This is very interesting. I became aware of, and started listening to, Radios London and Caroline South (and occasionally 390) at Christmas 1966 when I received a transistor radio. I always felt that Big L’s audio had more of a ‘sheen’ or ‘sparkle’ to it than Caroline. I felt the same about 390.
I also had a 1930s Bush mains radio with a few feet of wire indoors as an aerial. On this, London was stronger than Caroline. I lived in Twickenham, Middlesex, at the time.
The slightly ‘flatter’ sound of Caroline might have been due to a number of factors including Continental Electronics vs RCA Ampliphase TXs, the audio chain including processing, or the weaker signal.
I wonder if Ian can throw any light on this as it seems to be an anomaly given his comment above. Perhaps Caroline was stronger than London in different parts of the country. I’m talking about daytime, ground wave reception. 
Previous Message
Fascinating stuff!
I think the debt owed was in pounds because the Bureau Wijsmuller website says it was '30,000 ponds'.
Also the February 1967 contract drafted (but not signed) for servicing by Offshore 3 has amounts in pounds sterling.
The parties to that contract were 'Offshore, Tender en Suppletie Mij NV' of Baarn and Planet Productions Ltd at their London address.
The Dutch press said the ship owners were Kernan Corporation (Mi Amigo) and Tesman Investments Inc (Caroline) both of Panama. Previous Message
My memories of March 3 1968 are that I was 16, listening regularly to Caroline particularly in the morning and to Johnnie Walker's show where he played all the plug records early in the programme and then played more of his own choice. Used to listen until the end of Warm and Tender Love at around 1115pm.
Was going out with my friends often, so less radio listening than a year earlier, and buying/listening to albums more than singles so plug records such as Sentimental Song by Freddie Parrot Face Davis didn't appeal though did like the ska plug records. Listened to John Peel on Radio One which only had decent reception during daylight hours 3 miles inland from Whitby unlike Caroline.
Got the train to school which went past the Oceaan 7 anchored on the opposite side of the River Esk from the trainline with Caroline on the radio. Two or three weeks before Roger Day had read out a request for the Sixth Form at Whitby Grammar School I'd sent in. Got home that evening, still no Caroline, nor the next day then either read or found out about the press reports on the towing in and why.
There's several webpages about the towing in on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame. This one has memories from George Hare along with the leger for the weekly payments to staff/suppliers he made. Confirms the money was from Phil Solomon.
https://www.offshoreradio.co.uk/towed1c.htm
It's followed by press cuttings and information on the attempted relaunch of the station including invoices/receipt for work being done on the Oceaan 7 as well as David Hughes's report in Disc and Music Echo that Caroline would soon be back on air, one of those released before the Oceaan 7 had left Whitby thus causing the sale to be called off.
Last page had a quote in the Sunday Times that Ronan was also trying to buy the Galaxy but the price he was quoted was too high. IIRC I've read another report saying Don Pierson had had another offer for the Galaxy around the same time.
As I've posted online before my Dad, then manager of the National Provincial Bank in Whitby, was friends with Tony Rylands, local solicitor and 270 Director, who lived in the same large village as we did. 270's directors had set up Ellambar Investments, with many local shareholders, to finance the station. That money was then loaned to two Panamanian Companies, one of them owned the ship, the other the broadcasting equipment. All that done through my Dad's bank.
Must have been I think either 3 or 4 weeks after the ships were towed in my Dad knocked on my door one Sunday to say that if I could get myself up washed and dressed Tony was going to come and take us to the Oceaan 7 as there was someone on there I would like to meet. Told us when we were driving over it was Ronan O'Rahilly. We went into the main room with the DJ's bunks on one side, large table in the middle and studios nearby and Tony went into another room. He came out an hour or so later with Ronan,Jimmy Houlihan and Wilf Proudfoot. Shook hands with them both, I remember Jimmy had a much stronger handshake, said a few words to Ronan and they both left.
Wilf Proudfoot then turned to me and said "Now lad" and went on to say my father had been very helpful to them but I was not to say a word to anybody about where I had been and who I had seen that day.
I noticed the next day when coming home from school that there were several people on deck, same the next few days. Learnt a couple of years later that as well as Andy Archer and others that have been mentioned subsequently Robin Adcroft was onboard as well, that was when he wrote to me after I'd sent a reception report to shortwave pirate Channel Radio he was involved with in 1970.
Two questions that I still have. There must have been some sort of sales agreement made that would not have breached the Marine Offences Act, clearly not a direct sale to a company Radio Caroline was involved with. Perhaps one could then have made an agreement to let her broadcast from the ship once she was out of UK territorial waters?
The only reports I've read say that Geoffrey Pearl of the Free Radio Association was going to supply the financing. Again that money wouldn't have come directly from him, who was it from?
The Evening Standard also had a report on the proposed return of Caroline on Easter weekend.
10 Apr 1968, Wed Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com
Previous Message
Sorry Freddie, I should have been clearer.
When I wrote "The Mi Amigo was dry-docked again in March 1968, for reasons that have never been made clear, or at whose expense" (sorry about typo before) I didn't mean the physical reason, but the reasoning behind further costs in dry-docking, adding to already unpaid debts.
Who ordered this work.. Wijsmuller, the US owners? I always wondered. And for what reason? A potential sale?
Always wondered why Bollier and Meister didn't show interest when the Galaxy deal fell through. There was a far better main transmitter and antenna system on the Mi Amigo than on the Galaxy, and on the Mebo II come to that. Previous Message
Ian, I expect the owning companies of the ships were dissolved, as soon as these problems appeared. Tends to be the usual behaviour - builders of dodgy homes often do it, then set up again with a new company.
No doubt Ronan was hoping to blag some money out of new backers in 1968 - of course this did not happen, he had to wait until after the Auction of the ships, to re-gain ownership of the Mi Amigo.
But yes, it would be interesting to know why the Mi amigo was dry-docked in 1968 - perhaps to do with the area of the ship that was lengthened around the engine room area - interestingly, it was this area that sprung lots of leaks in the late 1970s - perhaps inferior steel was used? Or the welding was sub-standard?
Peter Moore, any ideas about all this? Previous Message
I notice Ronan says "the ships have been at sea continuously for three years". Well I suppose that is a numeric average.
In fact the Mi Amigo has been at sea for two years after dry-docking in 1966 and the Fredericia (Caroline) for at least four years, with its last dry-docking unknown but no later than 1963.
The Mi Amigo was dry-docked again in March 1968, for reasons that have never been made clear, or at whose expence.
It is assumed at this point the Americans were still owners and that they would have been liable for harbour dues via Wijsmuller.
It is not known if/when this ended, with the sale in 1972 probably that of an abandoned vessel.
Unless anyone knows better. Previous Message
Just found out one of my newspaper archive accounts allows me to clip and share clippings publicly.
Radio Caroline ships towed into Amsterdam 04 Mar 1968, Mon Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com Previous Message
Well, my memories of March 3rd 1968 are zero, but I would like to contribute with memories of a few years later.
I had been listening to the offshore stations for around a year and a half when on August 31st 1974 RNI, Atlantis and Veronica left the air. The latter I heard only the one time but Atlantis and RNI were regulars for me. My home on the west coast of Scotland was something of a radio wilderness with no landbased pirates that I could easily hear on medium wave and a parochial sounding ILR station.
As a 12 year old my musical tastes were developing rapidly and thats where post MoA Caroline came in. I had never been a big Caroline fan during the Mike Hagler era. As mentioned elsewhere I probably didn't "get it" due to my young age. However after the Mi Amigo returned to England the programmes seemed to become more commercial with the likes of Tony Allan and Dave Owen. I remember loads of Barclay James Harvest, Stevie Wonder and of course, George Harrison.
I don't remember being that upset when RNI went, I think due to the fact that all the talk pre closedown was that "we will be back". I assumed that I would be able to listen to the new RNI from Italy at least on short wave.
I also remember being excited about the news that Atlantis was due to return just before Christmas.
Of course neither station returned as had been predicted so Caroline and Mi Amigo were my listening choices thereafter.
Message Thread | This response ↓ 
March 3rd 1968 - Freddie Archer 2/3/2023, 12:25:11
« Back to index
on 8/3/2023, 6:45:19, in reply to "