I clearly remember getting home that night around 1145 and switching the radio on as I went to bed. I heard Steve and Tom do the announcement and thought oh! However Caroline being Caroline and remembering events from a year before, I was expecting it to be back in the morning. Of course it wasn’t.
I was travelling to Edinburgh with work the following day and didnt think much about it. That evening I phoned my mate Ken and said I heard a strange announcement on Caroline last night. That’s when I found out! “It’s f**kin sunk” or words to that effect put me in the picture. I then had to have a few pints to let it sink in!
Yes, the sad anniversary of the sinking of the ship that served Radio Caroline from it's start in 1964 - the Mi Amigo, has come around again.
I just remember the weather being very bleak & cold that year. Here is the final hour - restored by Ray Robinson & AZanorak:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/NVFFYrD2
And the unrestored, last 20 mins or so:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/Yh4uVJYg
Our deepest thanks should go to the Sheerness lifeboat crew, who in dreadful weather that night, saved the lives of: Stevie Gorden, Tom Anderson, Nick Richards, Hans Verlaan. (& Wilson the Canary )
The lifeboat did not return to Shore immediately, but stood by - Caroline's crew had left pumps running & there was a hope that they might stop the ship sinking, but very soon - the lights went out - they knew water had stopped the Generator working, they then headed for land.
The Mi Amigo's 160-foot (49 m) mast remained defiantly erect for a further six years.
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