Before radio, ships exchanged visual signals with coastal stations to report their passage and receive instructions from owners ashore. Lloyd's stations connected that last stretch at sea to the electric telegraph, and an 1888 Act required the remaining stations to join the Post Office network. This helped insurers track vessels while giving shipowners more control over routes and schedules. Oil cargoes could leave their discharge port undecided because refinery capacity and prices might change during a voyage. Homeward-bound masters could therefore sail for Land's End orders and learn their final destination only after reaching the approaches to Britain. Stations at St Mary's and the Lizard relayed passage reports by telegraph for publication in Lloyd's List and Shipping Gazette.
Notable Point · 34:26-36:32
How Lloyd's shore stations routed ships before radio
Visual signals linked ships at sea to the telegraph network, letting owners monitor voyages and change a ship's destination near Britain.