Mission to retrieve Titanic's radio from ocean is postponed Known as a Marconi wireless telegraph machine, the radio sent distress calls to nearby ships that helped save 700 people in lifeboats The Titanic leaving Southampton on her maiden voyage in April 1912 Credit: Titanic Artifacts /AP A mission to retrieve the Titanic's radio from the bottom of the ocean has been put on hold, as funds dry up due to a lack of visitors to the museum. Detailed plans to use underwater robots to “surgically remove” a roof from the historic shipwreck and retrieve the communications equipment were exclusively revealed by The Telegraph.