Quite recently, we received a surprising email message from Dr. Martin van der Ven in Germany alerting us to the fact that an internet website contains the story of an American mediumwave station that is now located on board a cargo ship. The radio station is KKOL and the ship is the “Coastal Ranger“. Mediumwave … Read more
During the era when the Voice of America was operating a radio station on board the Coast Guard vessel Courier, the BBC in London announced that they also planned on establishing a radio station on board a ship. This was also at the time when there were several pirate radio stations on board ships in … Read more
The Awatea Story Back in the days before World War II, there were two ships in Australasian waters that were quite famous in the international radio scene. One was the “Kanimbla” with its radio station VK9MI, and that was the story in Wavescan on a previous occasion. The other ship was the “Awatea” that plied … Read more
It is just 58 years this week since General Douglas MacArthur made his famous “I have returned” speech from the shortwave facilities on board three different radio ships at the beginning of the return invasion of the Philippines. The date was October 22, in the year 1944. This is how it all happened. In their … Read more
Two weeks ago, we presented the story here in Wavescan of the now famous radio broadcasting ship, the “Apache,” with its role as a relay station for AFRS radio and the “Voice of America” during the latter part of the Pacific War. At the time, we mentioned that the “Apache” had a co-traveller, a little … Read more
The South Pacific nation of New Zealand was settled first by Polynesians migrating south from the Central Pacific more than 1,000 years ago. The islands were first visited by European explorers in 1642 when Abel Jans Tasman tried unsuccessfully to make a landing. He named the islands after “Sea-Land,” a coastal province in northern Holland. … Read more
Just a few weeks back, we presented the story of the radio station on board the Australian motor vessel “Kanimbla” [see Wavescan 384]. On that occasion, we mentioned that the ship was built in Belfast, Ireland and that it was the only ship in the world into which a radio station was installed at the … Read more
Back in the days before World War II, there were two ships in Australasian waters that were quite famous in the international radio scene. One was the “Awatea” that plied across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, and we will tell you the story of that ship radio station on another occasion. The … Read more
The July issue of “Radio & Television News” for the year 1954 tells the story–a very unusual story, actually–of what they claim is the first broadcast of music from a ship. The item was written by Charles G. Cooke, who heard the broadcast. This is what he says: Here is the story of what was … Read more
The American magazine, Radio News; for October 1924, tells the story of what is described as America’s first floating broadcaster. This is what the article from 78 years ago says: The USS Leviathan is the first floating broadcast station. It is not yet officially licensed to broadcast, but instead it is operating on an experimental … Read more