Yes I remember the Rough Towers well, had to close in once on the Goldeneye so that the RN spotter could accurately get the watching buoy's positions, when some guy started to loose off with a shotgun at us. Went to court, but they had a Perry Mason solicitor and got away with it, some years earlier, when a Trinity House workboat approached the watching buoys someone put a .303 round through the side of the boat. Apparently because it is over 3 miles from our coast a person living in Southend at the time claimed it at his new country and was using it to carry out off shore financing etc Although the Admiralty has paid for the maintenance of the watching buoys for decades and still do to this day.
If I remember correctly his name was Roy Bates, I think his son lives there now, they were going to make a casino etc, tax free haven & the like
They were boarded once in the 70's I think.but don't quote me
by some Dutch people or something & it all got a bit nasty. After that they would shoot at anyone getting to close, hence we were pleased as kids to get the flag raised. They used to have an old 4" gun mounted on her, but it seems to have gone now, probably pushed over the side
Also had quite a nasty fire a while back, a generator caught fire & caused bad damage.