"Eurosiege"
Was the name given by Laser
558 the so called all American station
to
the government action of 1985 instigated at the insistence of the licensed stations
Designed to starve offshore
radio out of operation Eurosiege primarily targeted Laser 558 who was seriously
impacting ILR audience figures in London, Kent & Essex
Ironic recognising that
a good number of the commercial stations staff & management had begun their
careers in pirate radio!
Continue viewing &
listen to Charlie
& Jonell
talking Eurosiege on the deck of the Laser ship MV Communicator note the RF
break through from the Dioptric informing Kent authorities of our presence!
See Jonell's picture below
& in the feature on Laser
558
It was no secret that
both ships anchored in the Knock deep enjoyed sustenance from English shores
Consequently, notices were
posted around the harbours & on public buildings along the Essex & North
Kent coasts warning boat owners to steer clear of supplying the pirates. This
is the old Whitstable Police station now residential
En'route to the Knock Deep
via Tongue LV1 was the last lightship there in 1985
LV 1 was built in 1946
& served at Tongue until 1956 later being stripped of her accommodation,
look-out shelter, deck equipment & her Bower anchors to become automated
as shown above
Withdrawn from service
LV1 was sold in 1993 & converted in Poole were she was renamed "Mary Mouse
2"
Painted green she's now
serves as a restaurant & marina facility at the entrance to the Haslar Marina
Gosport
One relief vessel
& the last manned at Tongue Sands the LV 13 can be seen on station in
Caroline 1983/84
For LV 18 the last manned
Trinity House lightship navigate from RNI
1999
Guarding entry to the Thames,
Tongue Tower off Margate was abandoned in 1947 by its caretaker crew after parts
fell away & mysterious noises were heard coming from the foundations. The
fort then took on an alarming 15-degree tilt. In 1966 scavengers from Radio
Essex on Knock John fictionally named Tongue the new pirate Radio Albatross
when confronted by the Margate lifeboat in 1966 as they burnt insulation to
salvage copper cable. Questions were asked in the House of Commons "Yet another
Pirate Radio"
Remarkably well preserved
& there being no other examples the 3.7 guns were removed by helicopter
by RAF Manston In June 1992 & one, along with Knock John's two guns were
taken to the Orkney Isles for permanent exhibition on Scapa Flow
Tongue's "A" gun though
can still be seen at New Tavern Fort Gravesend
The Tower was to finally
collapse & completely disappear into a hole on the right of the deformed
leg in a storm during a February night in 1996, with only a portion of the
remaining leg remaining visible today
To find out more about
the Thames Estuary Forts navigate from Fort
Fax
Prime target the MV Communicator,
originally the Yacht U Bootswerft she was built by Aberking & Rasmusseb
in Lemwarder in 1955. She was 189' long, had a 30' beam & 10'6" draft. Was
490 tons gross, 219 tons net with a dead weight of 578 tons After work as a
charter ship for general cargo, she was converted in 1976 & became the survey
vessel Gardline Seeker. Finally she was converted into a radio ship in Florida
& renamed the Communicator, throughout her service maintaining a reliable
600 BHP engine
The Department of Trade
& Industry chartered vessel the Dioptric Surveyor awaits instructions in
Ramsgate Harbour Kent. She was to be placed on station in the Knock Deep to
monitor & record the coming's & goings from the radio ships
Once at work Laser 558
antagonised the authorities further by taunting the DTI ship on air. Entertaining
listening but not useful for self-preservation
With Susan Charles on Caroline
& Laser's Jonell with Ross Revenge in the background
Built as a side trawler
in 1960 by A G Weser at Werk Seebeck in Bremerhaven. She's 221'8" long, 34'
in beam, with a draft of 16'9" that increased to 18' after being ice strengthened
in 1963 when she became the Freyr. She's 978 tons gross, 428 tons net &
is fitted with a 2050 BHP engine
Following service in
the Cod Wars she was used as a motor salvage ship in 1979 before conversion
in Spain to a radio ship in 1982. She was to be called the Imagine after the
John Lennon song but instead reverted to the name Ross Revenge
Last home of Radio Caroline
she never acknowledge the presence of the DTI survey vessel until the Communicator
up anchored & sailed into port under her own power
Audio: Eurosiege
views from Susan Charles on deck & a Monique man swimming alongside
the ship here or from the Ross revenge picture above
The Dioptric Surveyor
unaware of our presence displaying her anchor ball
Dutch & the more cautious
masked English DJ's on the Ross Revenge port side beneath the original 300 foot
radio mast
The Dioptric Surveyor steams
into sight & despite repeated radio requests the only traffic we received
was "keep clear or we'll damage you"
Andy Johnstone just being
Cosmic
The Dioptric film &
record the goings on around the ships
Peter Chicago makes their
picture, strips & dives in to make clean breast of things
Meanwhile, Charlie Wolf
& Craig Novac consider their future in Laser's production studio
The MV Communicator shortly
before throwing in the towel & sailing under her own steam into Harwich.
Co-incidentally escorted by her sister ship the Gardline Tracker also on charter
to the DTI
The Dioptric Surveyor deed
done moored on the Stour about half mile downstream from the Communicator
The MV Communicator lying
off Ness Farm Erwarton Village upstream from Parkstone Quay Harwich Essex
Eurosiege 1985 did put
Laser out of business, that is until she sailed out under the noses of the authorities
as Laser Hot Hits - But that's another story for another time
Left in peace again a silhouette
of Ross Revenge was to move to South Falls Head & continue until 1990 before
finding herself on the Goodwin Sands. Salvaged, the Sea Act has since ensured
the ship remains within the confines of British waters
The debate, arguments,
& wranglings continue about both the future of the ship & radio station
as overall fairly poor quality programmes are broadcast from land
Short of the odd glitch,
for example when The Firms "Star Trecking" made the playlist!
Caroline will never again be what she was in the formidable years 1964 -
1987
Thanks for the link....as always, fascinating stuff. Interesting
to see the "other side" of Eurosiege...I was living in Harwich back
then, and listening to way too much of Laser / Caroline's output. I guess
from the luxury of a house on terra firma, what the guys out there didn't
seem quite as bad! Maybe you can blame that on Charlie Wold founding totally
unaffected. Ahhhh, happy days. Hope you're enjoying Malta! Shaun
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