Roughs Tower is a Maunsell Sea Fort that was built by the British in international waters during World War II.

Since 1967, the decommissioned Roughs Tower has been occupied and claimed as a sovereign state by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates.

Bates and his associates have repelled incursions from vessels from rival pirate radio stations and the UK's Royal Navy using firearms and petrol bombs.

[5] In 1943, during World War II, Roughs Tower was constructed by the United Kingdom as one of the Maunsell Forts,[6] primarily to defend the vital shipping lanes in nearby estuaries against German mine-laying aircraft.

[7] Roughs Tower was occupied in February and August 1965 by Jack Moore and his daughter Jane, squatting on behalf of the pirate station Wonderful Radio London.

[15] Achenbach had disagreed with Bates over plans to turn Sealand into a luxury hotel and casino with fellow German and Dutch businessmen.

Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.

[19] Sealand previously sold fantasy passports (as termed by the Council of the European Union), which are not valid for international travel.

[20] In 1997, the Bates family revoked all Sealand passports, including those that they themselves had issued over the previous 22 years,[18] due to the realisation that an international money laundering ring had appeared, using the sale of fake Sealand passports to finance drug trafficking and money laundering from Russia and Iraq.

[26] In January 2007, The Pirate Bay, an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software founded by the Swedish think tank Piratbyrån, attempted to purchase Sealand after harsher copyright measures in Sweden forced them to look for a base of operations elsewhere.

[19] In the opinion of law academic John Gibson, there is little chance that Sealand would be recognised as a nation due to it being a man-made structure.

[18] Irrespective of its legal status, Sealand is managed by the Bates family as if it were a recognised sovereign entity and they are its hereditary royal rulers.

[39] Sealand has been involved in several commercial operations, including the issuing of coins and postage stamps and the establishment of an offshore Internet hosting facility, or data haven.

[14] Some notable individuals who possess titles from Sealand include Ed Sheeran, Terry Wogan and Ben Fogle.

[43] In 2000, publicity was created about Sealand following the establishment of a new entity called HavenCo, a data haven, which effectively took control of Roughs Tower itself.

Ryan Lackey, Haven's co-founder and a key participant in the country, left HavenCo under acrimonious circumstances in 2002, citing disagreements with the Bates family over management of the company.

[56] On 20 August 2018, competitive swimmer Richard Royal swam the 12 km (7.5 mi) from Sealand to the mainland of the UK, finishing in 3 hours, 29 minutes.

He entered the water from the bosun's chair, signaling the start of the swim, and finished on Felixstowe beach, fulfilling the 'land to land' requirement.

[61] An American football team named the Sealand Seahawks were formed in 2021, announcing a game in Ireland against the South Dublin Panthers on 19 February 2022.