Anyone who is familiar with the story of the UK's Radio Caroline knows who Ronan O'Rahilly is. Mr. O'Rahilly passed away in County Louth (Ireland) on Monday April 20, 2020 following a long illness.
Ronan O'Rahilly started Radio Caroline in the 1960s to break the BBC's dictatorial policies regarding the music that could be broadcast on its radio stations. This was during a period in UK radio in which so-called "pirate" stations, which were unlicensed, started to broadcast to circumvent the BBC. Most of these pirate stations were situated on ships just outside the UK's territorial limits (hence the "pirate" monicker), Radio Caroline being at the time on a ship named
Fredericia. Other ships followed, including the now-legendary
Ross Revenge, which has been preserved.
Ross Revenge sported an antenna mast that was some 300 feet (91 meters) high, said to be the tallest ever erected aboard a ship.
I became familiar with Radio Caroline in early 1967 while in the US Navy. The destroyer on which I was stationed was involved with NATO exercises near the UK at the time, which put us in radio range of the UK and parts of Europe. It also put us in contact with Royal Navy sailors, some of whom told us about the pirate radio ships. I distinctly recall one sailor mentioning Radio Caroline and how he was able to pick up their signal while out to sea.
One night while goofing off in the radio room aboard ship, one of the radiomen and I decided to search the AM bands on one of the ship's receivers and see if we could tune in Radio Caroline. When we did, we were both amazed they were playing contemporary rock 'n roll such as we were accustomed to hearing in the States at the time. There was a healthy smattering of the Beatles, Hollies and other UK bands, of course, but also a lot of American artists to which the BBC rarely gave air time.
Because Radio Caroline was at sea and had a 20 kilowatt transmitter connected to a properly loaded mast antenna, its signal could propagate a considerable distance. We were able to get Radio Caroline while steaming well up the coast of Norway and as I recall, it finally faded as we were approaching the fjord leading into Bergen. I and another electronics technician monkey-rigged a patch from one of our radio receivers into the ship's 1MC public address system one night when Radio Caroline's signal was strong, broadcasting throughout the ship. Everyone was like WTF when Mick Jagger was wailing about how he couldn't "get no satisfaction."
We both got our butts chewed out for that little stunt, but weren't put on report.
After my Navy service, I had forgotten about Radio Caroline for some time, until one day I read a short news story about how Radio Caroline's ship,
Mi Amigo, had taken on water and gone down. That was in 1980. A few years later, Radio Caroline was back on the air, broadcasting from
Ross Revenge.
Nowadays, I listen to Radio Caroline on Internet radio. The medium has changed, as have the names of the DJs hosting the programs, but not the music. Listening to the British- and Irish-accented voices of the announcers and hearing the Radio Caroline call sign again makes it seem as though it was just yesterday when I was a young sailor at sea listening to "pirate radio."
Anyhow, enough reminiscing. It's time to raise a glass to Ronan O'Rahilly and what he created some 55 years ago. Rest well, sir, and long live Radio Caroline.
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