I used to joke about seceding from the Union and forming my own country. I’ve know about Sealand for a few years, but I was doing some reading tonight and was reminded again.
This is Sealand, a sovereign nation:
It has its own passports, stamps, currency and a flag. Its just like a real country….only a little smaller.
It consists of a rusty steel deck sitting on two hollow, chubby concrete cylinders that rise 60 feet above the churn of the North Sea. Up top there’s a drab building and a jury-rigged helicopter landing pad.
During World War II, the United Kingdom decided to establish a number of military bases, the purpose of which was to defend England against German air raids. These sea forts housed enough troops to man and maintain artillery designed to shoot down German aircraft and missiles. They were situated along the east coast of England on the edge of the English territorial waters.
Some of them, actually one of them, was built outside British jurisdiction in international waters. After the war the bases were no longer needed so the British Navy dismantled them, except for one.
On 2 September 1967, former English major Paddy Roy Bates formally occupied the “island” and settled there with his family. After intensive discussions with skillful English lawyers, Roy Bates proclaimed the island his own state. Of course, he proclaimed himself King.
I keep asking myself….what the fuck did they do all day?? I understand wanting to “get away from it all”….but this takes the cake.
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