Offshore radio acquired the yacht Ceto and installed radio equipment. Unfortunately, the apparatus could not operate properly overboard, the signal being heavily affected by the climate conditions. The transmitter was then replaced by Siemens loudspeakers and the Ceto toured England "broadcasting" gramophone records interspersed by advertising. Unauthorized offshore broadcasting stations operating from ships or fixed platforms in the coastal waters of the Northern Sea first appeared in 1958. There were as many as eleven such stations in the mid-1960s. One of the most popular offshore radio broadcasts in Europe came from Radio Caroline, which developed out both of the strict broadcasting regulations
Pirate radio in the United Kingdom setting up a dummy antenna for the Home Office to find. Another political pirate was the Miners pirate radio station dubbed Radio Arthur by the media, which operated in the Nottinghamshire area during the 1984/1985 miners strike; downloads of some of its programmes are available on www.g0mrf.com. This station transmitted over the top of Radio Trent on both mediumwave using 3500 watts and VHF using 800 watts or more. Mentioned in a House of Lords debate in Hansard as Radio Scargill, it was stated that it had been actively pursued and closed down by the authorities; however this was incorrect