An introduction to the subject of pirate radio

Pirate radio

Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...

 can be found under that heading.

Belgium (from international waters)

• 1962

Radio Antwerpen broadcast from the concrete vessel Uilenspiegel.

• 1964

Radio Nordzee broadcast from the artificial island R E M.

• 1973

Radio Atlantis broadcast in Dutch from the Merchant vessel

Merchant vessel

A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...

 Mi Amigo. When its contract was taken over by Radio Mi Amigo, Radio Atlantis transferred to the MV Janeine in 1974 and added an English service, but its signal was poor and it closed on August 31, the day before the passage of the Dutch MOA, one hour after Radio Veronica and one hour before RNI.

• 1974

Radio Mi Amigo broadcast from the MV Mi Amigo (Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

's ship) 1974 - 1978, and from the MV Magdalena (1979).

• 1978

Radio Delmare broadcast from aboard the MV Aegir.

Denmark

• 1958

Radio Mercur

Radio Mercur

Radio Mercur was a Danish offshore broadcasting commercial radio station. Started regular transmission on August 2nd 1958 and ceased officially on July 31st 1962, though there still were 3 days of illegal transmissions from August 13-15 1962...

begins transmissions from the MV Cheeta on August 2nd.

• 1961

DCR (Danmarks Commercielle Radio) begins transmissions from the MV Lucky Star on September 15th. DCR later united with Radio Mercur.

• 1962

Radio Mercur ends transmissions due to a Danish law that prohibits assistance to illegal broadcasting directed to a Danish audience.

• 2006

Pirat radio 69 was located in the activist house "Ungdomshuset" in Copenhagen from December 14th 2006 to March 1st 2007.

Finland

In Finland, most pirate radio stations mostly operated in 1970s and early half of 1980s, because Yleisradio

Yleisradio

The Finnish Broadcasting Company , abbreviated to YLE , is Finland's national broadcasting company, founded in 1926. YLE is a public-broadcasting organization which shares many of its characteristics with its British counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modelled...

 was the only legitimate broadcaster. In 1985, licenses were granted for local FM radio stations, which were able to offer a much wider variety of music, thus lessening the need for pirate radio stations. Since the end of 1990s, FM piracy in Finland has all but died out.

Hungary (history of pirate radio)

1942-44 See Magyar Szabadság Rádió

1956 See Szabad Kossuth Rádió, Szabad Petőfi Rádió, Csokonai Rádió

1991 See Tilos Rádió

Tilos Rádió

Tilos Rádió is a community, non-profit, listener supported radio station in Budapest, Hungary.-Overview:Tilos Rádió was the first community radio station in Hungary, established as a pirate broadcaster in 1991. The station's programmers have always contributed on a voluntary basis...

, Fiksz Rádió, Civil Rádió, Zöm Rádió

References: http://www.magyarszemle.hu/szamok/2005/2/a_magyar_szabadsag_radio

Italy

In early 70's some pirate radio started to broadcast using FM.
They were illegal till a decision of supreme court in 1976 decided that every citizen has a right to broadcast on radio (and the government was supposed to be in charge about a new plan of frequency).

See Radio Alice

Radio Alice

Radio Alice was an Italian free radio broadcasting from Bologna at the end of the 1970s. It started transmitting on February 9, 1976 using an ex-military transmitter on a frequency of 100.6 MHz. The station was closed by the carabinieri on March 12, 1977. Radio Alice then re-opened again for two...

, linked to the Autonomist movement.

Netherlands

• 1960 - 1974

Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to...

transmitted in Dutch on AM mediumwave (192 meter, 1562 kHz; later 538 meter, 557 kHz) from the MV Borkum Riff and after 1965 from the MV Norderney in international waters off the coast of Scheveningen, and soon became the most popular radio station in the Netherlands. Broadcasts were targeted to the Netherlands only, transmitting power was deliberately kept moderate to avoid interference with international radio stations. Most broadcasts were recorded on shore in Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

. The station operated from April 1960 until August 1974, when the Dutch ratification of the Strassbourg treaty came into effect, after which Radio Veronica - then called VOO - became part of the regular Dutch broadcasting system, but was unable to retain its popularity. Radio Veronica is now an indpedent radio station

• 1964

Radio Noordzee and TV Noordzee transmitted in Dutch from REM Island

REM Island

REM Island was a platform built in the Republic of Ireland and towed off the Dutch coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting home of Radio and TV Noordzee. Both stations were dismantled by armed forces of the Netherlands. It was six miles off Noordwijk....

, an artificial construction resembling an early offshore oil platform. It was built in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 and towed into a position off the coast of the Netherlands where it was assembled on site. The two stations were short lived and were forcibly closed by an air and sea attack by the Dutch Armed Forces

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. However, the funds solicited from the project by the REM island project were later used to launch a legitimate and fully licensed station in the Netherlands.

• 1970

Radio Noordzee Internationaal

Radio North Sea International

Radio North Sea International also known as Radio Nordsee International in German and Radio Noordzee Internationaal in Dutch, was a European offshore radio station, run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer, Edwin Bollier, and his business partner, Erwin Meister...

(RNI

RNI

RNI may refer to:*Corn Island Airport on Corn Island, Nicaragua*A now discontinued alternative of Java Native Interface , one offered by Microsoft...

) broadcasting on AM, FM and international shortwave from the MV Mebo II which was originally anchored off the Netherlands. The ship moved for a time off the coast of south-eastern England where it was jammed

Radio jamming

Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...

 by a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 transmitter. The vessel then returned to the Netherlands. The owners of this station were quite controversial having been involved with the civil war in Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

: (Biafra

Biafra

Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...

) and a complicated involvement with the sale of electronic equipment that featured in the trial of the men responsible for blowing up a PanAm

Panam

Panam may refer to:* Pan Am , a television series centered around Pan American World Airways during the 1960s* Pan American World Airways, the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927–1991...

 jetliner over Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The end came for the MV Mebo II when the owners sold their offshore station to Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

 as a revolutionary radio station. In the end Libya blew the vessel up and sank it for target practice.

• 1970

Capital Radio aboard the MV King David.

• 1973

Radio Atlantis aboard the MV Janine.

• 1978

Radio Delmare

Radio Delmare

decided to restore a Dutch radioship on the high seas, about 3 years after Veronica and RNI went off the air. A lot of work went into getting money on the table for this project and with a very low budget, in May 1977 they bought MV "Aegir." They worked to make it sea worthy and broadcast ready...

aboard the MV Martina". This vessel also took a generator to "Radio Caroline" then using the MV "Mi Amigo".

• 1981

Radio Paradijs made test broadcasts only from the MV Magda Maria (Lieve) which was anchored off the Netherlands before the station was forcibly closed.

• 1980–present

Nowadays, there are a lot of Dutch pirate radio stations, mostly located in rural areas. It has been claimed that currently (2011) approx 50% of all European Pirate Stations are located in the East-Netherlands. Especially the provinces of Twente, Friesland and Drenthe have a lot of pirate stations. Most of the pirate radio stations air the so called "pirate music", traditional Dutch folk music combined with classic English, German and Polka.

Poland

In the 1980s, there were hundreds of short broadcasts of pre-recorded programs prepared and aired by a clandestine network of activists who called themselves Solidarity Radio (Radio Solidarność). Those programs, sometimes preceded by a leaflet campaign announcing an up-coming broadcast, were part of the broad-based Solidarity (Solidarność) pro-democracy movement, which eventually succeeded in overcoming communism in Poland. Many Solidarity Radio organizers served time in prison for their activities.

Sweden

• Early 1950s to May 31, 1952; Black Peter was run by the brothers John and Gunnar Figaro from their home in Lomsjö, a small village in southern Lappland. The transmission was suspected to transmit information from espionage resulting in a major hunt. http://www.audiolabstockholm.com/blackpeter.pdf

• 1958

Radio Mercur; Skånes Radio Mercur, Radio Syd (at various times) from the MV Cheeta and later the MV Cheeta 2 which was also used at various times by TV Syd and for a time Radio Caroline South while the ship was anchored off South-east England. See: Radio Syd webpages Radio Syd was shut down in January 1966 and the owner, Britt Wadner, moved to Gambia where she started a land based Radio Syd in May 1970 using the antenna from Cheeta II.http://home.swipnet.se/offshoreradio/radiosyd/

• 1961

Radio Nord

Radio Nord

Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio station, its actual operation took place within the laws...

broadcasting in Swedish from the MV Bon Jour (later renamed Magda Maria and Mi Amigo). This station was the behind-the-scenes creation of American Top 40 broadcasting pioneer Gordon McLendon

Gordon McLendon

Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He has been coined the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, with great commercial success, the Top 40 radio format during the 1950s and 1960s which was first invented by Todd Storz and for developing...

 and Clint Murchison, owner of the Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team, both from Dallas, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. See: Pictures of the ship, transmitter & personnel and "The true Pirate Story"

As the MV Mi Amigo, this radio ship would later be used to transmit under the names of: Radio 199; Radio Veronica; Radio Atlantis; Radio Seagull, Radio Mi Amigo and Radio Caroline.

From international waters

• 1928

Ceto - The Ceto was a steam yacht reportedly renamed "Broadcasting Yacht" and fitted out for radio broadcasting purposes in 1928. Starting from off the coast of Dundee, Scotland, 'Daily Mail Radio/Radio Daily Mail' (reports vary) broadcast easy listening music to various points around the British coast as it cruised around the nation's coastline. The sole sponsors of this voyage were Britain's Daily Mail, Evening News, and Sunday Dispatch newspapers, and the intent was not so much to set up an offshore station but rather to publicise the papers. The brain behind this publicity stunt was Valentine Smith, the Daily Mail's publicity officer.

• 1960

CNBC - (Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company

Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company

The Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company was an English language pirate radio station which hired airtime for a few hours each day from the Dutch pirate Radio Veronica in 1960–1961. Programmes were pre-recorded at Veronica's Amsterdam studio together with the Dutch programmes, and broadcast...

) made test broadcasts in English from the MV Borkum Riff anchored off the Netherlands and also the home of the Dutch station Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to...

. The target audience was in south-eastern England, but due to the low power and distance the programs were not successful and they were terminated after a short period of time. However, the experiment gave rise to two other ventures which were planned for vessels anchored off the coast of south-eastern England.

The first was GBLN which was also known as the Voice of Slough and the primary geographical target area of the transmissions. This vessel was to be based aboard the MV Ellen. What made this station notable was the fact that U.S. evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

 Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong

Herbert W. Armstrong founded the Worldwide Church of God in the late 1930s, as well as Ambassador College in 1946, and was an early pioneer of radio and tele-evangelism, originally taking to the airwaves in the 1930s from Eugene, Oregon...

, who financed by his daily paid broadcasts many of the successful offshore stations which followed, believed in the project to the extent that his broadcast called The World Tomorrow

The World Tomorrow

The World Tomorrow is a now-defunct radio and television half-hour program which had been sponsored by the Radio Church of God which ran from 1934 to 1994...

 was listed in the radio log of his worldwide magazine (The Plain Truth

The Plain Truth

The Plain Truth is a U.S.-based magazine founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, who also founded the Radio Church of God , Ambassador College, and The World Tomorrow radio and television programs. Herbert W...

), as being heard at 8 p.m. daily at 306 metres in the medium wave: (AM

Amplitude modulation

Amplitude modulation is a technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting information via a radio carrier wave. AM works by varying the strength of the transmitted signal in relation to the information being sent...

).

Almost at the same time a spin-off venture from GBLN was created by GBOK which intended to broadcast from a former lightship known as the Lady Dixon. Although the mainstream press reported on both stations at the time, neither venture came on the air.

• 1964

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

began broadcasting on March 28 from aboard the MV Caroline (formerly MV Fredericia) anchored off south-eastern England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, later moved to anchorage off Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

. The first voices from Radio Caroline included Simon Dee, Carl Conway, John Junkin and Chris Moore. Some of the first programmes were recorded on land and taken out to the ship to be played as live.

Radio Atlanta began broadcasting on May 12 from aboard the MV Mi Amigo from an anchorage close to Radio Caroline. The Mi Amigo had been previously used by Radio Nord

Radio Nord

Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio station, its actual operation took place within the laws...

to broadcast to Sweden. On July 2, 1964, Radio Caroline and Radio Atlanta agreed upon forming the Caroline Network while retaining independent owners of each station. As a result of this agreement Radio Caroline on board the MV Caroline sailed north, while the MV Mi Amigo remained at her original anchorage off south-eastern England using the callsign Radio Caroline South. Upon its arrival the now renamed Radio Caroline North broadcast to the north of England, the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and a large part of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Radio London

Wonderful Radio London

Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...

began broadcasting from a former US minesweeper renamed MV Galaxy anchored in British territorial waters off South-east England. Following a warning from Radio Caroline, the station moved to a new location almost alongside Radio Caroline. "Big L", as it was known, was the most successful UK commercial radio station from within months of its start right up to its closedown in 1967, although by this time Radio Caroline was regaining lost ground.

The station gained its 'Wonderful' appendage because it used a set of custom-recorded PAMS jingles

PAMS

PAMS , based in Dallas, Texas, was the most famous jingle production company in American broadcasting. It produced identification packages for radio stations around the world, as well as some commercial music.-History:The company was founded by William B. Meeks, Jr. PAMS (an acronym for Production,...

 made in Dallas, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and the 'bed' over which the station ID was to be broadcast was too long for just 'Radio London'. The jingles were already in use by, amongst others, Wonderful KBOX

KBOX

KBOX is a radio station broadcasting an Adult Hits format. Licensed to Lompoc, California, USA, it serves the Santa Maria-Lompoc area. The station is currently owned by Agm-Santa Maria, Lp and features programing provided from Westwood One.-External links:*...

, the solution was obvious. The Radio London format was later copied by the BBC to create Radio One and The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

 incorporated the jingles into their album The Who Sell Out

The Who Sell Out

-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...

. Big L, as the station was fondly called, followed a similar format to KLIF

KLIF

KLIF is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Dallas, Texas, USA. The station is owned by Cumulus Media. KLIF broadcasts a conservative-leaning news/talk radio format to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Call sign history:...

 in Dallas where the station had been financed by car dealers and oil men who were friends and business

Business

A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 associates of Don Pierson

Don Pierson

Donald Grey Pierson was a businessman and civic leader in Eastland, Texas. He founded the British pirate stations Wonderful Radio London, Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio during the 1960s...

 of Eastland

Eastland, Texas

Eastland is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,769 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Eastland County.During the 1920s, Eastland, like nearby Cisco, Ranger, and Desdemona, were petroleum boomtowns....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Radio Invicta broadcasting from Red Sands Fort

Maunsell Forts

The Maunsell Forts were small fortified towers built in the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom. They were named after their designer, Guy Maunsell. The forts were decommissioned in the late 1950s and later used for other activities...

, an abandoned WWII

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 British Army fortress on a sandbar in the Thames Estuary

Thames Estuary

The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...

. The station did not last and it returned to the air as KING Radio, which in turn gave way to Radio 390 after a considerable financial investment had been made in the company and broadcasting site.

Radio 390 was unique in that it had a good quality signal and transmitted a wide variety of programs from easy music to serials, children's programs, business programs, religious programs, plus news and weather bulletins.

Radio Sutch broadcasting from Shivering Sands in 1964, a sandbar which was the location of another massive complex of towers off South-east England, which had also been a WWII British Army Fort left unstaffed after the war. Radio Sutch was named after its founder, the British rock artist

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 Screaming Lord Sutch

Screaming Lord Sutch

David Edward Sutch , also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom...

 who took his style and a part of his name from the American artist Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Jalacy Hawkins , best known as Screamin' Jay Hawkins was an American musician, singer, and actor...

.

• 1965

Radio Essex broadcast from a World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 barge which had been originally fitted with a sea fort and then towed to and sunk upon Knock John sandbar. This station was created by Roy Bates, who later made claims that he had created the Principality of Sealand

Principality of Sealand

The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognized entity, located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km off the coast of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom ....

 on yet another disused Royal Navy sunken barge. Radio Essex discovered that its location was within British territorial waters and following a court summons the station attempted to reinvent itself in 1966 as BBMS - Britain's Better Music Station. This low-power station mainly covered parts of the counties of Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 and East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

.

Radio Scotland

Radio Scotland

Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave , created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was located on the former lightship M.V...

(also known as Radio Scotland and Ireland) at various locations along the coast of Scotland and Northern Ireland from the former lightship Comet. The station was the creation of Tommy Shields

Tommy Shields

Thomas Charles Shields is an American baseball player who played infielder in the Major Leagues from 1992-1993 for the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs.-References:...

.

• 1966

The Radio City Death: Reginald Calvert

Reginald Calvert

Reginald Calvert was the manager of The Fortunes pop group and singer Screaming Lord Sutch, and the owner of offshore pirate radio station Radio City....

, the manager of Screaming Lord Sutch

Screaming Lord Sutch

David Edward Sutch , also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom...

 and the owner of Radio City

Radio City (pirate radio station)

Radio City was a British pirate radio station that broadcast from Shivering Sands Army Fort, one of the abandoned Second World War Maunsell Sea Forts in the Thames Estuary.- Origins :...

, was shot dead at the home of Major Oliver Smedley

Oliver Smedley

Major Oliver Smedley MC was a British businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio. He was acquitted of the murder of a business rival on the grounds of self-defence.-Military:...

 in 1966 following falling out over a joint venture financing arrangement between Radio City and Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

. Calvert's former business associates had boarded his station, removed the transmitter crystals and put the station off the air.

Due in part to the sensational death of Reg Calvert and lurid tales depicting real swashbuckling piracy

Swashbuckler

Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...

, the British government were finally able to bring in legislation to make offshore broadcasting a part of British criminal law in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Radio City stopped broadcasting after Mrs Calvert appeared in court charged under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1947. The station was said to be broadcasting within the 3 mile (6 km) limit. Radio City closed down shortly after Mrs Calvert lost the case.

SRE - Swinging Radio England

Swinging Radio England

Swinging Radio England was a top 40 offshore commercial station billed as the "World's Most Powerful" that operated from 3 May 1966 to 13 November 1966 from a ship in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...

 aboard the MV Laissez Faire anchored off south-eastern England. This station was also created and financed by Don Pierson and his business associates in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

SRE followed a fast-paced "All-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

" top 40 radio format

Radio format

A radio format or programming format not to be confused with broadcast programming describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. Radio formats are frequently employed as a marketing tool, and constantly evolve...

 similar to KBOX in Dallas, Texas, but the American disc jockey

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

s had also grafted on a hybrid 'boss jocks

Boss Radio

Boss Radio was the name of two radio programming formats, both launched in the early 1960s: One in the United States, and one in the United Kingdom. Although the names were the same, the formats were quite different.-Boss Radio in the United States:...

' formula which had been employed by RKO stations in the USA, although the hybrid was far more forceful and pounding than the original. The PAMS jingles used by SRE were the resung versions of those first used by WABC

WABC (AM)

WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. SRE arrived around the time of the death of Reg Calvert, owner of Radio City and the political drive to bring in legislation to shut the offshore stations down. These and other unfortunate development brought about the rapid demise of SRE.

At first the Texas owners wanted to rename the station Radio Holland and broadcast in Dutch to the Netherlands. Their plans went ahead after the name Radio Dolfijn had been selected instead. However, it was not long before the station changed its name yet again to Radio 227 as a hybrid of a hybrid SRE in Dutch. This station closed in 1967 just prior to the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act

Marine Broadcasting Offences Act

The Marine, &c., Broadcasting Act 1967 c.41, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by the...

 becoming law.

Britain Radio which called itself the Hallmark of Quality, was a beautiful music

Beautiful music

Beautiful music is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in American radio from the 1960s through the 1980s...

 format station in 1966. Its jingles also came from PAMS in Dallas and it shared something in common with SRE. Both stations were located in studios built in a container which had been lowered into the hold of the MV Laissez Faire. This station was also created and originally financed by friends and associates of Don Pierson. However, Britain Radio did not last and it was replaced by Radio 355 managed by Ted Allbeury who had successfully created Radio 390.

Radio Tower and TV Tower attempted broadcasting in 1966 from another World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 barge which had also been fitted with a sea fort and then towed to and sunk upon Sunk Head sandbar. Only the radio station made test broadcasts and the TV station is alleged to have made a single, but unconfirmed test transmission.

Radio 270

Radio 270

Radio 270 was a pirate radio station serving Yorkshire and the North East of England from 1966 to 1967. It broadcast from a converted Dutch lugger called Oceaan 7 positioned in international waters off Scarborough, North Yorkshire.-Origins :...

aboard the MV Oceaan VII anchored off the Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 coast of Northeast England in 1966.

The fictional film The Boat That Rocked

The Boat That Rocked

The Boat That Rocked is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis, with pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s as its setting. The film has an ensemble cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh...

 is about UK Pirate Radio, set in 1966.

• 1967

Following the introduction of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act

Marine Broadcasting Offences Act

The Marine, &c., Broadcasting Act 1967 c.41, shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday, August 14, 1967 and was repealed by the...

 (Marine & Etc. Broadcasting Offences Act) on August 14, 1967 at midnight, the only two offshore radio stations left on the British airwaves were broadcasting from the two Caroline Network stations which had enjoyed a semi-legal status with offices located in London and Liverpool. After the passage of the MOA

Moa

The moa were eleven species of flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The two largest species, Dinornis robustus and Dinornis novaezelandiae, reached about in height with neck outstretched, and weighed about ....

 the two stations soon began announcing themselves individually as Radio Caroline International.

• 1970

The two ship stations of Radio Caroline International eventually ran out of money in early 1968 and a salvage company towed them away for unpaid bills. But when a new and very powerful offshore radio station aboard the MV Mebo II anchored off the coast of South-east England in time for the British General Election

General election

In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

, it suddenly switched its name from Radio Northsea International - (RNI), to - Radio Caroline and began to lobby for the introduction of licensed commercial radio in the United Kingdom. As a result of this development the British Government resorted to Jamming

Radio jamming

Radio jamming is the transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications by decreasing the signal to noise ratio. Unintentional jamming occurs when an operator transmits on a busy frequency without first checking whether it is in use, or without being able to hear stations using the frequency...

 the station with a succession of increasingly powerful transmitters on the same frequency. After the election Radio Caroline fell silent once more and the radio ship moved back to the Netherlands where it became Radio Northsea International once again. Radio Caroline returned in Autumn 1972 originally off Holland, but 'came home' when it dropped anchor again off England in August 1974, from the MV Mi Amigo.

• 1983

In 1980, the MV Mi Amigo sank in a storm. The MV Caroline had been previously scrapped. In 1983 Radio Caroline returned to the airwaves from a larger ship called the MV Ross Revenge

Ross Revenge

The MV Ross Revenge is a radio ship, formerly the home of Radio Caroline, as well as having supported Radio Monique and various religious broadcasters. She was constructed in Bremerhaven in 1960, and initially served as a commercial trawler, notably taking part in the cod wars of the 1970s...

, a super-trawler used by Ross Fisheries until the Cod Wars with Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

.

The radio ship anchored off South-east England and became home to: Radio Caroline in English with part time services known as Caroline Overdrive playing album music programs and Caroline Viewpoint airing sponsored religious programs. Also on board was a Dutch service on another AM frequency, which was managed under contract to Dutch organizations and known variously as: Radio Monique, Radio 558 and Radio 819.

On shortwave a third station operated a sponsored religious broadcasting station under the name of WMR - World Mission Radio with an over the air mailing address in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, USA. Because of its American address, this station triggered international complaints to the US FCC

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 during 1988 and 1989. The FCC was at that time engaged in legal casework over Radio Newyork International, whose founder had previously been aboard the MV Ross Revenge helping to set up an earlier shortwave radio channel. In defence of its case for Radio Newyork International lawyers had submitted briefs to the US District Court citing the examples of Radio Caroline and the Voice of Peace as offshore broadcasting stations that had been left alone unchallenged by governmental interference. On August 19, 1989, Dutch authorities with British assistance, raided the MV Ross Revenge and shut down all transmissions.

• 1984

Laser 558

Laser 558

Laser 558 was an offshore pirate radio station launched in May 1984 by a consortium of British and American business and broadcasting executives, some of whom have never been named. Laser 558 used disc jockeys recruited from the USA. The station was aboard the ship the MV Communicator in...

broadcast from the MV Communicator and within a matter of months it gained an audience of millions. Lack of advertising due to UK laws starved the station off the air. However, it did return briefly in 1986 as Laser Hot Hits but the station did not last for the same reasons as before. The legacy of the original Laser 558 was in its impact upon British broadcasting at the time, because it forced licensed stations to take note of the success of this short lived offshore station and to attempt to incorporate its ideas and some of its personnel into their own programming.

• 1990

On November 5, 1990, the last "pirate" broadcast was made from the MV Ross Revenge

Ross Revenge

The MV Ross Revenge is a radio ship, formerly the home of Radio Caroline, as well as having supported Radio Monique and various religious broadcasters. She was constructed in Bremerhaven in 1960, and initially served as a commercial trawler, notably taking part in the cod wars of the 1970s...

 and Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

 in international waters; bringing to a close the story of Offshore Radio for the United Kingdom. After remaining silent for over a year, the vessel ran aground on the Goodwin Sands

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...

 during a storm. Shortly after, the "Ross" was towed into port at Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

, England on November 22, 1991. Details of subsequent, legal, operations of Radio Caroline can be found under its own article

Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...

.

Many household names that now broadcast from the BBC started their careers with the offshore broadcasters: Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

, Emperor Rosko

Emperor Rosko

Mike Pasternak, better known by his stage name of Emperor Rosko is a well known pop radio presenter.Born Michael Joseph Pasternak, he is the son of Hollywood film producer Joe Pasternak. He was influenced in his career choice by KYA Radio Los Angeles DJs Lord Tim Hudson and Wolfman Jack...

, Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart is a radio broadcaster from England. His real name is Edward Mainwaring but he is known by the nickname Ed Stewpot Stewart.-Early life and career:...

, Johnnie Walker (DJ)

Johnnie Walker (DJ)

Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....

.