure I'm not only one wondering!?

--94.175.140.196 (talk) 11:00, 22 June 2018 (UTC)


 * It's explained in the first sentence of the lead, and the fourth paragraph of "Formaization"! Ian Dalziel (talk) 11:50, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

Requested move 7 January 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: Procedural close. This article is already at SOS. The overline you are seeing is actually being generated by the DISPLAYTITLE feature (see WP:DISPLAYTITLE). Editors could either be bold and remove the line near the top of the article that reads  or continue the above discussion. Zzyzx11 (talk) 07:58, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

SOS → SOS – That is the WP:COMMONNAME. In fact, I've never seen SOS spelt with an overline off-Wikipedia. Yes, never, ever. Which also means that the current title is WP:MADEUP. 122.60.65.44 (talk) 06:22, 7 January 2021 (UTC)


 * The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Remove the overline from all instances of SOS. No one uses SOS with an overline off-wiki and if you do a search for sources you will see that none of them use the overline. This means that the current situation is not WP:VERIFIABLE. 122.61.73.44 (talk) 01:30, 13 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the template. RudolfRed (talk) 04:17, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Flashlight gets it wrong
The flashlight in the video sends ... --- ..., not ...---.... My flashlight gets it wrong, too. I asked the seller for a replacement once they fix it. Darsie42 (talk) 01:32, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Overbar
Bold edit to remove all overbars in running text. I don't see reliable secondary sources doing it, and Wikipedia should not either. A short explanation was kept in the lead; this should be sufficient. 162 etc. (talk) 20:14, 3 November 2023 (UTC)