PIRATE RADIO ENTREPRENEUR RESCUED AND REVIVED THIS GRAND OLD GRIMSBY TRAWLER

                                                                

The Ross Revenge - does any trawler have a more colourful history?

THE sad death - aged 79 - of pirate  radio entrepreneur Ronan O'Rahilly has sparked a reminder of a grand old trawler with a rich Grimsby heritage.

The Irishman bought the Ross Revenge in 1983 as replacement vessel for  Radio Caroline which had been  broadcasting  pop music from international waters off the Kent coast since 1963.

The vessel had been built in Bremerhaven - Grimsby's German twin-town - in 1960. 

From 1963 she had been the flagship of the Ross fishing fleet and, at 68 metres was their largest vessel, bringing in record catches to her home port, Grimsby. 

She took part in the Icelandic Cod Wars but, following the post-EU decline of the British fishing industry, she was bought by  Radio Caroline and taken to Spain to be outfitted with broadcasting equipment and a 300-ft  aerial tower.

Since then, the old lady  has had many well-chronicled ups and downs, but she still exists and is understood to be moored on the River Blackwater in Essex where she operates as a museum and an  internet radio station.

More at: www.radiocaroline.co.uk 

* Photo of Ross Revenge: Chris Fletcher, via Wikimedia Commons