Paddy Roy Bates

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Patrick Roy Bates (also called Prince Roy of Sealand ; born August 29, 1921 in Ealing , London , † October 9, 2012 in Leigh-on-Sea ) was a British operator of a pirate station . In 1967 he founded the Principality of Sealand , an internationally not recognized micronation .

Life

Paddy Bates first went to the army, where he last held the rank of major. He then worked as an importer in various business fields before buying a small fleet of fishing boats. In 1965 he founded the pirate station Radio Essex .

He sold the operator of the pirate station Radio City from Knock John Tower , a former British sea fortress ( Maunsell Fort ) in front of the mouth of the Thames , and from 1965 broadcast his own pirate station from there. The radio station changed its name to Britain's Better Music Station (BBMS) in October 1966 , just before it was shut down on Christmas Day 1966.

After he was accused of violating British broadcasting law, he took over the fortress Roughs Tower from Jack Moore in 1967 , also one of the Maunsell forts , which, however, was already much further off the coast, already in international waters . Jack Moore actually kept the station occupied for the operator of the pirate station Radio Caroline , the Irish businessman Ronan O'Rahilly. When he heard of Bate's takeover, he immediately dispatched a few men to retake the fortress. But they were driven away with gasoline bombs and gunfire.

A pirate station was no longer opened on Roughs Tower , but Paddy Roy Bates declared the sea fortress to be the Principality of Sealand in 1967, which is not recognized as a state, but is at least the world's most famous micronation.

Bates and his wife Joan last lived in Spain for health reasons; They had left the day-to-day operations to their son Michael.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Martin Wainwright: Major Roy Bates obituary. The Guardian, October 12, 2012, accessed April 22, 2015 .
  2. ^ Prince Roy of Sealand. The Telegraph, October 11, 2012, accessed April 22, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Strauss, Erwin. How to Start Your Own Country , Paladin Press, 1999, p. 132, "A Brief History of Sealand" . Historia Infinitas. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b c d Ryan, John; Dunford, George; Sellars, Simon. Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations , Lonely Planet Publications, 2006, pp. 9-12.
  5. ^ Frank Jacobs: All Hail Sealand . The New York Times . March 20, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ Solveig Grothe: one day: The fortress of the roaring lord. SPIEGEL Online, February 18, 2011, accessed April 22, 2015 .
  7. ↑ a b c Edwards, Chris; Parkes, James (October 19, 2000). "Radio Essex" and "Britains Better Music Station" . Off Shore Echoes. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  8. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6239967.stm
personal data
SURNAME Bates, Paddy Roy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roy of Sealand
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British operator of a pirate channel and founder of the Principality of Sealand
DATE OF BIRTH August 29, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH Ealing (London) , London United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 2012
Place of death Leigh-on-Sea , United Kingdom