Taken together, the history of offshore radio amounts to well over one hundred failed projects. On this occasion I would like to mention a few that were written about during the 1960s. One of these projects was said to involve “Leeds University”, although the name “Radio Rag” was also used. The initiators planned to broadcast programmes for several days — at least on 20 and 21 June 1964 — from the yacht Carmen in international waters off Harwich.
A local newspaper further reported that three members of the crew had gone ashore again due to seasickness and that nothing had been received on land by anyone. It was not until 1988 that I myself came across a number of reports relating to this project in a newspaper archive in England. These showed that it was a project which bore all the hallmarks of the 1960s and the movement of critical students.
One newspaper reported that the students intended to provide anti-apartheid programmes alongside music. Their vessel was a 26-foot dinghy which was to be towed out beyond Harwich. Three men went to sea with a small transmitter on board but were forced to retreat back into harbour after an attack of seasickness. They intended to use the 197-metre medium-wave band for their programmes. The following day the three, all aged 19, decided to venture offshore once again. The report also stated that the students of the University of Leeds had been unable to receive their own broadcasts, although a radio amateur had heard something.
The plan was to anchor the dinghy in the vicinity of the ships of Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline. That same day, a Saturday afternoon, they returned to Harwich because conditions aboard their red “yacht” had become unbearable. Another newspaper reported that on the Sunday a replacement crew had signed on, making it possible after all to broadcast the programmes. They too ran into difficulties when the anchor was lost. By securing the ship, the Carmen, to a buoy, they claimed to have broadcast programmes for five hours on 197 metres. If they did indeed broadcast, it must have been at very low power, as no one — apart from the previously mentioned radio amateur — heard the programmes.
Hans Knot
With thanks to Mike Barroclough for the following newspaper cuttings:
