HM Fort Roughs

Naval fort off the coasts of Suffolk and Essex, United Kingdom

For the unrecognised micronation located on Fort Roughs, see Principality of Sealand.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "HM Fort Roughs" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

HM Fort Roughs

Rough Sands, off the coast of Essex

The fort in 2007

Site information
Type| Offshore fortress
Owner| United Kingdom
Sealand (claim unrecognized)
Controlled by| Sealand
Location
Location off the coast of Essex
Coordinates| 51°53′42.6″N 1°28′49.8″E﻿ / ﻿51.895167°N 1.480500°E﻿ / 51.895167; 1.480500
Site history
Built| 1942
In use| 1942–1956
Battles/wars| World War II

HM Fort Roughs is one of several World War II installations that were designed by Guy Maunsell and known collectively as His Majesty's Forts or as Maunsell Sea Forts; the purpose of which was to guard the port of Harwich, Essex, and more broadly, the Thames estuary. This 4,500 ton artificial naval installation is similar in some respects to "fixed" offshore oil platforms. It is situated on Rough Sands, a sandbar located approximately 11 kilometres (6 nmi) from the coast of Suffolk and 13 kilometres (7 nmi) from the coast of Essex. Today it is the location and de-facto capital of the unrecognised, self-proclaimed state of Sealand.[1]

## History

[edit]

### 1942: Construction, positioning, occupation

[edit]

The stages involved in sinking of the naval fort.

As a contemporary historical society notes,[2] Fort Roughs or the "Rough Towers" was "the first of originally four naval forts designed by G. Maunsell to protect the Thames Estuary." The artificial sea fort was constructed in dry dock at Red Lion Wharf, Gravesend,[2] in the year preceding and into 1942.[citation needed]

This artificial naval installation is similar in some respects to early "fixed" offshore oil platforms.[citation needed] It consisted of a rectangular 168-by-88-foot (51 by 27 m) reinforced concrete pontoon base with a support superstructure of two 60-foot (18 m) tall, 24-foot (7.3 m) diameter hollow reinforced concrete towers, walls roughly 3.5 inches (9 cm) thick; overall weight is estimated to have been approximately 4,500 tons.[2] The twin concrete supporting towers were divided into seven floors, four for crew quarters;[2] the remainder provided dining, operational, and storage areas, e.g., for several generators, and for fresh water tanks and antiaircraft munitions.[citation needed] There was a steel framework at one end supporting a landing jetty and crane which was used to hoist supplies aboard;[citation needed] the wooden landing stage itself became known as a "dolphin".[2]

The towers were joined above the eventual waterline by a steel platform deck upon which other structures could be added; this became a gun deck, on which an upper deck and a central tower unit were constructed.[2] QF 3.7 inch[citation needed] anti-aircraft guns were positioned at each end of this main deck, with a further two Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and the central tower radar installations atop a central living area that contained a galley, medical, and officers' quarters.[2]

The fort was towed from the degaussing station at Tilbury docks by four tugs—"Dapper", "Crested Cock", "King Lear" and "Lady Brassey".[3]: 74 Although setting off from Tilbury docks on the morning of 9 February 1942, an eventful journey meant that it did not reach its final destination until 16:00 on 11 February 1942.[3]: 76 Held in place by the tug "Dapper", its base was then intentionally flooded so that it sank in about 37 feet (11 m) of water,[2][3]: 76 coming to rest on the sandbar at 16:45.[3]: 76 Its location on Rough Sands, approximately 10 miles off the Harwich seafront,[2] was at the time situated in international waters although the superstructure of the vessel above the waterline remained visible from the coast of England.[citation needed]

HM Fort Roughs was in operation within 30 minutes of being launched: the crew had been aboard during the fitting out in harbour and were well acquainted with the fort's equipment.[citation needed] Approximately 100 men were assigned to the barge before deployment on Rough Sands; thereafter, the fort was occupied by 150–300 Royal Navy personnel, which continued throughout World War II.[citation needed] At the conclusion of hostilities all original personnel were evacuated from HM Fort Roughs.[citation needed]

### 1956: Removal of full-time HMG personnel

[edit]

The locations of the seven Maunsell Forts off the east coast of England with HM Fort Roughs top right.

British government official entities used Roughs Tower for a variety of purposes until 1956 when all full-time personnel were finally removed. Roughs Tower remained identified by name on buoys placed in position by the Ministry of Defence which are maintained under an arrangement with Trinity House. Their purpose is to warn vessels of this obstacle, especially in time of fog because busy shipping lanes criss-cross the area with vessels going to and from the container Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk, and the Port of Harwich, Essex. UK Ordnance Survey now identify the former sea barge fort as Roughs Tower on their charts.

### 1966: Occupation

[edit]

In 1966 Paddy Roy Bates, who operated Radio Essex, and Ronan O'Rahilly, who operated Radio Caroline, landed on and occupied Fort Roughs. After disagreements, Bates seized the tower as his own. O'Rahilly attempted to storm the fort in 1967 but Bates thwarted the attack with guns and petrol bombs. As a result the British Royal Marines went to the fort and ordered Bates to surrender and received warning shots fired by Bates' son Michael. The pair were arrested and charged with weapons offences but the court threw the case out as it did not have jurisdiction beyond the territorial waters of Britain. Bates took this as de facto recognition of his country and seven years later issued a constitution, flag, and national anthem, among other things, for the Principality of Sealand (founded on 2 September 1967). In 1978, a German businessman, along with some other Germans and Dutchmen invaded Roughs Tower but Bates recaptured it and finally released them, after a visit by a diplomat from the German embassy in London.[4]

## Location

[edit]

According to the Admiralty chart the fort's location is at 51°53.71′N 1°28.83′E.[5] The structure is marked by east and west cardinal buoys.[5] Other references (taken from land-based maps) are Ordnance Survey grid reference TM3964227615, and on OpenStreetMap within 200 meters of the chart location 51°53′42.6″N 1°28′49.8″E﻿ / ﻿51.895167°N 1.480500°E﻿ / 51.895167; 1.480500.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jacobs, Frank (20 March 2012). "All Hail Sealand". The New York Times.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Rough Towers: Fort Specifications". The Harwich Society. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
3. ^ a b c d Turner, Frank R. (1994). The Maunsell Sea Forts. F.R. Turner. ISBN 0-9524303-0-4.
4. ^ Ryan, John; George Dunford; Simon Sellars (2006). Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74104-730-7.
5. ^ a b "Orford Ness to The Naze", Admiralty charts, International chart series, vol. 1183–0, UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), 2017, retrieved 27 September 2018

* v
* t
* e

The Principality of Sealand

Micronation

Background|

* HM Fort Roughs
* Pirate radio
* Wonderful Radio London

People|

| Bates family|

* Paddy Roy Bates
* Joan Bates
* Michael Bates

|

HavenCo|

* Sean Hastings
* Ryan Lackey
* Sameer Parekh

Topics|

Coins and postage stamps of Sealand

Sports|

* Sealand national football team

Related|

* The Battle of Sealand
* Radio Newyork International
* Self-proclaimed monarchy

* v
* t
* e

Royal Navy shore establishments

Current|

| Naval bases|

* HMNB Clyde
* HMNB Devonport
* HMNB Portsmouth
* HMS Jufair

|

Stone frigates|

* BRNC Dartmouth
* CTCRM Lympstone
* HMS Collingwood
* HMS Drake
* HMS Excellent
* HMS Nelson
* HMS Raleigh
* HMS Sultan
* HMS Temeraire
* Institute of Naval Medicine
* Defence Diving School

Royal Marines bases|

* RM Bickleigh
* RM Chivenor
* RM Condor
* RM Norton Manor
* RM Poole
* RM Stonehouse
* RM Tamar
* RM Instow

Air stations|

* RNAS Culdrose
* Predannack Airfield
* RNAS Merryfield
* RNAS Yeovilton
* HMS Gannet

Royal Naval Reserves|

* HMS Calliope
* HMS Cambria
* HMS Ceres
* HMS Dalriada
* HMS Eaglet
* HMS Ferret
* HMS Flying Fox
* HMS Forward
* HMS Hibernia
* HMS King Alfred
* HMS President
* HMS Scotia
* HMS Sherwood
* HMS Vivid
* HMS Wildfire

Other|

* Navy Command Headquarters
* RNAD Coulport
* British Defence Singapore Support Unit
* UK Joint Logistics Support Base

Former|

| Home|

* HMS Abastor
* HMS Aggressive
* HMS Badger
* HMS Daedalus II
* HM Dockyard Chatham
* HM Dockyard Deptford
* HM Dockyard Erith
* HM Dockyard Harwich
* HM Dockyard Pembroke
* HM Dockyard Portland
* HM Dockyard Rosyth
* HMS Cambridge
* HMS Dryad
* HMS Ferret
* HMS Forest Moor
* HM Fort Roughs
* HMS Forward (1939)
* HMS Flycatcher
* HMS Ganges
* HMS Harrier
* HM Holmrook Hall
* HMS Imperieuse
* HMS Lochinvar
* HMS Mercury
* HMS King Alfred (1939)
* Scapa Flow
* HMS Newt
* HMS Royal Arthur
* HMS Standard
* HMS St Christopher
* HMS St Vincent
* HMS Vernon
* Port HHZ
* RM Turnchapel
* RNAD Broughton Moor
* DM Crombie
* RNAD Dean Hill
* DM Gosport
* RNAS Prestwick
* RNAY Wroughton
* HM Victualling Yard Royal Clarence
* HM Victualling Yard Royal Victoria
* HM Victualling Yard Royal William
* HM Dockyard Woolwich
* List of air stations of the Royal Navy

|

Overseas|

* Grand River Naval Depot
* HM Naval Yard Penetanguishene
* HM Naval Shipyards York
* HMRND Amherstburg
* HM Dockyard Bermuda
* HM Dockyard Bombay
* HM Dockyard Gibraltar
* HM Dockyard Haulbowline
* HM Dockyard Jamaica
* HM Dockyard Kinsale
* HM Dockyard Madras
* HM Dockyard Port Mahon
* HM Dockyard Port Royal
* HM Dockyard Trincomalee
* HM Naval Base Aden
* HM Naval Base Colombo
* HM Naval Base Cochin
* HM Naval Base Singapore
* HM Naval Base Simon's Town
* HM Naval Base Weihaiwei
* HM Naval Yard Garden Island
* HMRND Esquimalt
* HMRNB Georgetown
* HMRND Kingston
* HM Dockyard Malta
* Auckland
* HMRNB Halifax
* HMS Tamar
* HM Dockyard Antigua
* Navy Hall

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template