THE RADIO NORTHSEA INTERNATIONAL TRIBUTE PAGE 10

The Radio Northsea International Tribute Pages

An in-depth look at the story of Europes most popuar and controversial radio station.

Chapter 10 - Stormy Weather . . .

Dateline: Monday 22 November 1971

At 08:10 hours that morning, Scheveningen Radio received a call from the Mebo 2 advising that the ship had lost its anchor and was drifting coastward. As the ship neared Dutch territorial waters the broadcast transmitters were switched off. Meanwhile, the salvage tug Smitbank, set off with all speed to help the stricken radioship. Dutch naval aircraft were also despatched to keep an eye on the situation, and a Dutch lifeboat, Bernard van Leer also went to offer help. The Smitbank arrived at about 13:00 hours, and salvage crew eventually managed to secure a line to the Mebo. By 14:30 hours towing operations began, and at 16:30 hours, safely back in international waters, Radio Northsea was able to return to the air.

Paul May takes up the story:

" I can remember being woken about, twenty minutes to eight, it must have been, in the morning. I was thrown completely out of my bunk and landed on the floor. Duely picking myself up of the floor, I lifted my arm, and I was gushing with blood! And like a fool, a week before I went off on holiday, I'd constructed a shelf, just alongside my bed for laying my watch and personal effects. And, when I'd been thrown from the bed, my arm had scraped along the side of the edge of the shelf and I was bleeding profusely, as the saying goes . . . "

PAUL MAY

The next thing I knew was a knock on the door. It was one of the Dutch crew members, saying: " To the bridge - with life jackets - Anchor chain broke! " in his broken English. And, I don't think I've ever been so frightened in my entire life. Shivers went down my spine. "

" Eventually, staggered about, trying to get dressed, trying to put my trousers on . . . The boat lurched again, and I was thrown against the same flippin' shelf - gashed the side of my head open!"
The door flew open at the same time. I remember the other jockeys scrurrying around in their cabins saying " Oh what are we going to do ? " So I just advised them to put something warm on, and take their passports. . . "Got dressed. . . and staggered up to the bridge.

LEO VAN DER GOOT

Well, at this time, we were about five to six miles down the coast of Holland, and I could see the coastline coming closer. Leo van der Goot, who was the newsreader at the time, was preparing his news when all this happened. And, he closed the station down. Put out an S.O.S., and we ceased then to broadcast. We closed the transmitters down because of the fact that we were drifting into territorial waters ".

" At this particular time our S.O.S. message had been picked up, because there was a lifeboat alongside us, as close as it could get . . . And if you could appreciate the fact that we were standing on the bridge, to the sea level was about a sixty foot drop. An incredible sensation if you were to jump. They placed a net on this lifeboat, and Captain Harteveld ordered us to jump. He said: " Disc jockies - Jump!! "
I grabbed a hold of the nearest pole, which happened to be supporting the TV aerial on the bridge, and I clung onto that for dear life. I thought: No way. I'm gonna hang onto this. You're gonna to have to pull me off this. Because there's no way I'm gonna jump!
Terry Davies, was clinging onto the radiator, and I don't think Terry moved from that spot for the entire two and a half hour ordeal. That's how frightened that boy was. I remember Captain Harteveld then saying: " Alright, if you're not gonna jump, then you'll have to go down with the ship ".
I remember going down to the production studio, and I thought well if this is my lot, I want people to know who I am, especially my family, my loved ones. And I made a tape . . . lasting about four or five minutes. And things were crashing down on me in the studio. And I thought, Oh this is my lot. I then took the tape of the Revox, and wrapped it in a polythene bag, and stuffed inside my shirt. I thought, if I go down this is liable to survive, so they'll be able to tell who I was and so on . . .
Went back to the bridge . . . We were at least fifteen to twenty miles down the coast. Actually nearer Belgium than anything else . . . A tug was coming out to us, to tow us about . . . I remember a Dutch Royal Navy Hercules circling above us. We had contact with the shore, with the ship-to-shore radio, and everyone thought it was the end ".

Meanwhile, crew from the Mebo were engaged in desperate attempts to save the ship. A pressure fault had developed, and the ships engines could not be started. The auxilery achors were dropped, but the ship continued to drift.
Eventually the engines were started, however the ship was then unable to move forward because of the anchors. The anchor chains were cut, using welding torches, an the ship began to inch forward. By the time the Smitbank arrived, the Mebo was about half a mile from the beach.

Brian McKenzie recalls:

BRIAN McKENZIE

" Everyone was just so nervous, I remember Mike Ross passing round cigarettes, and his hand literally shaking like a leaf . . . And Terry . . . setting off this alarm buzzer with his head, nodding back and forward, and it kept hitting this alarm thing, scaring the hell out of everyone till he was dragged away from it. Everyone was so tense . . . "

" A tug came out, and they got a line accross. The first one snapped, then they got a second one on which held, and that was it. But at that point I think we were about half mile from the beach. I mean you could see the beach as clear as hell. And then for about two days we were being towed up and down, at one point I think we were nearer Britain than we were to Holland . . . "
There was a funny part, we were getting back to our old anchor position, and we were getting towed along there, and the tug boat wouldn't drop us. For some reason they wanted to keep pulling us around, because they were making a lot of money out of it. So, in the end they had to cut the tow rope, to stop the ship, because by then, the engines were working perfectly. And the tugboat just carried straight on. They didn't even stop or anything. Which was amazing at the time. Obviously, they were trying to get as much money out of it as possible. And they made a fortune. I mean to come out, and pull you around must have cost a vast amount of money ".