Web Page No 2546

12th January 2019

Radio Caroline

1st Picture. The Ship

 2nd Picture. The Studio

3rd Picture. Sorting the fan mail

4th Picture. The Dining Room aboard

5^th Picture. Caroline being towed away to Holland.   

The Radio Caroline Story

Radio Caroline was launched by a musical entrepreneur by the name of Ronan O'Rahilly. His father was a well to do Irish Businessman. Ronan began his musical career managing the Rolling Stones in the early 60's. After which he began his own recording label - to promote his newest client -- Georgie Fame.

He quickly found that the BBC would not play his label, they only played those of 'established' stars. So, how does a new talent become established? He asked. Next went to Radio Luxembourg and was shocked to discover that almost all of Luxembourg's airtime was already leased by the bigger record labels and the smaller independent labels did not have a chance at any airtime.

He decided that if no station would play his records, he would start his own station! The idea of offshore radio was not entirely new as his own grandfather had been involved in propaganda radio broadcasts during the Easter Rising in 1916. Ronan took these ideas and modernized them into a new format for radio. He greatly admired President Kennedy and he named his new radio station after Kennedy's daughter.

He bought the MV Frederica in Rotterdam for cash and took her to the Irish port of Greenore (which was owned by his father) to be fitted out as a radio ship. Alongside her lay the MV Mi Amigo, also being fitted out as a rival project (Radio Atlanta), which would ultimately become Radio Caroline South.

The Frederica was a 760 ton ferry built in 1930 in Denmark. As a Baltic Ferry she was very tough and built to withstand the ice of a Scandanavian winter. This made her a relatively stable and comfortable ship from which to work. After the  purchase she was renamed MV Caroline and registered in Panama. A 165 foot mast was attached to her and the hold was filled with 30 tons of concrete ballast and two 10,000 watt transmitters were fitted.

One ex DJ remembers that in the record library was a cage that contained the RF Combiner that allowed both of the 10KW transmitters to be run together to produce 20,000 watts of power. The transmitter room was on deck level below the studio where the two transmitters stood side by side along with an audio compressor/limiter. The transmitters each contained a series of safety features which would cause them to shut down in the event of a problem. In very rough weather it was not uncommon for them to switch off but the engineer would have to be on hand to push the reset button.

After being fitted out she set sail on Easter Morning of 1964 and began broadcasting off the Essex Coast. Shortly afterwards it's rival the MV Mi Amigo arrived off the coast as well and Radio Atlanta arrived. The two ships finally merged and became Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South.

Soon Ronan O'Rahilly was sitting on top of the pop radio empire and Caroline North and Caroline South had a combined weekly audience in the region of 22 Million Listeners!

Those living and working aboard the ship fell into three groups: The presenters; the radio engineers, and the ship's crew. Normal routine for the DJ's was to work for two weeks and then to have a week's shore leave. The shore leave was often hectic as the DJ's did stints in dance clubs and halls. The studio on the ship was built right in the middle, and way up on the top deck, so when there was a storm it wouldn't be at all unusual for the records fall all over the place or for the stylus to lift off the record as the ship suddenly lurched to an angle.

The MV Caroline had a mainly Dutch crew who prepared a motley selection of Indonesian dishes, something which did little to sooth those suffering from Sea Sickness! The DJs had excellent living quarters with a wash basin and electric heater in each cabin. Portholes with curtains and a wide staircase similar to that of a hotel leading to the main lounge and dining room.

In 1967 London the Labour government was opposed to pirate radio stations and stated that they were in contravention of international agreements, interfered with foreign radio transmissions by using their frequencies, and presented a hazard to shipping. However, there was a strong suspicion that this attitude was derived from snobbery because pirates played pop music. Television was still in its infancy and was not taken particularly seriously by many politicians. Radio, however, had been a very powerful instrument during the war and was still widely regarded as such.

Postmaster General Tony Benn announced the government's intention to introduce legislation to close down Radio Caroline and the Marine Offences Bill became law in 1967. After the passing of the Act in Parliament most of the British born DJ's left Radio Caroline. The Risk of prosecution was too great for them to continue. This act however, did not apply to the non-British radio personalities, most of whom carried on into 1968. They were joined by new hands, who were willing to risk the wrath of the law.

Radio Caroline’s land headquarters relocated to Amsterdam and fan mail took about six weeks to arrive. Listener's detected a lowering of morale among the DJs. Political and legal pressure was mounting  and DJ Mark Sloane was on shore leave in a pub in Bristol in 1968 when he was approached by a man in a dark suit who told him not to rejoin the ship ever again. He believed he had been warned off by MI5.

But the end of Caroline was because of unpaid bills and NOT Government legislation. It happened on a Saturday evening. The station went off the air at ten o'clock and about two o'clock the Sunday morning there was a thump and men from a tug had come across and had taken over the ship. They had pirated it. They said they had their orders to cut the anchor chain and late Sunday afternoon the ship was towed away.

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On this day 12^th January 1960-1965.

On 10/01/1960 the number one single was Why - Anthony Newley and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was not listed and the box office smash was North by Northwest. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Aswan Dam foundation stone laid.

On 12/01/1961 the number one single was I Love You - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Emergency Ward 10 (ATV) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV).

On 12/01/1962 the number one single was Moon River - Danny Williams and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the week was Avalanche buries 16 villages in Peru.

On 12/01/1963 the number one single was The Next Time/Bachelor Boy - Cliff Richard & the Shadows and the number one album was Black & White Minstrel Show - George Mitchell Minstrels. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 12/01/1964 the number one single was I Want to Hold Your hand - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Steptoe & Son (BBC) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was Anti-US demonstrations over Panama Canal.

On 12/01/1965 the number one single was I Feel Fine - The Beatles and the number one album was Beatles For Sale - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.