Sommers (; ; ) is an islet and a

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 eastern part of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

, an arm of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, just outside the Gulf of Vyborg, about 19 kilometres south of

Virolahti Virolahti (; ) 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 density is . The m ...

, Finland, but it is now possessed by Russia. The lighthouse is situated on a rocky

skerry A skerry ( ) is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low stack (geology), sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, ...

, 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 Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement (clockwork), movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or wei ...

which rotated an oil lamp with a double

wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

. 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 Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

n Army began constructing defense works on this island when

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 Beam (structure), 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 ...

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

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

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

* 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

References