Telephones and transatlantic passenger ocean liners circa 1960.

[valerief]

Anyone here know what telephoning was like on 1960 transatlantic passenger ocean liners? I'm not getting all the info I need from watching DVDs of the old Gale Storm Show aka Oh, Susannah!

When the ship is docked, do they need to use the radio operator onboard to connect them to shore? How far from the shore can they do this?

At sea, I see radiograms being delivered to passengers. They're read like telegrams, so were they transmitted via Morse Code?

Could passengers in the middle of the Atlantic phone people at shore? Did they just connect to the ship radio operator and wait until he did his technical stuff and connected them? Or did the phone the passenger once a connection was made? Or did messages have to be sent by Morse Code?

I've looked on the web and ordered books, but I can't find anything definitive, just technical stuff I don't understand and can't place in time period. I also can't find a golden age cruise ship marine radio forum to ask. I don't really expect any answers here, but I thought I'd try.

Thanks.

[david13]

1. Well, if it's to be fiction, then it need not be technically accurate,

in fact, you may want it not technically accurate, so that it fits your story.
I don't know the exact dates and years, and boats, but on my boats, and I don't know what year this began, but when you were away from the dock you would depend on battery power, and many boats still carry ice. In Mexico, you can still buy ice in large chunks for your boat or rv or house.
When we were at the dock, we would plug in our electrical cord, and our water line, and a telephone line and later a cable line. Later satellite tv and cell phones, and satellite phones ended some of those lines.
Generally, on a large ocean going passenger boat, there would be many radios. Shortwave, which first went with Morse code, then later voice, and could connect with the telegraph company or amateur radio operators.
Later, probably in most locations by 1960, marine radio could connect with marine operator, a telephone company service which would then patch you into a phone line. Many times we were patched into a phone line by amateur radio operators or asked them to call someone.
The major problem with the old systems was that radio did not operate everywhere. That continues to be a problem with cell phones. Their range is only about 20 to 100 miles, which is easily exceeded in the ocean.
However, satellite telephones, which have been in service for 10? or more years at least, I think connect directly to a satellite many miles up in the sky and can be used in many remote areas, but not all. Not where there is no satellite coverage.
Many of these devices were in a constant state of improvement and replacement, at different levels, depending on where you might be. And what kind of new or old equipment you had.
Try the library, and books on these items, but you will find an enormous field to study.
dc

[valerief]

3. Thanks, but I specifically wanted to know what a passenger's experience would be on a 1960

transatlantic voyage.

Shore to ship while docked.
Ship to shore while docked.
Shore to ship while x miles out.
Ship to shore while x miles out.
Outgoing calls in the middle of the ocean.
Incoming calls in the middle of the ocean.

For example, on a ship to shore call while docked, when the passenger spoke with the ship radio operator and asked for the call, did the passenger hold on while the operator made the connection? Or did the operator say he'd phone back when the connection was made? Or could the call be made direct?

When the ship was x miles out, what was the procedure? When the ship was in the middle of the Atlantic, what was the procedure?

And what were the procedures for outgoing calls?

Thanks. I can guess at some of these things, but I wanted to know for sure.

[david13]

5. Well, let me try at least. Based on my experience with generally

smaller and private boats, and a few large boats, which were not necessarily all the same.
While docked, you might go onto the dock and use a payphone. On the boat, there may be shore line phones, that would function as regular telephones, hooked up to the shore lines, like any other telephone, but would not work when away from the dock.
At sea, you would either use the phone, which would connect you to the radio operator's office, or you would visit that office and request your call.
They would then try to patch you thru' at that time, or, if they could not get thru' then, they would tell you they would try and let you know when they did get thru'. Page you, or tell you to come back at a certain hour.
At the dock, due to the extra expense, you generally wouldn't use, and wouldn't need marine operator.
At sea, at any distance, the radio operator would call marine operator on their known frequency. When marine operator responded, they would identify, and request a telephone patch to a number. When that telephone was answered, they would say marine operator calling or just, go ahead with your call.
There would always be at least some radio interference and a time delay on the call. And cut offs and can't get thru' at all, etc.
Otherwise a phone conversation.
Now just write your story.
dc

[never cry wolf]

2. Maybe here?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_and_mobile_radio_telephony

The Marine Radiotelephone Service or HF ship-to-shore operates on shortwave radio frequencies, using single-sideband modulation. The usual method is that a ship calls a shore station, and the shore station's marine operator connects the caller to the public switched telephone network. This service is retained for safety reasons, but in practice has been made obsolete by satellite telephones (particularly INMARSAT) and VoIP telephone and email via satellite internet.

Short wave radio is used because it bounces between the ionosphere and the ground, giving a modest 1,000 watt transmitter (the standard power) a world-wide range.

Most shore stations monitor several frequencies. The frequencies with the longest range are usually near 20 MHz, but the ionospheric weather (propagation) can dramatically change which frequencies work best.

Single-sideband (SSB) is used because the short wave bands are crowded with many users, and SSB permits a single voice channel to use a narrower range of radio frequencies (bandwidth), about 3.5 kHz. In comparison, AM radio uses about 8 kHz, and narrowband (voice or communication-quality) FM uses 9 kHz.

Marine radiotelephony first became common in the 1930s, and was used extensively for communications to ships and aircraft over water. In that time, most long-range aircraft had long-wire antennas that would be let out during a call, and reeled-in afterward.

One of the most important uses of marine radiotelephony has been to change ships' itineraries, and to perform other business at sea.

Some ships, including almost all military ships, carry teletypewriters, and use them to communicate over short wave. This is called "marine radiotelegraphy", but in practice the equipment is a normal shortwave radio with an attachment that generates and receives audio tones in order to drive the teletype.

[valerief]

4. Thanks, but I've been there. See post 3. nt