Sommers (russian: Соммерс, fi, Someri, sv, Sommarö) is an islet and a lighthouse in the eastern part of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

, an arm of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

, just outside the

Gulf of Vyborg Vyborg Bay (, , ) is a deep inlet running northeastward near the eastern end of Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The city of Vyborg is located near the head of the gulf. The Monrepos Park is considered a jewel of the bay and a major draw f ...

, about 19 kilometres south of

Virolahti Virolahti (; sv, Vederlax) is the southeasternmost municipality of Finland on the border of Russia. It is located in the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of , of which is water. The population densit ...

, Finland, but it is now possessed by Russia. The lighthouse is situated on a rocky skerry, which is elevated a maximum of 16 metres above the

History

The first lighthouse on this islet was built in 1808. That construction was a brick building, chalked in white, about five metres high, with a lanternine on its top. The light source was modernized in 1866, and it was also raised to an elevation of eight metres. The lighthouse was given a third class lens system and a clockwork which rotated an oil lamp with a double wick. This gave the lighthouse beacon a reddish gloom. The lighthouse men lived along with their families in a wooden house next to the lighthouse. A fog horn was constructed at the other end of the island by the beginning of the 20th century. The

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...

n Army began constructing defense works on this island when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

erupted, but these were never completed. In 1918, Finnish maritime authorities manned the lighthouse. The old lighthouse was destroyed before the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

of 1939-40 and the personnel were evacuated. On New Year's Eve of 1941 a Finnish force of about 100 men was stationed at the island since it had a strategic position. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

also wanted to possess the islet, and on 8 July 1942 it attacked the islet with several small warships and aircraft. The Soviets creates a foothold on the eastern extent of the island, but due to artillery support from the Finnish islet of Ulko-Tammio (about northwest of Sommers) the Finns drove the Soviets away on 9 July 1942. After the 1944 peace treaty between Finland and the

, the island of Sommers was given to the Soviets, who also constructed a new

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

lighthouse. Its focal plane is about above sea level. Its

light characteristic A light characteristic is all of the properties that make a particular navigational light identifiable. Graphical and textual descriptions of navigational light sequences and colours are displayed on nautical charts and in Light Lists with the ch ...

is "Fl(2) 10s", i.e. a group of two flashing lights about every ten seconds. There are also a number of buildings and radar masts on the island, probably to keep an eye on the increasingly busy shipping traffic in the area.

References

Sources

* Seppo Laurell: ''Finlands fyrar'' 1999, * {{Authority control Lighthouses completed in 1808 Towers completed in 1808 Lighthouses completed in 1866 Lighthouses in Russia Russian islands in the Baltic Skerries 1866 establishments in the Russian Empire

History

See also

References

Sources