Ross Revenge Charity Dry Dock Appeal

News Update June 2025

Ross Revenge Charity
Dry Dock Appeal

News Update June 2025

Charity Trustee Stewart Payne reports:

There can be no doubt about the scale of the task ahead as our charity – rossrevengeofficial.com – continues to raise funds towards the restoration of the Ross Revenge. Every donation takes us a little bit closer to achieving that aim.

But a document has come to light that shows just how far we have already come. The situation was so much worse back in November 1991. So bad, in fact, that it is surprising the Ross Revenge was not taken away for scrap and our iconic radio ship just a memory.

But no. Thanks to the dedication of volunteers and supporters over many years, the Ross Revenge still rides serenely at anchor on a deep water mooring on the River Blackwater, Essex, awaiting the day when we have sufficient funds to tow her away to be dry docked for a desperately-needed overhaul.

Who would have thought that possible back in the winter of 1991 when the Ross Revenge broke anchor during severe weather in the North Sea and was dumped onto the notorious Goodwin Sands.

That she could be salvaged from that infamous graveyard of shipping was surprising enough. That she could be released back into the hands of the Caroline organisation (such as it was!) after being impounded due to a litany of no less than 125 reasons why the Ross Revenge should never put to sea again, is little short of miraculous.

Long-time followers will recall that back in 1991 only a skeleton crew remained on board the Ross Revenge. It was still at anchor in International Waters, but had not broadcast since November of the previous year due to a host of problems, financial and technical.

On the night of November 19th, 1991, a Force Ten gale swept down the North Sea, and after years of battering from storms, the anchor gave way and the vessel grounded on the Goodwin Sands. Her crew were taken off by rescue helicopter.

Her robust construction as an ice-strengthened deep-water trawler helped the Ross Revenge survive intact and in the light of day, she was still there. A tug from Dover Harbour Board succeeded in getting a tow line to her and she was salvaged and taken to Dover’s Eastern Docks where she was impounded and a detention order imposed.

An official inspection by the Marine Office of the Department of Transport followed. The surveyor’s report made grim reading.

In the absence of anyone on board who had a maritime qualification (just one of many of the listed infringements) the document was handed to the most senior of the rescued crew, DJ Steve Conway, his address given as Ross Revenge, Granville Docks, Dover.

It ran to six pages of closely-typed contraventions – everything from a lack of any safety certificates, lack of ventilation, lighting, heating, no serviceable alarms, safety and survival equipment, no record of routine inspections, no fire-fighting equipment, missing or corroded railings and catwalks, breaches in water-tight security, no anchors and cables, and no means of propulsion, signalling or navigation.

The temptation was to file it away in a drawer, which is eventually where it ended up and where station manager Peter Moore found it a few weeks ago when searching for something else on board the Ross Revenge.

After reading it he said: “The surveyors could just have written “everything” when considering what was required for the ship to ever sail again. It made me realise that, while we have a mighty task in 2025, things were far more bleak in 1991, when we had a ship where nothing worked and no budget for repairs”.

Thinking back to the time of the detention, Peter recalled: “We tried to fix the simplest things like putting light bulbs in sockets but the Maritime and Coastguard Agency was sceptical that are improvements were insignificant. And soon we ran out of things we could repair due to lack of knowledge and money.”

Peter found a solution. Ernie Stevenson was an experienced marine engineer with a long history of working with UK deep-sea fishing vessels, including the Ross Revenge. He had come out of retirement to become the vessel’s chief engineer when it was still broadcasting but Peter had subsequently lost touch with him.

The appeal went out, and Ernie, despite being in poor health, answered the call and rejoined the ship in detention in Dover and put in hand a repair schedule. Peter said: “After a time, the MCA surveyors started to have some grudging admiration for his efforts and because of this we were eventually allowed to leave Dover.”

The Ross Revenge was handed over to what was then the Caroline Support Group. The salvors realised that there was no money to be had from the Caroline “organisation” (there wasn’t one) and Dover Harbour Board wanted the vessel gone.

From then on, the ship was allowed to be moved under tow and under strict conditions, eventually to where she is now on the Blackwater.

In the meantime, Radio Caroline transformed into a new and legal broadcaster, via the internet, DAB, and on Medium Wave from an external transmission site and remote studios.

But the Ross Revenge remains the station’s spiritual home, used for special broadcasts and as a visitor attraction. The ship is historic in that it is the last surviving Arctic waters deep water trawler of its kind, formerly based at Grimsby, as well as the last surviving pirate radio ship.

Thanks to a small management team, volunteers and financial supporters, the Ross Revenge is now ship-shape and compliant. She has a great future that celebrates all the rich history while securing a new role for her future.

However, the vessel is in urgent need of dry-docking, repairs and maintenance, a vastly-costly enterprise. We have established the Ross Revenge (Home of Radio Caroline) charity to secure that future. In just a couple of years we have raised £375,000

And we have had an initial positive response from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. In time we will make an application for funding to add to that we have already raised to enable the dry-docking to take place.

• Our charity’s aim is the preservation of the vessel MV Ross Revenge and the advancement of education for the public benefit of the historical importance of the vessel and its role in English cultural history, initially as a deep sea fishing trawler of significance and as a broadcast base for Radio Caroline until the present day.