Harold Thomas Cottam (27 January 1891 – 30 May 1984) was a British wireless operator on the RMS Carpathia who fortuitously happened to receive the distress call from the sinking RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912. Cottam's decision to awaken Captain Arthur Henry Rostron and relay Titanic's message in spite of the scepticism of the officer on watch allowed Carpathia to arrive at the scene hours before any other ship and is "credited with saving hundreds of lives." He was a personal friend of the Titanic's junior wireless operator and survivor Harold Bride.