Later, this ship received its own SOS call from the SS Iroquois. The ship lost a screw in the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” Diamond Shoals, and sent this message to Hatteras while off the North Carolina (NC) coast. SOS was used for the first time in America in August 1909 on the SS Arapahoe by T. Captain Smith ordered first radio officer Jack Phillips to call for help, and he used CQD six times. The second Radio Officer on the SS Carpathia, Harold Bride, stated that the Titanic first used CQD as a distress call. While CQD was used for many more years after SOS was ratified in 1908, there are many cases in which both were used by Marconi operators. This term was not easily misinterpreted and could be sent together as a string of beeps and dots. SOS was adopted after its creation in the German government. In 1906 at the Berlin Radiotelegraphic Conference 1906, the first International Radiotelegraph Convention, CQD was retired. Therefore, a CQD was a general call followed by a D for distress.

While many believe that CQD stands for “come quick, danger,” it actually comes from the term for a general call on a British landline known as a CQ. The SOS call was preceded by another telegraph signal called CQD. Many slang terms come from military or maritime speak. SOS is used in the maritime language and can also be used as a slang term to ask for help in everyday life. (three dots, three dashes, and another three dots).The Morse code radiotelegraphic signal for SOS is It is simply an easy-to-recognize set of signals in Morse code both to type and to receive.

While people often think that SOS stands for “save our ship,” the term does not actually stand for anything. But do you know what SOS really stands for? Read on to find out! What Does SOS Stand For? SOS can also be used in a more general way as a noun or a verb to refer to any call for help. Dictionary states that this code is used by ships in distress as a call for helpand is known as the International Morse Code distress signal According to Boat Safe, SOS is a maritime term that is used as a distress signal.

What sos stand for