By Chris Mills
The great landfall light at Cape Race, Newfoundland, Canada is one of the world’s most powerful lights. Installed in 1907, the massive hyper-radial lens sits atop a 68-foot concrete tower located on the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula. It has been seen as far as 40 miles out to sea.
Traditionally, Cape Race was the first land sighted by trans-Atlantic shipping bound for North America. Wireless operators at Cape Race received the distress call from the RMS Titanic in 1912, and played a major part in relaying information about the sinking to other vessels.
I visited the station in June, 2010, and I was disappointed to see that the hyer-radial lens had been tarped over. One of the lightkeepers told me the light had been shut down for about two months as a result of a mercury leak in the unit’s rotating mechanism. The keeper said he believed the light would be repaired, but he was not aware of any other details. Given the historical significance of this site, I would hope that the Canadian Coast Guard plans to repair this incredible lens to working order.
This story appeared in the
August 2010 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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