We’ve already designed several historical ports in World of Warships.
These are St. Petersburg, Hamburg, Marseille, London, and others.
But players often ask us when we're going to introduce one of the most legendary
and iconic ports in the world.
In a new patch,
we're going to fulfill their request and present a new port to players—
the Principality of Sealand!
This Port should become a monument in the memory of dreamers and seafarers.
The Principality of Sealand is, perhaps, one of the most famous virtual states
in the world.
The British constructed several platforms
6 miles away from their Eastern coastal borders.
During World War II, antiaircraft guns were located there to protect the country.
But after the war, these platforms were deconstructed,
except for one: Roughs Tower,
which was located beyond the British territorial waters.
The platform takes up a partially sunk ship,
that's why, while we were designing this model, we used our normal strategy
for developing a 3D model for a destroyer or a light cruiser.
We had spent three months developing the model.
We used a huge number of photos,
we even used blueprints of similar platforms that had been destroyed earlier.
On the whole, the platform represents a partially sunk ship,
but it doesn't affect the visibility of its silhouette and surface signs.
In 1966, retired Major Paddy Roy Bates and his friend O'Reilly
discovered the Roughs Tower platform and decided to build an amusement park there.
However, the friends parted company after a while;
and after a serious fight involving the arms that had remained in the fort armory,
Paddy Roy Bates emerged victorious, and O'Reilly fled.
On September 2, 1967, Bates proclaimed the "Principality of Sealand"
a sovereign state and declared himself a Prince.
We tried to approach the platform as close as we could to create
an exact copy of the port.
We couldn't sail closer because we were conscious
of violating the borders of this state.
That's why we used a drone to collect as much visual data as possible.
Luckily, there were no signs of aggression on behalf of the principality.
Since then, the British have tried to occupy the platform several times,
but Bates managed to defend it successfully.
On September 30, 1987,
the United Kingdom proclaimed the expansion of their territorial waters.
Sealand responded the same, and there was no further reaction from the Queen.
Therefore, Sealand supporters
considered this as a recognition of principality independence.
Don't you think it's boring, a platform sat alone in the sea?
We tried to avoid that impression and added a lot of seagulls there!
We didn't forget about a large number of Easter eggs either.
Fans of Disney movies and cartoons will be able to recognize
a lot of their beloved characters in these seagulls.
We even left "secret messages" on some seagulls.
What does the complete message mean?
That will be the task for players to solve!
Since 1972, the Sealand Principality has established a currency,
passports, and even a sports team.
Nowadays, anyone who wants to can buy a title and become a lord,
count, or duke of Sealand.
A model of Major Bates will be walking around the platform.
We designed the model based on many photos taken from newspapers and the Internet.
Our team was explicitly careful while designing the model
because we wanted to pay respect to this eccentric character.
Very soon, our game model of Major Paddy Roy Bates be able to
cordially wave his hand to players and motivate them for new achievements
in both the game and real life.
The figure of Major Bates and this port should become a constant motivator
for our players.
Never give up and always follow your dream!