Ross Revenge

The MV Ross Revenge is a radio ship, formerly the offshore home of primarily Radio Caroline, but also Radio Monique and various religious broadcasters. She was built in Bremerhaven, Germany, in 1960, and served as a commercial trawler, first as "Freyr" under Icelandic ownership, and then as the British-owned Ross Revenge during the Cod Wars. Following her decommissioning from trawling, the Ross was purchased by Radio Caroline and fitted out as a radio ship, complete with a 300ft antenna mast and 50kw transmitter. Her broadcasts began on 20 August 1983, and her final pirate radio broadcast came in November 1990. The vessel ran aground on the Goodwin Sands in November 1991, bringing the era of offshore pirate radio to an end. The Ross, however, was salvaged and is now maintained by a supporter's group.

History

Trawler (1960-1983)

The "Freyr" was built in Germany by Seebeck in Bremerhaven for the Icelandic Government. It was registered in Reykjavik and carried the registration RE 1.In August 1963 the ship was sold to Ross Fisheries and renamed "Ross Revenge", registration GY 718 (home port Grimsby). At this time Ross Fisheries had three groups of ships: The Bird Class (Ross Eagle, Ross Falcon and Ross Hawk), the Cat Class (Ross Tiger, Ross Puma and Ross Panther) and the K Class (Ross Kelvin, Ross Kashmir and Ross Kelly). It was involved in the cod wars of the 1970s. The Ross Revenge holds the World Record for the biggest catch: in 1976 she landed a catch of 3,000 kits (approximately 218 tonnes) of Icelandic cod at Grimsby which sold for a world record price of £75,597. After serving as diving support ship from 1979 to 1981, she was taken to the Cairnryan brakers yard in Rosyth, Scotland. [http://www.offshore-radio.de/fleet/ross.htm]

Radio Caroline (1983-1991)

After the grounding (1991-)

Following the near shipwrecking of the Ross Revenge and subsequent harbouring off the south east coast of England in 1990, the ship has been maintained by an association of enthusiasts called the Caroline Support Group (originally the Ross Revenge Support Group).

2004

In February 2004, the Ross was moored on the River Medway at Rochester, just downstream from Rochester Bridge. Now she can be found moored at Tilbury in Essex.

In August 2004, a one-month RSL was granted to Radio Caroline to broadcast on 1278 kHz AM from the Ross Revenge berthed on the Thames at Tilbury in Essex. Funding for this operation was provided by the UK's National Lottery organisation. Transmission power was restricted to one watt, as is usual for Restricted Service Licence broadcasts.

After the broadcast finished, the ship remained berthed at Tilbury, next to the Cruise Liner Terminal and restoration work continued inside the ship during the winter on the Dutch studio, which was competely rebuilt. Rewiring took place on the bridge, studio landing and record library. This consisted of removing old redundant electrical cables out of the ceiling cavities in all three areas. It was replaced with new cabling for electrical lighting. The wood panels on the studio landing and the stairs to the bridge were either sanded down, stained and re-varnished or replaced altogether. In the transmitter room, electrical cables, which had been loosely hanging from the ceiling whilst the ship was at sea, were fitted into cable trays.

2005

Further restoration work took place whilst moored at the Cruise Liner Terminal, which included a new central heating boiler being fitted. In May, 2005, the Ross Revenge had to move from the Terminal and was towed inside the Port of Tilbury dock complex to Berth 12. Unfortunately this removed public access to the vessel and only volunteers working on the vessel were allowed inside the docks. During the early summer, work began on removing the paint on the back deck with needle-guns and angle-grinders. It had deteriorated over the years and it was decided to remove the paint back to bare metal. About 75% of the back deck was completed when the restoration crew were finally given permission to work on the hull. This hadn't been possible because of the possibility of large amounts of rust, paint chippings and dirt falling into the dock, which are full of sea bass and jellyfish.

Between August and October, the top half of the port side of the hull was stripped back to bare metal, painted with two coats of red oxide and two coats of gloss. Further work took place painting on the scuppers and gunwhales of the inside of the hull at deck level until it was too cold to work outside. In November, the vessel was moved further down the dock to Berth 11 and was moored outside a cement works. This was done to enable two Seacat hovercraft to be moored at Berth 12.

The mess room was the next inside project during the winter and this was started towards the end of the year. After being at sea for over 30 years the mess room had been left alone over that time. The decision was taken to remove the ceiling panels and take them outside to strip and repaint, remove the old and rotten roof insulation and replace with new highly rated material, install some new lights and power points, check the state of the existing wiring, repair the damaged woodwork, and sand and varnish the remaining woodwork.

2006

The mess room was an ongoing project until June. During that time the ceiling panels were taken outside and stripped down for repainting. The old fibreglass insulation material was removed and replaced with new thicker insulation. A large amount of redundant cabling was removed and replaced with new fire-retardant cable. The plywood panels were replaced with new pieces and these were stained and varnished. After painting, the ceiling panels were replaced and two extra light fittings were installed. The old central heating radiators were removed with a hacksaw and replaced with new radiators.

The "Ross Revenge" has ten cabins in a lower level for the ship's crew and work was started on these in early February. Six of these were refurbished by Autumn, 2006, with new insulation and electrical wiring as well, as sanding and varnishing the wood panels in each one.

In February, the ship was moved to Berth 21 inside the Port of Tilbury and turned around so that the starboard side of the ship was tied up to the quay. From Easter to September, the top half of the starboard side was taken back to bare metal and repainted. At the end of August, the top half of the ship had been repainted in the same colour of paint, over the previous 12 months, for the first time since 1982.

Throughout September and October further work was undertaken on the forepeak, needlegunning it back to bare metal on the starboard side and around the spare anchor frame. Also large pieces of rust were taken off the A-frame, which is attached to the ship's own mast, for health and safety reasons. Underneath the back deck on the port side, the ceiling over the companionway was also taken back to bare metal and repainted.

In early November, the ship was moved for the third time in 18 months to the old Barge Dock inside the Port. This enabled the crew to work on the lower level of the hull down to the waterline.

2008

During the summer a planning application was lodged with the Council of the London Borough of Bexley to position the vessel next to Erith pier, with the consent of W.M.Morrison who had previously restored the pier as part of a supermarket development. The application was given the case reference 08/07453/FUL and may be inspected on the authority's own web site (http://www.bexley.gov.uk), where representations are invited. The initial intent is to moor the ship there for a six month period, during which time a Restricted Service Licence permitting short range broadcasting might conceivably be sought. The planning application gives no guarantee of public access, but this might be a more practicable proposition at Erith than at the busy international port of Tilbury.

From the viewpoint of a tourist, Erith is far more accessible, enjoying direct train services from Cannon Street, and a visit could easily be combined with a trip to HMS Belfast, the National Maritime Museum, the Chatham Historic Dockyard and, in due course, the Cutty Sark tea clipper being restored at Greenwich.

Bexley has some association with popular music through sometime local residents such as Kate Bush, Max Bygraves, Rosemary Clooney and John Paul Jones (musician). Certain Erith tower block(s) have been associated with ad-hoc onshore pirate radio stations since the demise of the offshore variety.

pecification

Built: Bremerhaven, Germany, 1960

Gross Tonnage: 980 tonnes

Length: 67m

Beam: 10.3m

Draft: 6m

Main Engine: Verkspoor 10 cylinder Diesel, dual turbo.

Main Engine Output: 2400HP

Maximum Speed: 18-22 knots

External links

* [http://www.rossrevenge.co.uk/ Official site]