which was based on board the former cod ship MV Ross Revenge
did not have a legal registry when she was raided
Paul John Lilburne-Byford in the studio of “Radio Caroline” on board the MV Ross Revenge. The picture to the right indicates that “Radio Caroline” should have been called “Radio John”, if the legend of the origin of the station’s name is to be believed.
This new web site began construction on Saturday, April 24, 2004, for the sole purpose of reporting the correspondence and communications concerning the historical registry of the MV Ross Revenge at the time of the raid on her onboard offshore station "Radio Caroline". Unfortunately the fans of “Radio Caroline” do not seem to be interested in the ugly political and financial underpinning of this offshore station, they are more interested in preserving the myth that “Radio Caroline” represented freedom through free radio. But that dream died long ago.
The mythology of “Radio Caroline” began when she was originally named. According to legend, the name Caroline resulted from the chance reading of a magazine during the Transatlantic plane flight by Ronan O’Rahilly while he was on his way to buy transmitters for the station. He reported upon reading and seeing what is now a famous photo essay of President Kennedy at work in the Oval Office of the White House, while he claimed, the president's daughter Caroline played under and around that desk. But upon examining that photo essay we find that it was not Caroline but John who was crawling under the desk. Because “John” was a slang name for toilet in the USA, and because a ship was usually referred to as being a female, the new shipboard radio station was named Caroline instead of John, even though the original photo essay is still referred to, while no admission has been made concerning the change of name.
The fans of offshore radio feed on myths, and journalists who bring facts into focus are usually told that their input is not welcomed. But it is one thing to debate how and why a radio station got its name, and it is another thing to debate the political aspects of “pirate” radio broadcasting. In fact an examination of the broadcasting output of “Radio Caroline” reveals that the station has rarely caused any problems for the Establishment, and this is because “Radio Caroline” has had very little to say about anything worthwhile for over thirty years.
When “Radio Caroline” first came on the airwaves it was a commercial flop, because it sounded like a clone of the BBC style. It merely substituted recorded music for in-house orchestras, moralistic lectures, comedy shows and serial dramas; yet young people listened because they could hear records from a rebel source. Then Don Pierson entered the picture and introduced commercial radio with American formats, and money began to flow into the offshore stations.
Along with Don Pierson’s music came Herbert W. Armstrong’s money and polemics. Armstrong who had been hitherto heard on “Radio Luxembourg” late at night twice a week, was suddenly being heard in the morning, at noon and in the early evening all over the UK from offshore stations, including a revamped “Radio Caroline North”.
Then came August 14, 1967 and Herbert W. Armstrong’s program left the airwaves along with the output of all of the other offshore stations with excepton of the two Caroline stations. A weakened “Radio Caroline” network continued for a brief time before it too withered away early the following year. “Radio Caroline” briefly made a comeback from “Radio Northsea International” a few years later in order to cause distress to the UK Government of the day during a General Election, and in its primary reception area it did make a political impact. After that: nothing. It is true that a number of religious programs of dubious origin were beamed from “Radio Caroline” for a considerable period of time late at night, but these programs were not intended to cause a political stir, because their primary intention was to solicit money from listeners.
The fans of “Radio Caroline” are not interested in the fraud that recreated the station aboard the MV Ross Revenge, neither are they interested in the resulting criminal trial which followed, because these events took place in the USA. But these same fans do become upset when they relive the raid upon the MV Ross Revenge in order to silence “Radio Caroline” and her related broadcasting services, which were coming from that same ship. This action does prompt discussions about the legality of boarding a ship anchored in international waters, especially when that ship was alleged to have been registered in a member country of the United Nations. What these same fans do not want to learn is that the MV Ross Revenge was a stateless ship without protection, but that is indeed what these fans will learn if they keep on reading this text:
… this site is still under construction and information is being added. This date of this last entry is Sunday, April 25, 2004.
bravenet.com