- The Radio 270 Tribute Pages - Page 2

The station was plagued by technical problems, and transmissions were often interrupted during the first few weeks. Bad weather in July was to force Captain Hodgson to head for the shelter of port, and on the July 21 1966 the ship entered Bridlington for repairs to the antenna and to take on supplies. On the morning of October 28 1966, staff at Scarborough post office opened an unstamped letter addressed to the station, to find a note stating that a limpet mine had been attached to the ship. Thankfully it turned out to be a cruel hoax. Yet more controversy was to surround the satation when DJ Andy Kirk, made allegations in the national press as to the seaworthiness of the Oceaan 7. Mr Kirk left the station shortly afterwards, but reports that the the ship had sprung a leak came to light after a search was carried out when someone appeared to be missing. It was claimed that he was found in a water-logged engine room, holding rags against a large hole that had appeared. At about 17.30 hours on November 3 1966, Humber Radio received a call from the ship requesting the assistance of a tug after a main shaft-bearing seized. Once again the station was off the air.

In early 1967 troubles hit the boardroom. Managing Director Wilf Proudfoot found himself at odds with shareholders who had called a meeting to discuss his removal from office, without compensation. A spokesperson was quoted as saying: " There has been a lot of unrest for a long time now and we have not liked a lot of things that have taken place. We have lost confidence in his ability to run a radio station." Mr Proudfoot, however seemed unconcerned: " This is the second time this has happened, I think it will fizzle out on its own at this meeting and common sense will prevail." he said.

WILF PROUDFOOT

Radio 270 had seen its share of problems, like most of the radio ships. Disk Jockeys came and went, their careers cut short by seasickness and the difficult conditions on board the tiny ship. Bad weather had meant a loss of airtime, and with it, loss of advertising revenue and cancelled contracts. Mr Proudfoot remained in office, despite the criticisms. When shareholder did meet, no-one would propose the resolution, and the eventual outcome was a unanimous vote of confidence for Mr Proudfoot and the rest of the directors.

In the summer of 1967, listeners will recall the station beginning to sound somewhat peculiar, with records slowing down and speeding up from time to time. Radio 270 was being troubled by huge voltage fluctuations. The ships generators struggled to supply power as plagues of jellyfish were sucked into the cooling water intakes.