Some time ago, the BBC announced that
they plan to close their Indian Ocean Relay Station at the end of the month,
Saturday March 29. This station has been
on the air for more than a quarter century and it will end its international
shortwave service, though the local FM relay stations will still remain on air.
As
a tribute to the lengthy service provided from this important radio station, we
are planning to present two topics here in Wavescan. Next week, you will hear the story of the BBC
Indian Ocean Relay Station; and this week, we present the story, Five in a Row,
the steps leading up to the erection of their relay station in the Seychelles
Islands.
Back
at the end of last year, we presented the story of the temporary BBC relay
station located at Francistown in
Botswana, Africa. This station was
hurriedly pieced together in an effort to counter the political events in
neighboring Rhodesia, and it was officially identified as the BBC Central
Africa Relay Station.
Four
transmitters were installed, two mediumwave Continentals at 50 kW each from the
United States, and two shortwave Marconis at 10 kW each from England. This station was taken into service on
December 30, 1965, and its last day of on air service was March 31, 1968.
Around
the time when the station was closing, a question was raised in the British
Parliament in London regarding this BBC Central Africa Relay Station. According to the Hansard Report, it was
stated that the Francistown station was closing, and that additional antenna
systems were under installation at the BBC Relay Station on Ascension Island. These new antennas would ensure, it was stated,
adequate shortwave coverage into Rhodesia.
This of course, would form only a temporary interim service into
Rhodesia.
In
June 1966, the BBC was investigating the possibility of utilizing a large ship
as a BBC relay station for radio coverage into East Africa. The ship that they were looking at was a
redundant aircraft carrier, HMS “Leviathan”.
The
good ship “Leviathan” was laid down at Tynside in England on October 18, 1943
as a nuclear powered aircraft carrier for use in the latter part of World War
2. This ship, uncompleted, was launched
on June 7, 1945, just as World War 2 was coming to an end, and it simply lay
around awaiting its destiny. But, it was
never fully completed.
At
the time when the BBC was investigating the possibility of taking the ship over
as a relay broadcasting station, the suggestion was to have it stationed in the
Mozambique Channel and that it would give radio coverage into Rhodesia and
South Africa on behalf of the BBC. At
the time, Rhodesia had made a unilateral declaration of independence, UDI, and
the South African government was a strong supporter of the Smith administration
in the former British colony.
It
does seem at least mildly hypocritical that all this was going on at the same
time that the BBC was complaining back home about the existence of unlicensed
off shore stations on board ships and forts around the British Isles.
It
is probable that this mobile shipboard radio station would transmit on
mediumwave towards East Africa, though shortwave could later be
considered. However, this radio project
never materialized, and the entire concept was scrapped in May 1966. Two years later, the empty and uncompleted
aircraft carrier “Leviathan” itself was sold, and scrapped.
However,
around the same time, the BBC was also investigating the possibility of
establishing a large relay station on the island of Aldabra for broadcast into
East Africa. Aldabra is a tiny
uninhabited atoll 500 miles off the coast of Africa, 300 miles north of
Madagascar, and 500 miles from Zanzibar.
The only personnel on the island are a few officials, caretakers and
research officers.
The
Aldabra atoll is 21 miles long, 8 miles wide and it is the second largest
raised coral reef in the world. This
atoll is made up of four small islets around a shallow lagoon, though no fresh
water is available. There are many
unique forms of life in the area, including an estimated 100,000 Giant
Tortoises.
Back
in 1966, the Royal Air Force was giving consideration to establishing an air
base on Aldabra, and the American air force was interested in a joint
collaboration with the RAF as a refueling station for American planes en route
to Vietnam. American investment in the
project would amount to
$11 million.
In
1966, the BBC chartered a 600 ton coastal vessel from Mombassa, the “Southern
Skies” for a six week exploratory expedition to Aldabra. The BBC survey party was in contact London
via a shortwave SSB transmitter on the ship, and the BBC communicated with the
ship via one of the high powered shortwave transmitters at Daventry. However, due to the incursion of tropical
storm Angela, the survey expedition to Aldabra was cut short, and this project
too was abandoned.
If
the Aldabra project had materialized, it was envisioned that four high powered
mediumwave transmitters at 750 kW each would be installed with four independent
directional antenna systems beamed westwards towards Africa. These transmitters would be operated
separately, or in pairs, or all with combined power on one mediumwave channel. Though not stated, if this station had been
installed, it is probable that shortwave coverage would be added
subsequently.
However,
the British/American air force base never became a reality, so neither did the
BBC relay station.
The
next project in this sequence was the BBC relay station in the Seychelles
Islands, and that of course, is our opening topic in Wavescan next week. So, what then were the Five in a Row? Here is the list:-
1.
The temporary BBC relay station at Francistown in Botswana, 1965 - 1968
2.
Installation of an antenna system at the BBC relay station on Ascension Island
for coverage into
Rhodesia on shortwave, 1968
3.
Possible usage of HMS “Leviathan” as a relay station in the Mozambique Channel,
1966
4.
Projected BBC station on the island of Aldabra, 1966
5. BBC Indian Ocean Relay Station Seychelles,
1988 - 2014
(AWR/WavescanNWS264)