Hatteras Island and the Outer Banks have played a role in many history-making events, but this one might surprise you. Did you know that the first received and recorded distress message sent by the Titanic was received at the Hatteras Weather Bureau Station?
“CQD”, meaning “Come Quickly Distressed” (this was the code used prior to “SOS”), was the telegraph message sent by the RMS Titanic and received in Hatteras Village at 11:25pm on the night of April 14, 1912. Further details in the message included “Have struck iceberg”.
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, the log page recording of the telegraph message will be displayed for the first time at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras Village. The log page had been discovered in the walls of the weather station during the building’s renovation in 2005. The building is now being used by the park service and the Outer Banks Visitor’s Bureau as a welcome center.
The log page along with other related items will be on display from April 14 to May 31. For more information about the exhibit, click here to visit the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum’s website.
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