press cuttings

March 20th 1980

In London, both the Evening Standard and the Evening News splashed the news of the Mi Amigo's demise across their front pages. The Standard led with 'Pop Pirate Caroline is Sunk,' while the News opened with 'Storm Sinks Pop Pirate Caroline.' The papers provided dramatic accounts of the 12-hour rescue operation, with lifeboat Coxswain Charlie Bowry exclaiming, 'The hairiest rescue I've ever done.' DJ Stevie Gordon was also quoted, saying, 'The sea was a boiling cauldron. We had made the decision to leave very reluctantly, but the pumps were no match for the water coming in.' The ship's canary even got a mention, with the Evening Standard reporting, 'One of the (Mi Amigo) crewmen begged, "Can we bring our canary?" There was an anxious moment as the canary - in its cage - was pulled to safety. "Its eyes were popping out," said coxswain Mr Bowry.' Speculation arose that this might be the end for Radio Caroline, though a station spokesperson expressed hope that Caroline could continue despite the loss of the ship. Coastguards were relieved that the Mi Amigo had gone down without loss of life, with one saying, 'She was only kept afloat by her pumps.'

The sinking received extensive coverage on the BBC TV evening news, which included Stevie and Tom Anderson's parting words: 'For the safety of those on board, we are going off with the lifeboat. Don't worry, we are all OK...'

The national dailies prominently featured the drama the following morning, with the Mirror jesting on its front page with the headline 'Plop radio!' The paper then provided a full account of the rescue and a brief overview of the station's past trials and tribulations. There were also tributes from 60's pirate DJs, and the Mirror noted that Caroline had 1 million listeners in the UK. However, the London Times mentioned that Caroline had 500,000 listeners (NB some surveys had put the figure at around 4 million). The Times article also stated that severe storms had been the only real threat to the station's existence.

With Caroline off the air, reliable news about the station's future plans was scarce. John Blake's 'Ad Lib' column in the London Evening Standard sometimes offered a few details, as on August 3rd, 1981, when he wrote, 'Caroline Sails Back - Radio Caroline's bosses have bought a new pirate ship, and they are secretly fitting it out to begin broadcasting next month.' The article named the new ship as the 1000-ton, 70-metre-long 'Imagine.' Unfortunately, it would be another two years before Caroline could return to the airwaves.