Great Basses Reef Lighthouse is an offshore

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

in the south of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, operated and maintained by the

Sri Lanka Ports Authority Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) is the state-owned operator of major commercial ports in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1979, SLPA currently operates ports in Colombo, Galle, Hambantota, Kankesanthurai, Oluvil, Point Pedro and Trincomalee Trincomalee ...

. It is located on a reef 13 km off the coast of

Yala National Park Yala National Park is the most visited and second largest national park in Sri Lanka, bordering the Indian Ocean. The park consists of five blocks, three of which are now open to the public. There are also two adjoining parks, Kumana National Pa ...

, near Little Basses Reef Lighthouse. It is accessible only by boat. The two Basses lighthouses, 'Great' and 'Little', are among the most famous offshore lighthouses of Asia.

History

The necessity of a lighthouse was acknowledged in 1856, a design of an iron tower on a granite base was suggested and costs began to be incurred with no results. A new design of the lighthouse by Alexander Gordon and James Nicholas Douglass was put forward in 1867 and approved. The executive engineer in charge was William Douglass, brother of James (later

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

James). Two steam vessels were used, each capable of carrying 120 tonnes of stone and each equipped with lifting gear, as each block weighs 2 to 3 tons. The first stone was laid in December 1870, the last in late 1872 and the light was lit in March 1873. The cost had been £63,000, of which £40,000 had been expended to no effect before

Trinity House The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the ...

and William Douglass were involved. It withstood the force of the

2004 tsunami On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the scient ...

with only modest damage; it was repaired with assistance from the UK lighthouse authorities

and The

Northern Lighthouse Board The Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is the general lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for ocean, marine navigation aids around coastal areas. History The NLB was formed by ...

. The reef is the site of the Great Basses wreck, an early 18th-century wreck of an Indian ship, carrying a

treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

of silver

rupee Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currency, currencies of Indian rupee, India, Mauritian rupee, Mauritius, Nepalese rupee, Nepal, Pakistani rupee, Pakistan, Seychellois rupee, Seychelles, and Sri Lankan rupee, Sri Lanka, and of former cu ...

s, that the science-fiction writer

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

and Mike Wilson discovered in 1961.

Lens

Great Basses was one of a limited number of lighthouses that were designed to house the large

Hyperradiant Fresnel lens Hyper-radial or hyperradiant Fresnel lenses are Fresnel lenses used in lighthouses. They are larger than First order Fresnel lens#Sizes of lighthouse lenses, "first-order" lenses, having a focal length (radius) of 1330 mm (52.36 inches). The ...

es that became available at the end of the 19th century. Four of these lenses were used in Sri Lankan lights, all made by

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was an English glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (county), West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassma ...

in England.

Gallery

File:Greatbasses2.jpg, Getting new supplies File:GreatBassesLighthouse-April2015-Cropped.JPG, The lighthouse as seen from Yala National Park.

References

External links

Sri Lanka Ports Authority

Lighthouses of Sri Lanka

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1873 Lighthouses in Sri Lanka

History

Lens

See also

Gallery

References

External links