If you follow my blogs, you know I like to write about the unusual; things which don’t seem to be common knowledge among my peers. I’m not super interested in knowing what someone is cooking for dinner or what happened on the way to the kid’s soccer practice, and I'm not going there.
What I want to know is who built these towers in the ocean and why? And why have they been left to fall into ruin?
THE MAUNSELL SEA FORTS: A SHORT BUT BUSY LIFE
No, this has nothing to do with Venus, although this does appear other-worldly, like something out of Star Wars.
These bizarre-looking structures were erected off shore on the Thames estuary, England, and were named after the civil engineer who designed them, Guy Maunsell. They were born in the early 1940s during WWII as part of the United Kingdom’s defenses. They were operated by the British army and navy and, having served their purpose, were decommissioned in 1958, abandoned in the early 1960's, and left to die a slow, lonesome death surrounded by the North Sea. A few were destroyed in collisions with ships. Of the original seven, only three survive. Although most of the actual forts may be gone but the design of contemporary oil platforms is largely based on Maunsell’s ingenuity.
Two types of fort – army and navy -- were built on the coast and moved, virtually intact, to carefully chosen spots guaranteed to provide maximum protection. Innovative in concept and design, they were also heavily armed.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivering_Sands_Army_Fort gizmodo.com/exploring-abandoned-sea-forts en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts
NAVAL FORTS
Four naval-style forts, operated by the Royal Navy -- named Rough Sands, Sunk Head, Tongue Sands, and Knock John – were placed off-shore near the Thames Estuary. The intent was to guard against bombers, report German air raids, and prevent enemy aircraft laying mines in this vital shipping channel. Picture credit: http://harwich-society.co.uk/old/info_rough_towers.htm
Photo source: web.archive.org/web/20140818011956/harwich-society.co.uk

The towers were joined above the waterline by a steel platform which sustained living spaces, officers’ quarters, galley, medical office, and a gun/radar tower. Supplies were lifted from ships onto a steel landing platform by a crane. Knock John Fort was manned by around 100 men and was self sufficient for a month. The platform base of a naval station was fixed to the sea bed and consisted of a 168’ by 88’ platform for a superstructure 60 feet tall. The pontoon base is supports two giant pillars 24’ high.
Each pillar had seven floors for crew housing, dining, operational areas, storage for fresh water, generators, and munitions.The towers were joined above the waterline by a steel platform which sustained living spaces, officers’ quarters, galley, medical office, and a gun/radar tower. Supplies were lifted from ships onto a steel landing platform by a crane. Knock John Fort was manned by around 100 men and was self sufficient for a month.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts of the Southern - Photo source: /www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
Although Bates tried to have the Principality of Sealand recognized officially and legally, it is not accepted by anybody and legally lies within the territorial waters of the United Kingdom. Bates later moved to Suffolk, and in 2012, before he died at 91, he named his son as regent. The statement about the legal status on the site is as follows.
“The forts were abandoned in the early 1950’s and, due to their illegal construction in international waters in a time of world crisis, they should been destroyed to comply with international law. Except for the aforementioned fortress [Fort Roughs], similarly located fortresses were subsequently pulled down. The result of this was the portentous uniqueness of the fortress. Fort Roughs Tower, situated on the high seas, had been deserted and abandoned, res derelicta and terra nullius. From a legal point of view, it therefore constituted extra-national territory.” https://www.sealandgov.org/
The Principality of Sealand has a website, and at the online gift shop you one purchase Sealand stamps, passport, T-shirts … even a knighthood.
The Army forts had a more complicated design, comprising separate platforms linked by catwalks and carrying more guns than their naval counterparts. Each fort consisted of a central control tower linked to six satellites. The thirty fot towers took eight weeks to build but could be put in position in less than eight hours.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts Public Domain www.bobleroi.co.uk/TongueTower/
WHERE HAVE ALL THE TOURISTS GONE?
In the early 2000’s a consortium called Project Redsands was planning to conserve the fort situated at Red Sands. In the summers of 2007 and 2008 Red Sands Radio, a station commemorating the pirate radio stations of the 1960s, operated from the Red Sands fort on 28-day Restricted Service Licenses. The fort was subsequently declared unsafe, and Red Sands Radio has moved its operations ashore.
Photo source: http://x-pilot.co.uk/supporting-project-redsand/

Alan Harmer, part of Project Redsands, the registered charity that maintains the site, said interest for charter tours of the forts from German and Japanese tourists was particularly strong. "We've always had ideas to turn it into some type of accommodation and while this latest proposal seems a bit extreme -- I'm not sure it will turn out exactly as proposed -- it's always been something we've had on the cards. It seems the world is interested in these forts." www.cnn.com/travel/article/red-sands-sea-forts
As far as I could find out, four years later, nothing has happened.□
Photo Courtesy Aros Architects, London
Source: www.cnn.com/travel/article/red-sands-sea-forts

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/world-war-two/art528082-hotel-plan-could-save-world-war-two-redsand-forts-off-kent-coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts
https://explorethearchive.com/maunsell-sea-forts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
https://maunsellseaforts.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
https://russ.garrett.co.uk/2011/08/21/red-sands-sea-fort/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivering_Sands_Army_Fort
https://twistedsifter.com/2012/10/maunsell-sea-forts-and-towers-wwii/
http://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/TongueTower/TongueTower.html
http://gizmodo.com/exploring-the-amazing-abandoned-sea-forts-of-world-war-512874771
http://www.gulbekian.plus.com/knockjohnhistory.html
https://www.sealandgov.org/
https://www.discoveringbritain.org/activities/east-of-england/aerial-2/britain-from-the-air-redsands-sea-fort.html
Photos:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts#/media/File:The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A26878.jpg
ontheworldmap.com/north-sea/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts#/media/File:Fortlocations.gif
Royal Navy official photographer - http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//31/media-31026/large.jpg This is photograph A 26878 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIYNJ3Lwftg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand#/media/File:Sealand-sky_(cropped).jpg
http://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/TongueTower/TongueTower.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A13259.jpg
http://harwich-society.co.uk/old/info_rough_towers.htm
Sources:
http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/military-history/world-war-two/art528082-hotel-plan-could-save-world-war-two-redsand-forts-off-kent-coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts
https://explorethearchive.com/maunsell-sea-forts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
http://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/TongueTower/TongueTower.html
https://maunsellseaforts.com/
https://russ.garrett.co.uk/2011/08/21/red-sands-sea-fort/
http://gizmodo.com/exploring-the-amazing-abandoned-sea-forts-of-world-war-512874771
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shivering_Sands_Army_Fort
https://twistedsifter.com/2012/10/maunsell-sea-forts-and-towers-wwii/
Photos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts#/media/File:The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A26878.jpg
ontheworldmap.com/north-sea/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunsell_Forts#/media/File:Fortlocations.gif
Royal Navy official photographer - http://media.iwm.org.uk/iwm/mediaLib//31/media-31026/large.jpg This is photograph A 26878 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIYNJ3Lwftg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand#/media/File:Sealand-sky_(cropped).jpg
http://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/TongueTower/TongueTower.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Royal_Navy_during_the_Second_World_War_A13259.jpg