Historedia
Episode 1 of 1

First Wireless Distress Signal

When
17 March 1899
Where
East Goodwin lightship
Part of
Event of 1899: The world's first wireless distress signal is sent by wireless telegraphy (in Mo

The East Goodwin lightship sent the first wireless distress signal in Morse code on behalf of the grounded merchant vessel Elbe.

On 17 March 1899, the East Goodwin lightship transmitted a wireless distress signal in Morse code to the South Foreland lighthouse. The signal was sent on behalf of the merchant vessel Elbe, which had run aground on Goodwin Sands. The radio operator at South Foreland received the message and summoned the aid of the Ramsgate lifeboat.

Sources

  1. Guglielmo Marconi Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-10

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.