Scotch Cap Light

Location	Unimak Island, Alaska, US
Coordinates	54°23′40″N 164°44′41″W / 54.3944°N 164.7447°W / 54.3944; -164.7447
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Active light
Constructed	1971
Construction	metal
Height	26 ft (7.9 m)
Shape	square
Power source	solar power
Operator	United States Coast Guard
Focal height	110 ft (34 m)
Range	9 nmi (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic	Fl W 6s
1950 light
Constructed	1950
Construction	masonry
Lens	third order Fresnel lens
1903 light
Constructed	1903
Construction	lumber
Height	45 ft (14 m)
Shape	octagon
1940 light
Constructed	1940
Construction	concrete
Shape	square
Deactivated	1 April 1946

The Scotch Cap Light is a series of lighthouses located on the southwest corner of Unimak Island in Alaska. It was the first station established on the outside coast of Alaska. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

In 1903, the Scotch Cap Light was built. The original lighthouse was a 45-foot (14 meter) wood tower on an octagonal wood building. According to the Coast Guard Historian's Office, the lighthouse was witness to several ship wrecks. ^[4]

In 1909, the cannery supply ship Columbia wrecked. The 194 crew members were guests of the keepers for two weeks before a rescue ship could remove them. In 1930, the Japanese freighter Koshun Maru became lost in a snowstorm and beached near the light. In 1940, a new concrete reinforced lighthouse and fog-signal building was erected near the site of the original lighthouse. In 1942, the Russian freighter Turksib wrecked near the station. The 60 survivors lived at the station for several weeks because rough seas prevented a rescue ship from reaching the station.

The 1940 aid to navigation was the "twin" of the Sand Hills Light in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, replicating much of its design. ^[5]

On April 1, 1946, the station was destroyed by a massive tsunami created by a powerful earthquake. ^{[6] [7]} The entire five-man crew was killed; they were Anthony Petit, the lighthouse keeper; Jack Colvin, fireman first class; Dewey Dykstra, seaman first class; Leonard Pickering, motor machinist's mate second class; and Paul James Ness, seaman first class. ^[8] This was the worst disaster to ever befall a land-based Coast Guard light station. ^{[9] [10]} Keeper-class cutter USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558), based in Ketchikan, Alaska, is named in honor of the fallen lighthouse keeper. ^[11]

In 1946, in the wake of the tsunami disaster, a temporary unwatched light was established. The new permanent structure was completed in the early 1950s, and the temporary light was discontinued. The lighthouse was automated in 1971. A skeletal tower replaced the 1950s structure, and the fog signal was discontinued. ^[4]

See also

• List of lighthouses in the United States

References

"BMC Anthony Lawrence Petit and the Scotch Cap Lighthouse," Congressional Record, vol. 145, part 1 (1999), pp. 1305-1306, https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-1999-pt1/html/CRECB-1999-pt1-Pg1305-2.htm.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scotch Cap Lighthouse.

• Anthony Petit biography
• A Land-Locked Coastie — Scotch Cap Light Station
• An artist's depiction showing the tsunami wave just before impact
• Scotch Cap Lightstation Tsunami Disaster memorial page