HM Fort Roughs

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HM Fort Roughs
Rough Sands, off the coast of Essex.
The fort in 2007
Location off the coast of Essex
Coordinates	51°53′42.6″N 1°28′49.8″E / 51.895167°N 1.480500°E / 51.895167; 1.480500
Type	Offshore fortress
Site information
Owner	United Kingdom Sealand (claim unrecognized)
Controlled by	Sealand
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942–1956
Battles/wars	World War II

HM Fort Roughs is one of several World War II installations that were designed by Guy Maunsell and known collectively as His Majesty's Forts or as Maunsell Sea Forts; the purpose of which was to guard the port of Harwich, Essex, and more broadly, the Thames estuary. This 4,500 ton artificial naval installation is similar in some respects to "fixed" offshore oil platforms. It is situated on Rough Sands, a sandbar located approximately 11 kilometres (6 nmi) from the coast of Suffolk and 13 kilometres (7 nmi) from the coast of Essex. Today it is the location and de-facto capital of the unrecognised, self-proclaimed state of Sealand.^[1]