On this date in 1844, a fog horn was first demonstrated by Captain J.N. Taylor. 10 things you might not know about fog horns:
Before Fog horns were invented, people used numerous methods to warn of hazards at sea in foggy weather. Bells, gongs, whistles and explosives were all used, although all of these were labour intensive, requiring someone to hit, blow or light a fuse. In time, clockwork systems for bells and steam power for whistles were used.
Foghorns operate using compressed air or steam, which is forced through trumpet-shaped horns. The sound they make is typically low-pitched, so it carries over long distances and pierces heavy fog or other adverse weather conditions. The shape of the foghorn helps amplify and direct the sound waves towards the intended target.
The first automated steam-powered foghorn was invented by Robert Foulis, a Scotsman living in Canada. He heard his daughter playing the Piano in the distance one foggy night, and noticed that the low notes were more audible than the higher notes. This gave him the idea of producing a device which produced low frequency sounds.
Captain Taylor demonstrated the fog horn in Britain. In his time, a fog horn was known as a telephone. The word telephone meaning “far signalling”. The Times reported on the event a week later: "Yesterday week was a levee day at the Admiralty, and amongst the numerous models was Captain J. N. Tayler's telephone instrument... The chief object of this powerful wind instrument is to convey signals during foggy weather.”
Other people who developed fog horns included John Tyndall and Lord Rayleigh. One of Raleigh’s models was installed in Trevose Head Lighthouse, Cornwall in 1913. A reporter of the time described the sound it made thus: "a screech like an army of panthers, weird and prolonged, gradually lowering in note until after half a minute it becomes the roar of a thousand mad bulls, with intermediate voices suggestive of the wail of a lost soul, the moan of a bottomless pit and the groan of a disabled elevator."
Foghorns are used by lighthouses and also by ships at sea, which are required to use them by law. Foghorns on a 200-meter (656 feet) ship must be loud enough to be heard two nautical miles away.
A ship’s foghorn will, to the trained ear, impart more information than simply, “I’m here, hidden by the fog, get out of my way.” The number and frequency of the blasts will tell other sailors whether the ship is underway, if it has restricted manoeuvrability, is being towed, or has run aground.
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), provides guidelines on the use of sound signals in different situations.
There are two fog horns on the Golden Gate Bridge. One is in the middle and the other at the south tower on the San Francisco side. Each horn omits a different tone at different times. The horns sound for two and a half hours a day on average.
Want to know more about foghorns? British writer Jennifer Lucy Allan is your friend. She was awarded a PhD by the University of the Arts London in 2019 for her thesis on the social and cultural history of the foghorn. Her book on the subject is called: The Foghorn's Lament: the Disappearing Music of the Coast.
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