Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse

Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse

File:Aranjee x-mas Matt2.jpg Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse and the Needle Rocks on a clear day in December 2005.
Tasmania
Location	Maatsuyker Island Tasmania Australia
Coordinates
Year first constructed	1891 (first)
Year first lit	1996 (current)
Deactivated	1996 (first)
Construction	brick (first) fiberglass (current)
Tower shape	conical frustum tower with balcony and lantern (first)
Markings / pattern	white tower and lantern
Height	15 metres (49 ft) (first)
Focal height	140 metres (460 ft) (current)
Original lens	First order Fresnel by Chance Brothers
Range	26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) (first)
Characteristic	white flash every 7.5 s, except every fourth flash omitted
Admiralty number	K3656
NGA number	6880
ARLHS number	AUS-104
Managing agent	Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse was the last Australian lighthouse still being officially operated by lightkeepers. A second, smaller and automated lighthouse was installed in 1996 but it is unclear whether volunteers are going to continue to work the lights on Maatsuyker Island.

The lighthouse is located near the south west tip of Maatsuyker Island, probably because its main function originally would have been to warn ships approaching from the west and being blown in an easterly direction by the prevailing westerly winds of the Roaring Forties. Many ships were shipwrecked on the south and west coasts of Tasmania from the earliest days of sail, until the advent of modern navigation aids, because of a combination of the westerly gales and the dangerous coastline.

In 1891 the lighthouse was completed and until today it remains Australia's most southerly lighthouse. A first order Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers was used in the lantern and is still operational. From the inauguration until the installation of the automated light, the lighthouse was manned by a small staff of lighthouse keepers, who constituted the total population of the island.

See also

• History of Tasmania
• List of lighthouses in Tasmania