Hi, I’m the History Guy. I have a degree in history and I love history,
and if you love history too, this is the channel for you.
It's certainly not unusual to find angst with your government,
it's quite easy to sit around and say “this is how i would run things, if i were in charge!” But
only a few people take the next step, and that is to try to declare themselves the leader of
an independent country. One study in 2013, found that there were at least 500 micronations, that is
tiny territories that claim their own sovereignty but have not been recognized by world governments,
in the world. Including one in the US state of Nevada that's created its own currency,
whose value is tied to the price of cookie dough. Micronations have been
around at least since the 19th century, but the concept well predates that.
And among those modern micronations, none has been more persistent, or had a more interesting history
than the Principality of Sealand. Theirs is a story that deserves to be remembered.
The early stages of the Second World War found the Germans achieving a string of victories, with
surprising speed. Culminating in the evacuation of British troops at Dunkirk at the end of May 1940,
and with France signing an armistice with Germany, on the 22nd of June. At the time
Hitler seemed to have been hopeful that Great Britain, with no more allies on the continent,
would also seek an armistice. But instead, Prime Minister Winston Churchill rallied the nation,
proclaiming in a speech to the House of Commons on June 4th, “We shall fight on the beaches. We
shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields, and in the streets. We shall fight
in the hills. We shall never surrender!” And in another speech on June 20th, noted, “The Battle of
France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin!” The battle would include more than 2,500
German aircraft attacking Britain starting in July of 1940, and carrying on through June of 1941.
Some 40,000 Britons would be killed in the bombing. But in the end, the Luftwaffle lacked
a comprehensive strategic bombing strategy, and failed to either break british will, or to cripple
its industry. After losing over 2,200 aircraft, having proven unable to gain air superiority over
Britain, and distracted by the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany withdrew most of
its air force in June of 1941. Although a much reduced force continued air attacks on the island.
It was towards the end of the battle, in the spring of 1941, that the Luftwaffe changed
strategy, and started targeting British port facilities. This was to aid the German navy in
what was called the Battle of the Atlantic, the operation to cut off supplies to Great Britain.
The Germans found more success in these attacks as ports were easier to find, and required less
flight time over the island. Tens of thousands of tons of shipping were destroyed. Damage from air
attacks to facilities in the important port city of Liverpool reduced cargo unloading capability in
the port by as much as 75 percent. Britain faced a particular difficulty defending its ports. As they
were on the coast, attacks came with far less warning, and shorter time to mount a defense.
One solution to that problem came in the form of the Maunsell Sea Forts.
Named after Guy Maunsell, the civil engineer who designed them, these were platforms built in the
ocean that would be used to provide early warning and defense against Luftwaffle bombing attacks,
and to deter the Luftwaffle from being able to drop sea mines in important shipping lanes.
Originally 49 such forts were planned, although only seven were built.
The first four built were used for what was called the naval fort design. These were
concrete platforms that were built on land, towed out to sea and then flooded, much like modern day
oil platforms. The two pillars contained sleeping and operational quarters, and were then connected
above the water line with a steel platform that was the gun deck, housing four anti-aircraft
cannons, and a radar installation. The forts had a normal complement of 120 personnel.
The first of the forts was placed on a sandbar about 10 miles from the shore, called Rough Sands,
and thus was named Fort Roughs. It was placed February 11 of 1942, in roughly 37 feet of water,
but by the time the forts were placed, the worst of the blitz was already over.
Fort Rough continued to be used and occupied by the British government clear until 1956,
when all permanent personnel were removed. And there you know,
it might have just rotted away, known as nothing but a navigational hazard.
Were it not for the advent of rock and roll music, and the rise of something called Pirate radio.
A Pirate radio station is a station that broadcasts without a valid license,
and is a worldwide phenomenon that responds to various national laws and restrictions on
radio broadcasts. In the United Kingdom, Pirate radio became popular in the 1960s,
because radio stations were under license to the british broadcasting corporation,
and the BBC did not generally cater to fans of pop and rock music. The venture could be lucrative,
by 1966, Pirate radio in Great Britain had an audience of 10 to 15 million, and sold more than
2 million pounds in advertising. As the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949 did not apply to stations
outside the United Kingdom, Pirate radio stations often operated from ships just outside British
territorial waters. Or alternatively, disused World War II seaports. One of the pirate stations
is called Radio Essex, and broadcast from one of the Maunsell sea forts called, Knock John Tower.
Radio Essex belonged to a former major in the British army by the name of Paddy Roy Bates.
Bates had had an exciting time in the Second World War where he participated in the Battle of Monte
Cassino, and also contracted malaria, sandfly fever, frostbite, and was bitten by a snake. Bates
engaged in many business activities after he left the army, including running an inland shipping
fleet before he decided to take on the business of pirate radio. But Radio Essex had a problem.
Knock John Tower was within British territorial waters, and broadcasting from there violated the
Wireless Telegraphy Act. As a response, Bates moved to the nearby Roughs Tower,
which was just outside British territorial waters in 1967. That required forcibly evicting another
radio operation, something common in what has been described as a very, “hands-on business.”
But Bates would be unable to open again as a radio station,
as the 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offenses Act made it illegal to broadcast,
even outside territorial waters. But the wily businessman had a new plan.
Since it lay outside British territorial waters, and had been abandoned, Roughs Tower was Extra
National Territory and so Bates claimed it, and declared it the Principality of Sealand.
The former Maunsell fort had become its own micronation. The first test of the micronation
came in 1968, when a British pilotage authority ship approached the platform.
Bates and his son fired warning shots to drive the vessel away from their
territorial waters. As British citizens they were called into court on weapons charges,
but the court ruled that it did not have authority, as the tower was outside British
territorial waters. A precedent that Bates saw as a tacit recognition of sealand's sovereignty.
An even more dramatic event happened in 1978, when armed invaders took over the Principality
of Sealand. The apparent coup attempt to claim the economic value of the platform ended when Bates,
and a few army buddies, retook Sealand in a daring helicopter raid. Then came a twist.
One of the invaders, a German, held a Sealandic passport, and so Bates held him
as a traitor. The German government was forced to send a diplomat to negotiate his release, which
was seen as another tacit recognition of Sealandic sovereignty. After the fight was over, the German
claimed to be the legitimate ruler of Sealand, and formed a Sealandic government in exile.
While the British government does not officially recognize Sealand, they have never taken action to
shut the Principality down; even after Britain extended its territorial waters in 1987. When
a fire damaged the platform in 2006, a royal air force helicopter evacuated an injured sealander.
The redoubtable Roy Bates, Prince Roy of Sealand, passed away in 2012 at the age of 91.
His wife, Princess Joan of Sealand, passed away in 2016. Their son, Prince Michael,
now bears the title Prince of Sealand. The Principality, whose motto is, E Mare Libertas,
From the sea, Freedom, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017.
The micronation issues passports, stamps and coins; it has a constitution instituted in 1975.
It has a flag, a national anthem, and a coat of arms. It publishes an online newspaper
called The Sealand News. A number of amateur athletes represent Sealand,
including the Sealandic national football team, a member of the new Football Federation Board.
A team representing Sealand won the World Egg Throwing Championship in 2008.
On their website, sealandgov.org, you can purchase Sealandic citizenship and a passport.
And even purchase noble titles, if you ever wanted to be a duke. And if it all seems
tongue-in-cheek, realize that the Bates family has committed an enormous amount of personal,
and financial resources over the last 50 years, to maintain their tiny part of the world. A 2015
article in the Emory Law Review arguing for the recognition of Sealand notes,
“that not only should United Nations conventions catch up with the fact that man-made islands are
a growing part of the world today. But also, that they should recognize” what the article describes,
“as the most basic of rights. Sovereignty, freedom from enslavement, by external powers.”
I'm the History Guy, and I hope you enjoyed this edition of my series, five minutes of history,
short snippets of forgotten history, five to ten minutes long. And if you did enjoy it, please go
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or comments, feel free to write those in the comments section, I'll be happy to respond. And
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