Radio London Key Dates

Radio London - Key Dates

19th November 1964	The former US Navy minesweeper Galaxy dropped anchor within sight of the Shivering Sands Fort (home of Radio City) and started test broadcasts on 412m (725kHz) and later on 324m (926kHz ) using the call sign Radio London.
5th December 1964	Test transmissions from a new position off Frinton on Sea, Essex started on 266m (1125kHz)
23rd December 1964	Regular transmissions for Radio London start at 6.00am

1964

19th April 1965

The crew of Radio London played a significant part in the rescue of a USAF pilot who was forced to ditch in the North Sea.

1965

11th January 1966	In a Force 8 gale, the Radio London ship Galaxy began to drag her anchor and drift towards the shore. By the early hours of the following morning the Radio London crew had started the Galaxy's engines , preventing the ship drifting any further, however Radio London’s transmissions were suspended as the ship was now within British territorial waters.
** March 1966	Plans announced for a sister station serving the north of England from an anchorage in the Irish Sea, using the call sign Radio Manchester.
** April 1966	Radio London's Managing Director, Philip Birch, opened negotiations with Radio City's Reg Calvert proposing a take over of the fort-based station to re-launch it as an easy listening service using the call sign UKGM - United Kingdom Good Music.
** May 1966	A deal was struck with Radio City for the ownership and management of UKGM.It was planned that UKGM would become fully operational on 1st July 1966.
20th June 1966	Deal with Radio City terminated after that station’s owner, Reg Calvert, was shot dead.
1st July 1966	British Government announce that legislation to outlaw offshore radio stations is be introduced

1966

23rd November 1964

The Vatican abolished Latin as the official language of Roman Catholic liturgy.

21st December 1964 British parliament votes to ban the death penalty.

21st April 1965

New York World's Fair reopened for a 2nd and final season.

12th January 1966 US President Johnson said in his State of the Union address that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there was ended.

16th April 1966 Rhodesian PM Ian Smith broke diplomatic relations with Britain.

26th May 1966 Guyana achieves independence from the United Kingdom.

29th June 1966

US planes begin bombing the Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong.