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Welcome to Sealand Issue: 1 Dated: 7th January 2010 The Worlds smallest island known as "The Principality of Sealand" Having spent January 2003 aboard the fort here's a preview of a few of the pictures taken A VCD to play on your DVD player is available with over 150 photographs & soundtrack tour of the whole of Roughs Fort To order your copy & other related items go to the Offshore Shop Looking East "Sealand" is based on Roughs Tower, it was the first of four World War 2 Navy forts built on the banks of the Thames in Gravesend Kent at Red Lion Wharf Looking West construction of fort number 1 Roughs began on 4th September 1941 Originally the fort had a control top-house & radar lookout built on what is now the Heli-Pad Original plan of the Control Room Deck Since the removal of the teak radar section & control room in the 1960's the fort has continued to be modified * The VCD has the whole story Today there's a powerful crane, a gantry for radar, the weather station, satellite dishes, & the masts for Sealand Radio At night the fort is lit by high intensity IQ lamps Original design section of a Navy fort foundation Hollow pontoons on which the structures were raised to be floated to location & sunk in position

Sinking or rather grounding of Roughs took place on 11th February 1942 Fort number 2 Sunk Head, Tongue 3, & Knock John 4 were built & then grounded throughout the summer of 1943 Sealand Radio gives the position today as 51 53'42" N & 01 28' 51" E That's around 7 nautical miles of the Suffolk coast "Salty" marks the position on the chart above A line & tone drawing of a Navy fort in 1943 Elevation showing the landing Dolphin that was constructed as an after thought to aid transfer of the 120 serving ratings officers & supplies

The RiB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) Sealand 1 the fort tender hauled up onto the South main deck end by the former Southend Pier Lifeboat winch The Navy fort original platform main deck plan

Last original bulwark under the forts East wing looking towards the East Cardinal Buoy

Last of the forts three original 30 KVA Gardner LW generators in deck level 1 (A) of the North Deep leg

Of the others one was cannibalized for spares the block then disposed off & the other found its way into a local fishing boat

All the Wartime forts were all equipped with these units, whilst this one is preserved & functional it's uneconomic to run for long periods

Original plan of deck level 1 (A) the Generator Room

The third generator set would have been in deck level 1 (H) of the South Deep leg