Offer Wadham lighthouse

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Offer Wadham Lighthouse
Canada Newfoundland relief location map.jpg
Lighthouse icon centered.svg
Offer Wadham Lighthouse
Newfoundland and Labrador
Location Wadham Islands
Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada
Coordinates 49°35′36.3″N53°45′46.7″W / 49.593417°N 53.762972°W / 49.593417; -53.762972 Coordinates: 49°35′36.3″N53°45′46.7″W / 49.593417°N 53.762972°W / 49.593417; -53.762972
Year first constructed 1858 (first)
Year first lit 1990s (current)
Automated 1990s
Deactivated 1990s (first)
Construction brick and limestone encased in concrete tower (first)
steel skeletal tower (current)
Tower shape octagonal tower lantern removed (first)
square tower
Markings / pattern unpainted tower (first)
Height 12 metres (39 ft) (first)
6 metres (20 ft) (current)
Focal height 30.5 metres (100 ft)
Light source solar power
Range 6 nautical miles (11 km; 6.9 mi)
Characteristic Fl W 3s.
Admiralty number H0584
CHS number CCG 396
NGA number 1440
ARLHS number CAN-696
Managing agent Canadian Coast Guard [1]

The Offer Wadham lighthouse is an active lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was lit for the first time on October 4, 1858. It was built after many petitions were sent to the government arguing for a light to be put on the island to help guide mariners. This arose especially after the "Spring of the Wadhams" in 1852, when more than 40 sealing vessels were crushed and abandoned in the ice near Offer Wadham Island and several crew members escaped by climbing over cliffs to find shelter. [2]

Lighthouse structure designed to emit light to aid navigation

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.

Newfoundland and Labrador Province of Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, with a combined area of 405,212 square kilometres (156,500 sq mi). In 2018, the province's population was estimated at 525,073. About 92% of the province's population lives on the island of Newfoundland, of whom more than half live on the Avalon Peninsula.

Contents

Keepers

The first lighthouse keeper was Thomas Hennessey and his assistant was Edward Reddy. Charles Prowse was appointed keeper in November 1862 until 1901 and his assistants were William Hennessey, William Murphy, Peter Woods, and Robert Wellon. Other lighthouse keepers on the island were: [3]

Description

The lighthouse is described in the Newfoundland Almanac as a steady, fixed, white 4th order dioptric burning on a circular brick tower at an arc of 360 degrees with a 2 wick concentric lamp. It was 100 feet (30 m) above sea level and could be seen at about 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi). [4]

See also

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References

  1. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Northwestern Newfoundland". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  2. Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
  3. Roland Abbott, A Brief History of the Offer Wadham Island: the Million Dollar Rock, 1994
  4. The Newfoundland Almanac, 1860, 1865, and 1887