 Radio Caroline began broadcasting off the Essex coast at noon on Easter Saturday, 28th March 1964, from the m.v. Caroline (formerly the m.v. Fredericia, renamed after John F. Kennedy’s daughter).
 On May 9th, Radio Atlanta began broadcasting from the m.v. Mi Amigo and from 2nd July, the two stations merged. The m.v. Caroline sailed north to a position off the Isle of Man and became Radio Caroline North and m.v. Mi Amigo became Caroline South.
The blatant success of Caroline made imitation inevitable. In December 1964 the American backed and styled Radio London arrived on the vessel Galaxy. This was soon joined by two more American influenced stations Britain Radio and Swinging Radio England, broadcasting from one ship. Radio 270 started off the Norfolk coast while Radio Scotland from on board the old lightship Comet anchored off the Scottish East coast. In the Thames Estuary were various marine structures which had been wartime sea forts. Abandoned by the military they made excellent and stable transmitting platforms and were quickly boarded and claimed by further radio entrepreneurs. Soon Radio 390 an easy listening station and the most powerful of all the sixties offshore broadcasters was on air, while from other structures Radio Essex and Radio King (later Radio City) started transmissions. From the day that Caroline appeared the UK government made threatening noises but no serious action was taken, now however with further stations rumoured to be in preparation, things were getting out of hand. It was proposed to silence the pirates using The Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, which would deprive the stations of staff, supplies and most importantly of revenue. There was speculation as to how many stations would or could continue, but it was generally thought that the smaller stations would fail and the major players, London and Caroline would survive. Through spring and summer of 1967 the offshore stations campaigned against the proposed new law and Politicians were deluged with mail from supporters. Clearly public opinion counted for little and the act was to become law by midnight on August 14th. Then came the shock announcement that Radio London who were expected to tough it out had decided to capitulate at 3.00pm on the afternoon of the 14th. O'Rahilly however was adamant that Caroline would continue, by moving its base to Holland and ceasing to rely on the UK. During August 14th, station after station made their emotional farewells and shut off their transmitters. Radio London made their own dignified departure which Caroline acknowledged with a minutes silence. Caroline continued to broadcast until March 3rd 1968 when tugs simultaneously approached both radio ships, cut the anchor chains and towed them to Holland to be impounded for debt. -------------------- In September 1972 the Mi Amigo and Radio Caroline returned and continued to broadcast - despite going off the air many times due to the ship breaking anchor and technical failures - until March 19th 1980. After breaking anchor again in heavy seas, the ships by now fragile hull was pounded against the seabed and the last words transmitted from the Mi Amigo were from DJ’s Tom Anderson and Steve Gordon: 'It's not a very good occasion really; we have to hurry this because the lifeboat is waiting. We're not leaving and disappearing, we're going into the lifeboat hoping that the pumps can take it, if so, we'll be back, if not, well we really don't like to say it. I'm sure we'll be back one way or another. For the moment from all of us, goodbye and God Bless.....'  With the bottom of the boat leaking badly, the pumps couldn’t keep up. The crew were rescued by the lifeboat "Helen Turnbull", the seawater reached the generators, the lights went out, the pumps failed, and Mi Amigo sank onto the seabed.The remains of the transmitting mast stood for several years before finally collapsing at the end of July 1986.
--------------------  Caroline re-launched again on August 19th, 1983, from the Ross Revenge - a former fishing trawler that was involved in the Icelandic Cod Wars of 1974. The first Ross Revenge antenna was a 300 feet tall mast which was the tallest mast ever erected on a ship. The Guinness Book of Records refused to ratify this record; since they decided that Caroline was an illegal operation. The 300' mast collapsed in a storm on November 24th, 1987, but the station was back on air within a few weeks after the crew managed to rig up a temporary transmitting aerial.
Caroline struggled on despite numerous problems, including - on August 19th, 1989 - an illegal armed raid by Dutch and UK officials which left the Ross Revenge a floating ruin. Then in the early hours of November 5th, 1990 D.J. Neil Gates closed down programmes for the night, but the next morning they did not re-start. This was the last broadcast ever made from the Ross Revenge in International waters. The silent Ross Revenge spent most of 1991 still anchored in the ocean. All sources of income had ceased. Then on the evening of November 19th 1991 in the middle of a fierce storm the anchor chain snapped. Disorientated by the severe weather the crew had no idea they were adrift until with a terrifying impact Ross Revenge grounded on the notorious Goodwin Sands, sixteen miles from her anchorage. After bravely staying on board their listing, flooded vessel for three hours the crew, concluding that she was about to capsize, agreed to be rescued by helicopter. The Goodwin’s are a ships graveyard and poor old Ross Revenge was left to her fate. On November 22nd, a final attempt to refloat the ship proved successful. The Ross Revenge slipped into deeper water and was towed to Dover harbour. This is thought to be only the second ship ever to be safely refloated off the Sands. The Ross Revenge is currently moored at Tilbury Ferry Terminal and is occasionally open to the public and used for special broadcasts. The regular programmes now come from a land based studio in Maidstone Kent. For the complete History of Radio Caroline visit:
The History section of the official Radio Caroline website | 
