Scotch Cap Light
{{Short description|Lighthouse in Alaska, United States}}
{{Infobox light station | module =
{{Infobox lighthouse | embed = yes | qid = Q2590327 | name = Active light}}
{{Infobox lighthouse | embed = yes | qid = Q112136941 | name = 1950 light}}
{{Infobox lighthouse | embed = yes | qid = Q112136897 | name = 1903 light}}
{{Infobox lighthouse | embed = yes | qid = Q112136914 | name = 1940 light}}
}}
The Scotch Cap Light is a series of lighthouses located on the southwest corner of Unimak Island in Alaska. It was the first station established on the outside coast of Alaska.{{Cite rowlett|ak|accessdate=2016-06-08}}[http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblighthouses/LHAK.asp Alaska Historic Light Station Information & Photography] United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 8 June 2016[http://www.lighthousedigest.com/Digest/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=22 Scotch Cape Light] Lighthouse Explorer. Retrieved 8 June 2016
History
The Scotch Cap Light was built in 1903 as a 45-foot (14 meter) wood tower on an octagonal wooden building. According to the Coast Guard Historian's Office, the lighthouse was witness to several shipwrecks.{{cite uscghist|AK|accessdate = 2008-10-26}}
In 1909, the cannery supply ship Columbia wrecked. The 194 crew members were guests of the keepers for two weeks before a rescue ship could remove them. In 1930, the Japanese freighter Koshun Maru became lost in a snowstorm and beached near the light. In 1940, a new concrete reinforced lighthouse and fog-signal building was erected near the site of the original lighthouse. In 1942, the Russian freighter Turksib wrecked near the station. The 60 survivors lived at the station for several weeks because rough seas prevented a rescue ship from reaching the station.
The 1940 aid to navigation was the "twin" of the Sand Hills Light in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, replicating much of its design.[http://www.exploringthenorth.com/sandhills/inn.html Sand Hills Light Bed and Breakfast, Exploring the North.]
On April 1, 1946, the station was destroyed by a massive tsunami created by a powerful earthquake. The tsunami was created by an underwater rock slide created by the earthquake. The rock slide also sent tsunamis down to Hawaii and along the west coast of the US.
It is more likely that the tsunami that wiped out this lighthouse occurred because of an underground rockslide, caused by an earthquake. [http://drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1946.html DrGeorgePC website with photos][http://www.lighthousedigest.com/Digest/StoryPage.cfm?StoryKey=2191 Baker, James, "Tsunami at Scotch Cap", March 2005], Lighthouse Digest. The entire five-man crew was killed; they were Anthony Petit, the lighthouse keeper; Jack Colvin, fireman first class; Dewey Dykstra, seaman first class; Leonard Pickering, motor machinist's mate second class; and Paul James Ness, seaman first class.{{cite web | url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-1999-pt1/html/CRECB-1999-pt1-Pg1305-2.htm | title=Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 1 - BMC ANTHONY LAWRENCE PETIT AND THE SCOTCH CAP LIGHTHOUSE }} This was the worst disaster to ever befall a land-based Coast Guard light station.{{cite web |url=http://www.jacksjoint.com/scotch_cap_light.htm |title=The Demise Of Scotch Cap Light Station |last=Dennis |first=Dowling |access-date=19 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319172727/http://www.jacksjoint.com/scotch_cap_light.htm |archive-date=19 March 2009 |url-status=usurped}}{{cite rowlett|ak}} Keeper-class cutter USCGC Anthony Petit (WLM-558), based in Ketchikan, Alaska, is named in honor of the fallen lighthouse keeper.[http://uscgalaska.blogspot.com/2009/02/homeported-in-ketchikan-alaska-cgc.html U.S.C.G.C. Anthony Petit.]
In 1946, in the wake of the tsunami disaster, a temporary unwatched light was established. The new permanent structure was completed in the early 1950s, and the temporary light was discontinued. The lighthouse was automated in 1971. A skeletal tower replaced the 1950s structure, and the fog signal was discontinued.
See also
{{stack|{{Portal|Alaska|Engineering}}}}
References
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-a/awl/bclass/wlm/bmc.htm Anthony Petit biography]
- [http://www.kbsb.com/uscg/default.htm A Land-Locked Coastie — Scotch Cap Light Station]
- [http://www.semparpac.org/tsunami.jpg An artist's depiction showing the tsunami wave just before impact]
- [http://www.semparpac.org/alany/uscg/ltsta.html Scotch Cap Lightstation Tsunami Disaster memorial page]
{{Lighthouses of Alaska}}
{{Authority control | additional=Q2590327,Q112136941,Q112136897,Q112136914}}
Category:Lighthouses in Alaska
Category:Buildings and structures in Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1903
Category:Rebuilt buildings and structures in the United States
Category:Lighthouses completed in 1940