MV Mi Amigo
Mi Amigo was originally a three-masted cargo schooner, that later gained international recognition as an offshore radio station. She was built as the schooner Margarethe for German owners. A sale in 1927 saw her renamed Olga and she was lengthened in 1936. During the Second World War, she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine and served as an auxiliary ship between 1941 and 1943.
In 1953, the ship was again lengthened to.
In 1959, she was sold for conversion to a floating radio station and was renamed Bon Jour. Subsequently, she was renamed Magda Maria in 1961 and Mi Amigo in 1962. She served, intermittently, as a radio ship, until 1980, when she sank in a gale.
History
''Margarethe''
The ship was built as a three-masted auxiliary schooner SS Margarethe by Deutsche Werke, Kiel, Germany in 1921, for Ernst Simon A.G. As constructed she was long, with a beam of and a depth of. She was assessed at,. Her port of registry was Hamburg, Germany.Simon sailed the boat around various Baltic ports carrying general cargo. She was sold to Heinrich Koppelmann in 1927.
''Olga''
Koppelmann renamed her Olga after his wife. In 1928, she was strengthened and a four-cylinder engine installed. The engine was built by Motorenfabriek Deutz AG., Köln. It had four cylinders of diameter by stroke. The tonnage increased to,. One of her wooden masts was replaced by a steel mast. Olga had Hamburg as her port of registry. She was allocated the Code Letters RBGF.In 1936, Olga was lengthened and a new Klockner-Humboldt diesel engine fitted. It had six cylinders of diameter by stroke), and the length of the boat was increased to, by adding a new centre section. On 5 June 1941, Olga was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine. She served as an auxiliary ship based at Putlos.
On 18 November 1943, Olga was decommissioned and then refitted before being returned to her owner. She appears to have been de-rigged at this time, as shown by contemporary photographs. As Heinrich Koppelmann had died, ownership passed to his widow. In 1951, Olga was again lengthened.
She was sold in 1959, her new owners planned to convert her into a floating radio station. The work was carried out by, Hamburg, Olga arrived at Norderwerft's shipyard on 31 May 1960. Her cargo hold was converted into studios. It was originally planned to install two radio masts, but only one was installed. The ship was renamed Bon Jour about this time and she was reflagged to Nicaragua.
''Bon Jour''
On 10 August 1960, Norderwerft received a letter informing them that it was illegal to install, repair or operate a radio station without government permission, under a law passed in 1930. Bon Jour was then sailed to Langelinie, Denmark where the mast was installed as were two 10 kW transmitters which were manufactured by Continental Electronics, Dallas, Texas. The transmitters were flown in from the United States as components and assembled in Copenhagen.On 20 December 1960, Bon Jour departed Copenhagen bound for Stockholm, Sweden. During the voyage, some of the mast stays worked loose and the ship was anchored off Gotska Sandön whilst the mast was made secure. On 23 December, Bon Jour ran into a storm. The fishing vessel Danette located her the next day and on 25 December the crew abandoned Bon Jour as they feared the mast would collapse. They were taken to Sandhamn by pilot boat. On 26 December, the salvage tug Neptune took the crew back to Bon Jour. The next day, Neptune towed Bon Jour to Sandhamn. It was suggested that the ship should be taken to Lidingö for repairs, but on arrival there it was discovered that the shipyard had closed six months previously. Repairs were carried out by the Crichton-Vulcan shipyard, Turku, Finland. The work had to be done offshore as the Finnish government applied pressure on Crichton-Vulcan not to fulfil the job.
Repairs were completed on 4 February 1961 and the ship sailed for Ornö, Sweden, where she arrived on 6 February. That day, a storm blew up, and a loud crack was heard from the mast. Repairs to the insulators were made the next day at the Finnboda shipyard. On 21 February, Bon Jour sailed for her anchorage and began broadcasting as Radio Nord. She was forced to return to Finnboda for further repair work after a few days. Bon Jour returned to her anchorage on 1 March, but the following day the Swedish government passed a law enabling the confiscation of broadcasting equipment from any ship operating in Swedish waters. They also applied pressure on the Nicaraguan government to withdraw the ships' registration. On 8 March 1961, Bon Jour started broadcasting as Radio Nord from, in international waters off Stockholm. The programmes on Radio Nord were mostly pre-recorded. As well as supply by tender from Nynäshamn, programme tapes and other material were got to the ship packing them in a canister which was dropped astern of Bon Jour by a light aircraft. Only one canister failed to reach the ship.
''Magda Maria''
Bon Jour was reflagged to Panama and renamed Magda Maria. On 6 December 1961, the ship was caught in a severe storm and almost foundered. The next day, she put into Sandhamn for repairs which included a broken mast stay. Her broadcasting equipment was not confiscated as it was recognised that putting into port was an emergency situation. On 8 March, Bon Jour returned to her anchorage. Radio Nord ceased broadcasting on 30 June 1962. On 4 July 1962, Magda Maria sailed for Ferrol, Spain where she was to undergo a refit, arriving on 2 August. Radio Nord was closed by the Swedish authorities and the ship was put up for sale. A law had been passed prohibiting Swedes from supplying offshore radio ships with stores, or from providing advertising services to the stations. This law was said to have been brought in to discourage Soviet propaganda ships from anchoring off the Swedish coast. A similar law was passed simultaneously by Denmark; both came into effect on 1 August 1962. Danish station Radio Mercur closed on July 31; having closed one month earlier, Radio Nord has the distinction of being the first offshore pirate to be closed as a result of government legislation.''Mi Amigo''
1962–1968
Magda Maria was yet again renamed to Mi Amigo. She departed Ferrol on 14 September 1962 bound for the Thames Estuary, where she made some test broadcasts as Radio LN on 306 metres. Mi Amigo sailed to Ostend, Belgium, then to Vlissingen, Netherlands where she arrived on 11 January 1963. She departed Vlissingen on 15 January and was next reported as putting into Brest, France on 19 January for repairs to her steering gear. On 26 January, Mi Amigo departed Brest for Galveston, Texas where her American owners intended to convert her to a luxury yacht. She arrived on 4 March. It is reported that Mi Amigo broadcast for a short time whilst anchored off Galveston. Her studios were gutted and she was stripped of her broadcasting equipment in preparation for conversion to a yacht.A proposed purchase by Project Atlanta Ltd, headed by was stalled due to the closure of Radio Mercur, with financial backers reluctant to invest. It took until December 1963 before Crawford could raise the necessary finance. Mi Amigo departed Galveston on 28 December bound for Las Palmas, Spain where she arrived on 30 January 1964. On 5 February, she docked at Ferrol for repairs to be undertaken, including work aimed at improving her stability. Mi Amigo departed Ferrol on 15 February, bound for Corunna, where she arrived on 28 February. She departed Corunna on 3 March, bound for Greenore, Ireland where a new radio mast was to be fitted. Late delivery of the mast meant that she did not depart Greenore for the Thames Estuary until 28 March.
On 21 April 1964, the ship was caught in a gale off Land's End and the mast was damaged. The ship was anchored off Falmouth whilst repairs were carried out by riggers from Portsmouth. Mi Amigo arrived off Frinton-on-Sea on 27 April and began broadcasting as Radio Atlanta. Her crew were transported to the ship by the British motor barge Peterna on 9 May. Broadcasts from Mi Amigo led to complaints from the General Post Office that communications were being affected. As a result, Panama withdrew the ship's registration on 7 May. On 2 July, Radio Atlanta merged with Radio Caroline, with Mi Amigo broadcasting as Radio Caroline South. A new anchorage in the Thames Estuary was tried for a few days from 2 November but was unsuitable as it was too rough. Mi Amigo returned to her former position off Frinton.
On 20 January 1966, a force 8 gale blew up and Mi Amigo anchors broke and the ship started to drift. This went unnoticed by the crew, who were watching a programme about the singer-songwriter Donovan, broadcasting having ended. The final song played that night had been Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. Dave Lee Travis went aloft to adjust the TV aerial and noticed that the ship was close to shore. He was also unable to see the Radio London ship Galaxy. Walton-on-the-Naze Coastguards were unable to raise the crew, and the tender Offshore One was sent to her aid. One of the methods of alerting the crew tried was an item on the television news. This was missed by the crew who had turned the television off as they had lost the signal due to the ship moving from its normal position. Mi Amigo was driven ashore at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex and the crew were rescued by Breeches buoy.
The crew, who included DJs Tony Blackburn, Tom Lodge and Graham Webb were taken to Walton-on-the-Naze police station where they were informed that they were classed as "shipwrecked and distressed mariners" and were entitled to free replacement clothing. A shopkeeper was persuaded to open up early so that the crew could be clothed, and accommodation was arranged in a hotel for the crew.
Attempts by the tug Titan to refloat her were unsuccessful. On 21 January, the captain of Mi Amigo managed to refloat her by kedging. The hull was inspected before Mi Amigo departed for Zaandam, Netherlands with Titan in attendance. Repairs were carried out by the Zaanlandse Scheepsbouw Maatschappij. During this period, Radio Caroline South was broadcast from, which was available for sale as Radio Syd had been closed down by the Swedish authorities. Repairs were completed on 5 April and Mi Amigo resumed broadcasting on 16 April. The next day, Radio Caroline was off the air as there had been a short circuit in the aerial. There was a gale at the time which prevented the tender from bringing engineers to Mi Amigo. The bored DJs, including Tony Blackburn, Tony Prince and Norman St. John managed to fix the fault themselves and the station was soon back on air. Cheeta II served as a relay station between 27 April and 1 May 1966.
On 15 August 1967, the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 became law. The four DJs on board Mi Amigo at that time were Ross Brown, Robbie Dale, Spangles Muldoon and Johnnie Walker. On 3 March 1968, Titan pulled alongside Mi Amigo and Radio Caroline was ordered to close down. The crew were locked in the ship's lounge. The Offshore Supply Company seized Mi Amigo and as security for £30,000 they were owed. Both ships were towed to Amsterdam. It was planned to use the as a replacement for Mi Amigo, but the story was leaked by newspapers and the ships owners were told that they would be summonsed if the ship was used to broadcast pirate radio.