by Anthony
Lane From time immemorial the coasts of Britain have caused many a shipwreck,
but it was to be the sixteenth century before attempts began to be made
to arrest this needless loss of both ships and men by the construction
of the first lighthouses. To buy the book
please click here: Leading
Lights Web-Shop
- the design and development of the British lightvessel from 1732
It was soon realised that these new seamarks were not enough, for ships
were still lost on sandbanks, often far offshore, where lighthouses
could not be built. As a result, lightships were introduced to warn
of many such hazards around the coast. At first these were primitive
wooden craft which used tallow candles for light. Sperm whale and later
Colza oil soon provided an alternative illuminant and a mechanised means
of rotating the loght was installed during the Victorian Era. During
the last century, oil gave way to electricity and brighter lamps became
possible. Technology advanced in parallel to replace the bell and gong
with air foghorns of tremendous power. All these improvements gradually
made the conditions of work more comfortable for the crews that spent
their long sojourns aboard until automation removed the need for lightsmen
on the vessels in die 1980s.
Guiding Lights is the story of the lightvessels that have protected
our coasts since 1732 and the great variety of innovative engineering
that has gone into their development. Largely unknown to the general
public and taken for granted by the seafarer, they still remain important
to the safe navigation of our inshore waters.
