22 September 2025
🔔 ℝ𝕆𝕊𝕊 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝔼ℕ𝔾𝔼 ℂℍ𝔸ℝ𝕀𝕋𝕐 𝔻ℝ𝕐 𝔻𝕆ℂ𝕂 – 𝕌ℙ𝔻𝔸𝕋𝔼 🔔
News Update from Stewart Payne, Charity Trustee
A busy Autumn beckons for all those involved in preparing the Ross Revenge for dry–docking and essential repairs, boosted by the excellent news that our charity fund–raising total is closing in on a remarkable £500,000.
Thanks to the many who have donated to Ross Revenge (Home of Radio Caroline) – we are now able to move forward with preparing our broadcast ship for towing to Lowestoft, hopefully next Spring. This will be a very costly undertaking and is only possible because of the continuing generosity of our loyal supporters.
The SMS dry dock at Lowestoft
Dry docking will enable an assessment of what needs doing. Only when we have this can we apply to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It has already given provisional backing to our project but will not consider allocating money until our charity can provide a schedule of work and more detailed costings.
However, we can now report that we are able to undertake the necessary steps to take us in this direction.
An inspection of the vessel has already been carried out by a marine surveyor to highlight all that must be done before the Ross Revenge can be certified for the move from her current anchorage on the River Blackwater estuary, Essex.
In anticipation of this, our marine advisors Stuart Belbin and Peter Smith have visited the SMS Group, ship repairer and marine engineering experts, at its Lowestoft facility. There they met with David Gooderham, general manager, and his deputy Phil Kirby to discuss the dry docking.
One major issue, currently being investigated, is the hiring of flotation bags to secure to the stern of the 1,000–ton Ross Revenge which, when inflated, should displace 70 tons. This should lift the stern enough for the ship to enter the dry dock. Because of its deep draft it currently would not pass over the entrance.
Once in dry dock the hull will be high–pressure washed back to bare metal. Iits plates will be ultrasonic tested to determine their integrity, and repairs and replacement carried out as required.
The SMS staff with Stuart Belbin
Examination and repairs to the decks, forepeak and bridge to make all areas watertight will be carried out as well as an inspection of the rudder, propellor and sea chests.
Rotten wooden decking will be removed and the metal beneath cleaned before being replaced by durable non–slip grid panels. The forepeak area, once renovated, will be considered for use as an exhibition and museum space and a place to explain the history of the Ross Revenge as both the last–surviving Arctic waters Grimsby fishing trawler and, later, the transmitter and studio base for Radio Caroline, the pirate radio pioneer.
The current funding total is just under £440,000. However, more money has been pledged from individual donors, and donations via our charity website and Crowdfunder and prize draws continue to add to our coffers. Every penny, and more, will be needed to fund all that will be required to refit our historic radio ship and safeguard its future.
Your support is invaluable.
You may be interested to know that a similar but smaller former trawler is currently undergoing repairs at an adjacent dry dock to the one we hope to use. This is the Mincarlo, built in 1961 – a year after the Ross Revenge – and once part of a 50–strong Lowestoft fishing fleet. It has been preserved since 1991 by the Lydia Eva and Mincarlo Charitable Trust and has been open to the public at its berth in Lowestoft docks since 1998. See here for more details – lydiaevamincarlo.com/mincarlo.html
Also, in Grimsby, is the Ross Tiger. Built three years before the Ross Revenge and considerably smaller, it was part of the same company fleet. It is now on public display berthed beside the Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre where it recently underwent repairs, including removing its wooden decking. This has been replaced with grid panels, as is proposed for the Ross Revenge. Please see fishingheritage.com/ross-tiger-vital-deck-works/
➡️ We are continuing our fundraising efforts through our Crowdfunder and Crowdfunder Prize Draws. Want to help save this legendary vessel? You can find more information and make a donation at rossrevengeofficial.com.
