Come Quick, Danger: A History of Marine Radio in Canada

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

This small book, about 50 pages of which are devoted to illustrations,
is a history of marine radio in Canada.

In 1901, the Italian electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi transmitted
the first wireless signal across the Atlantic from Cornwall to
Newfoundland. Rapid advances in technology followed, and numerous
wireless stations were established across Canada. Dubreuil’s
descriptions of the various equipment used by each station during its
service life may not be of great interest to the casual reader, but such
technical details are relieved by his accounts of life on these usually
isolated stations. Especially interesting are the sections on the Cape
Race and the Pointe-au-Pиre stations receiving distress calls from the
Titanic and the Empress of Ireland, respectively.

Come Quick, Danger makes an important contribution to the literature on
this little-known aspect of Canadian transportation.