During the 35 years of broadcasting Radio Caroline has used 5 ships. The Frederica, The Mi Amigo, The Cheeta 2 , The Mebo 2 and the Ross Revenge.
The first ship the Frederica started broadcasting on 28th
March 1964 using a frequency of 1520khz 197 meters.
She was fitted out as a radio ship in
Greenore. The ship was a ex Danish
Passenger Ferry. She was moved to an anchorage off the Isle Of Man on 13th July
1964 to be the Radio Caroline North . She broadcast from this location until
2nd March 1968 when she was boarded and towed to Holland .Unfortunately
on 29th May 1972 she was put up for auction and sold to be scraped.
The Mi Amigo is probably the ship most of us think of as Radio
Caroline. It followed the Frederica to the Essex coast and began broadcasting as
Radio Atlanta after a series of tests on 12th May 1964 using a frequency of
1493khz (201 meters) .(The Mi Amigo had been used previously as an offshore ship
in 1960 called Radio
Nord.
named Bon Jour at the Time). The Mi Amigo
changed her call sign to Radio Caroline South when the Frederica went North
on13th July 1964. She continued to broadcast off the Essex Coast until she was
also towed to Holland on 2nd March 1968.She had better luck than the Frederica
and was sold to a group of Radio Caroline supporters on 29th May 1972 who
managed to get the ship back to sea on 3rd September 1972 off the Dutch Coast.
Test broadcasts commenced on 1187 kHz during the evening of 29th
September 1972. Although back on the air the ship was in a bad condition and
broadcasts were spasmodic. Work continued and she managed to get back to her
position as a regular broadcaster, along side Radio's North Sea International,
Veronica and Atlantis off the Dutch Coast. However the Dutch passed their
version of the Marine Offences Act and on 29th August 1974 the Mi Amigo
raised anchor and sailed to the Knock Deep Channel off the Essex coast. Caroline
had become an outlaw again and was to face one of the most eventful periods of
her history. Unfortunately all was to end for the Mi Amigo, on 20th
March 1989 when she sadly sunk.
The Cheeta 2
was used by Caroline South from 12th February 1966 to 1st May 1966, as a stand
in to the Mi Amigo which had broken its anchor chain and gone aground on 20th
January 1966.The Mi Amigo was taken to Holland for repair and the Cheeta 2 was
used as a stand in. The Cheeta 2 normally broadcasted off the Danish coast as
Radio Syd, but Pack Ice in that region had forced the Cheeta to stop
broadcasting and move anchorage.
The Mebo 2 was the ship used by Radio Northsea International from 1970 to 1974. However whilst off the Essex coast the British Government jammed her broadcasts. On 13th June 1970 she changed her name to Radio Caroline International and took part in election broadcasts, stating that if a Conservative Government was elected the jamming would stop. A Conservative Government was elected the jamming did not stop. The station changed its name back to Radio North Sea International after the election on18th June, and went back to the Dutch Coast on 23rd June 1979
The Ross
Revenge was previously owned by Ross Fisheries
and took part in the cod war in the 1970`s. She was purchased by the Caroline
Organization and took to Santander, Spain for conversion to a Radio Ship. She
then anchored in the Knock Deep and commenced broadcasts on 20th August 1983.
She was equipped with I no RCA Victor 50 KW transmitter and 2 short wave
transmitters, one of which was later converted to a 10KW medium wave
transmitter. She was also home to Radio Monique, and World Mission Radio during
her time in service. The ship went through a number of upsets including Euro siege
when the DTI tried to get move Caroline and the Laser Ship off the air. On
6th November 1985 Laser sailed into Harwich leaving the Ross Revenge alone to
fight the elements. On 10th June 1987 she moved her anchorage to the South
Falls Head in preparation of the extension of British Territorial Waters being
extended to 12 miles from the then present 3 miles. On 25th November 1987 the
300 foot tower came crashing down and a temporary wire antenna was used using a
washing basket as an insulator. The towers were almost complete and Caroline was
thinking of switching back to full power when on 18th August 1989 officials from
the Dutch and British Governments boarded the ship. They stole everything that
was moveable and smashed the transmitters up like some teenage lout .Radio
Caroline managed to return to the air on low power on 1st October 1989. However
this was short lived and she made her last broadcast in November 1990. She lay
silent at the Falls Head until November 1991 when she went broke anchor and went
aground on the Goodwin Sands. The skeleton staff were rescued by the Helicopters
from RAF Manston. The Tugs managed to salvage the ship at the last attempt and
she was towed into the Granville Dock in Dover. The then Ross Revenge Supporters
Group managed to raise enough money to pay the salvage costs and the after quite
a few legalities managed to move her to Bradwell. Since then she has been off
the coast of Clacton for a Restricted Service License, Southend for a term by
the Pier, and then to London for an RSL. She is currently at Queensborough in
the Isle Of Sheppy, but should move to Chatham and then Southend in May 1999.