Cyril Furmstone Evans : SS Californian Wireless Operator
Biography of Cyril Furmstone Evans : SS Californian Wireless Operator
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Cyril Furmstone Evans
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johnskiggs
Member
Mr Cyril Furmstone Evans, 20, was wireless operator aboard the Californian. On the night of 14 April 1912 Radio Officer; Cyril Evans of the SS Californian; is known to me only through a friend he worked with in the 1930s and who I later worked with in the late 1970s., In the 1930s' my contact had worked with Cyril Evans who was still with Marconi in what was then Mesopotamia/Transjordan; on the so-called "Blue-train" basically a "Radio listening station" set up on a train; with sleeping; accommodation; and catering facilities sufficient for the crew of men, who operated the train and the radios'.(the "Blue-train" spend its time in the desert - far removed from the radio static of cities) By the 1930s Cyril Evans had changed his name to Cyril Furmstone-Evans; adopting his mother's maiden name; the hyphenated surname; a device to try and throw the still pestering press off-track. Understandably the whole crew on the "Blue-train" knew Cyril Furmstone-Evans history; and would from time to time try to coax from him; his understanding of what really happened the night the Titanic sank., Follows > It seems the large backlog: of revenue generating: outbound radio telegrams; to be sent by the Titanics' 5Kw transmitter had pretty much log-jammed the airways and the Titanics' crew were predictably intolerant of other radio users who transmitted across them, and caused them to have to resend; readers are invited to remember there was only one frequency (broad-band) at that point in history; and even acknowledging Marconi had to make money to stay in business; the unending transmissions from Titanics' new and exceptionally powerful radio could pretty much bully, the smaller radios off the airways., Cyril Evans had sent his "famous warning" to the Titanic, but had indeed been "in-famously rebuked". Nonetheless, his warning had been sent; he had done his duty insofar as was required of him, both morally and legally. In reply, he had been snubbed; Enough; his ship the "Californian" was at rest surrounded by sea ice, and it was late; he went to bed., Although the only radio officer on the Californian; he did not switch his set off as has been reported elsewhere, different radio sets had different characteristics, and he knew that if he switched his radio off; it might take 3-4-5 replacement valves/pots to get it going again; early valves were unreliable at best and very intolerant of changes in temperature , (near freezing to operating was asking for trouble) However once the radio was operating. The operator might get several days or even weeks out of a single valve. Before each voyage; "failed valves" or pots; were exchanged by Marconi for new ones - each ship with that transmitter type notionally sailed with a total of eight good valves, (they were very unreliable). The radio cabin also had a relay-matrix that would cause an alarm bell to ring if the letters SOS or CQD went through the matrix sequentially; which given the storm of radio traffic coming from the Titanic it did too-much that night; Note; when off duty; if required; a wedge could be placed between the bell and the hammer; ensuring an open circuit; which would not place a load on the equipment; and ensure quiet; allowing the radio officer to sleep.. (More than that Cyril Furmstone-Evans would never say) JS May-2010
Dawn Taylor
Member
Please can you tell me the birthsign of Cyril Evans as the birthsign of Phillips was 'aries' a fire sign. Fire signs are naturally quick to anger. Phillips as you know was reported to say an angry 'shut up' etc. and thus resulting in the corresponding wireless set being turned off. Ref. Titanic disaster.
Anonymous (2828)
Member
He should have tried to send the message again
Justin Litke
Member
How true are the following? I've tried to look them up, but didn't get very far, so I'm beginning to have doubts. Taken from a recent book "160 Minutes" by William Hazelgrove.
- Evans on a schedule of 18 hours which began at 5a.m. and ended at 11p.m.
-He'd take naps during the day so he could be at the set when atmospheric conditions favored transmission of wireless messages.
- Evans on a schedule of 18 hours which began at 5a.m. and ended at 11p.m.
-He'd take naps during the day so he could be at the set when atmospheric conditions favored transmission of wireless messages.
Seumas
Member
I can't comment on Evans schedule but I would take anything Mr Hazelgrove says with a large pinch of salt, his book met with bad peer reviews and his theory about the Mount Temple (this nonsense again ?) has been proved to be untrue.
