Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

The remains of the mid-20th century Cooling Radio Station, visible as a partially demolished building and associated low earthworks at TQ 7730 7675, were surveyed in August 2010 by English Heritage's Archaeological Survey and Investigation team as part of the Hoo Peninsula Historic Landscape Project. Now demolished antenna arrays associated with the radio station were transcribed from historic aerial photographs. Cooling Radio Station was constructed in 1938 to house a Multiple Unit Steerable Antenna (MUSA) system which utilised a two-mile long antenna array. The MUSA array was the last major technological development in the short-wave communication era and represented the ultimate short-wave receiving system. It is believed that only two other stations using the MUSA system were built in the world. Cooling Radio Station was unique as it was controlled by an electrical phase-shifting system. In total, the receiving equipment at Cooling utilised 1,079 valves making it both complicated and expensive. The MUSA system was probably the most complex radio ever built and gave valuable service between the 1940s and 1960s. During the last stage of short-wave transatlantic communication, prior to the rise of satellites, an experimental short-wave receiving system was constructed at Cooling. The Multiple Direction Universally Steerable Aerial System (MEDUSA) had the potential to be the next major development in global shortwave communication. Cooling Radio Station closed in 1965.

Monument Types

• ANTENNA ARRAY (Closed, Modern - 1938 AD to 1965 AD)
• RADIO STATION (Modern - 1938 AD to 1965 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

From the report:

"Cooling Radio Station was constructed to house the ‘Multiple Unit Steerable Antenna’ (MUSA) system developed by Friis and Feldman in the 1930s. The MUSA array was the last major technological development in the shortwave era and represented the ultimate shortwave receiving system. It is believed that only two other stations using the MUSA system were built in the world: the experimental array constructed near Holmdel, New Jersey, and one other full array at Manahawkin, New Jersey.

Unlike the mechanical operating system employed at Manahawkin, Cooling Radio Station was unique as it was controlled by an electrical phase-shifting system. In total, the receiving equipment at Cooling utilised 1,079 valves making it both complicated and expensive. The MUSA system was probably the most complex radio ever built and gave valuable service between the 1940s and 1960s. During the last stage of shortwave transatlantic communication prior to the rise of satellites, an experimental shortwave receiving system was constructed at Cooling. The ‘Multiple Direction Universally Steerable Aerial System’ (MEDUSA) had the potential to be the next major development in global shortwave communication.

During the early years of the Second World War, Cooling was also the site of an Admiralty direction finding (D/F) station." (1)

The full history of the site, the technology and the development of the experimental apparatus has been detailed. (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2010, Cooling Radio Station, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: An Introduction (Unpublished document). SKE16235.

<2> English Heritage, 2010, Cooling Radio Station, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: An archaeological investigation of a short-wave receiving station (Monograph). SKE25193.

Sources and further reading

Related records