Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse
File:Aranjee x-mas Matt2.jpg
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse and the Needle Rocks on a clear day in December 2005.
|
|
Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 411: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Tasmania
|
|
Location | Maatsuyker Island Tasmania Australia |
---|---|
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Year first constructed | 1891 (first) |
Year first lit | 1996 (current) |
Deactivated | 1996 (first) |
Construction | brick (first) fiberglass (current) |
Tower shape | conical frustum tower with balcony and lantern (first) |
Markings / pattern | white tower and lantern |
Height | 15 metres (49 ft) (first) |
Focal height | 140 metres (460 ft) (current) |
Original lens | First order Fresnel by Chance Brothers |
Range | 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) (first) |
Characteristic | white flash every 7.5 s, except every fourth flash omitted |
Admiralty number | K3656 |
NGA number | 6880 |
ARLHS number | AUS-104 |
Managing agent | Australian Maritime Safety Authority |
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse was the last Australian lighthouse still being officially operated by lightkeepers. A second, smaller and automated lighthouse was installed in 1996 but it is unclear whether volunteers are going to continue to work the lights on Maatsuyker Island.
The lighthouse is located near the south west tip of Maatsuyker Island, probably because its main function originally would have been to warn ships approaching from the west and being blown in an easterly direction by the prevailing westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships were shipwrecked on the south and west coasts of Tasmania from the earliest days of sail, until the advent of modern navigation aids, because of a combination of the westerly gales and the dangerous coastline.
In 1891 the lighthouse was completed and until today it remains Australia's most southerly lighthouse. A first order Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers was used in the lantern and is still operational.[1] From the inauguration until the installation of the automated light, the lighthouse was manned by a small staff of lighthouse keepers, who constituted the total population of the island.
See also
<templatestyles src="Stack/styles.css"/>
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maatsuyker Island lighthouse. |
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- Use Australian English from December 2013
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Use dmy dates from December 2013
- Pages with broken file links
- Commons category link is locally defined
- Lighthouse stubs
- Australian building and structure stubs
- Lighthouses completed in 1891
- Towers completed in 1891
- South West Tasmania
- Lighthouses in Tasmania
- 1891 establishments in Australia