Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse
Western Australia
Location Cape Leeuwin
Western Australia
Coordinates 34°22′27″S 115°08′09″E / 34.37417°S 115.13583°E / -34.37417; 115.13583Coordinates: 34°22′27″S 115°08′09″E / 34.37417°S 115.13583°E / -34.37417; 115.13583
Year first lit 1895
Construction limestone tower
Tower shape cylindrical tower on square base
Markings / pattern white tower and lantern
Height 39 metres (128 ft)
Focal height 57 metres (187 ft)
Original lens 2nd order Chance Brothers Fresnel lens[1]
Characteristic Fl W 7.5s.
Admiralty number K1794
NGA number 8872
ARLHS number AUS-035

The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on the headland of Cape Leeuwin, i/ˈluːwɪn/ the most south-westerly point on the mainland of the Australian Continent, in the state of Western Australia.

Opened with great ceremony by John Forrest in 1895, the lighthouse has since been automated. The lighthouse, besides being a navigational aid, serves as an important automatic weather station. The lighthouse's buildings and grounds are now vested in the local tourism body and the single (1960s) and double (1980s) communications towers that were north-west of the lighthouse, seen in older photographs of Cape Leeuwin, have been removed.

The nearest functioning lighthouse north of Cape Leeuwin is the much smaller Cape Hamelin lighthouse, just south of the Hamelin Bay camping area.

The young Felix von Luckner, later a German WWI war hero noted for his long voyage on the Seeadler during which he captured 14 enemy ships, was briefly assistant lighthouse keeper, a job he abandoned when discovered with his hotel keeper's daughter by her father.

The International Lighthouse Day was celebrated at Cape Leeuwin lighthouse for the first time in 2004.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Australia: Western Australia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  2. ↑ Lighthouses of Australia Inc. "Bulletin No 5/2004 - Sept/October 2004". Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
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