SOUND POWERED TELEPHONES

Why use Sound Powered Telephones?
In 1934 a ship called the Morro Castle caught fire and sunk with the loss of 134 lives.  The US investigation into this disaster noted that the ships telephones were not working and that lives could have been saved if they were in operation.

The investigation concluded that most ships phones were inadequate as they were either powered from local batteries or from a central source.

A system was needed that did not use power and the US made it mandatory that ships phones were sound powered, with other countries following.

Sound phones were not a new invention as Bell's original electro-magnetic telephone worked with no power source.

Last revised: July 22, 2025