<P> On 18 June 1912, Guglielmo Marconi gave evidence to the Court of Inquiry regarding the telegraphy . Its final report recommended that all liners carry the system and that sufficient operators maintain a constant service . </P> <P> One of the most controversial issues examined by the inquiries was the role played by SS Californian, which had been only a few miles from Titanic but had not picked up her distress calls or responded to her signal rockets . Californian had warned Titanic by radio of the pack ice that was the reason Californian had stopped for the night, but was rebuked by Titanic's senior wireless operator, Jack Phillips . </P> <P> Testimony before the British inquiry revealed that at 10: 10 p.m., Californian observed the lights of a ship to the south; it was later agreed between Captain Stanley Lord and Third Officer C.V. Groves (who had relieved Lord of duty at 11: 10 p.m.) that this was a passenger liner . At 11: 50 p.m., the officer had watched that ship's lights flash out, as if she had shut down or turned sharply, and that the port light was now visible . Morse light signals to the ship, upon Lord's order, were made between 11: 30 p.m. and 1: 00 a.m., but were not acknowledged . If Titanic were as far from the Californian as Lord claimed, then he knew, or should have known, that Morse signals would not be visible . A reasonable and prudent course of action would have been to awaken the wireless operator and to instruct him to attempt to contact Titanic by that method . Had Lord done so, it is possible he could have reached Titanic in time to save additional lives . </P> <P> Captain Lord had gone to the chartroom at 11: 00 p.m. to spend the night; however, Second Officer Herbert Stone, now on duty, notified Lord at 1: 10 a.m. that the ship had fired five rockets . Lord wanted to know if they were company signals, that is, coloured flares used for identification . Stone said that he did not know and that the rockets were all white . Captain Lord instructed the crew to continue to signal the other vessel with the Morse lamp, and went back to sleep . Three more rockets were observed at 1: 50 a.m. and Stone noted that the ship looked strange in the water, as if she were listing . At 2: 15 a.m., Lord was notified that the ship could no longer be seen . Lord asked again if the lights had had any colours in them, and he was informed that they were all white . </P>

How long did it take to make the titanic ship