EUROSIEGE
Radio Caroline had returned the previous year, but Laser's quick paced US Top 40 style made the station the popular choice. If you walked into any shop, or restaurant or listened any car radio, in London and the south of England, Laser was almost always blasting out.. |
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Pictured is the government surveillance boat Dioptric Surveyor crossing towards Caroline's ship Ross Revenge |
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"Eurosiege"
eventually succeeded in the closing Laser 558. Starved of fuel and food,
and with generator failure the stricken ship asked the UK authorities
for assistance. Laser's ship was towed into the UK port of Harwich,
where she was immediately impounded by the authorities. The Laser ship - Communicator, later had a
brief return as Laser Hot Hits. Since the ship has had a number of
owners and is currently in Holland, where it broadcasts from a
mooring in an inland lake.
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The arrival of Laser 558
off the UK coast in 1984, quickly led to something of a revival of
offshore radio.
Laser's
popularity soon had an effect on other radio stations. Several of those
in Southern England lost a large audience to the offshore station. It
hit them hard, and they wanted to hit back. Under pressure the UK
government launched a surveillance operation purportedly against
Caroline and Laser, but it was somewhat obvious who they were after.