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Estevan Point lighthouse

Estevan Point lighthouse

Location	Vancouver Island, Hesquiat Peninsula, Estevan Point, Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, Canada
Coordinates	49°22′59″N 126°32′39″W / 49.382972°N 126.544028°W / 49.382972; -126.544028
Tower
Construction	concrete (tower)
Height	30 m (98 ft)
Shape	octagonal tower with buttresses
Markings	white (tower), red (lantern)
Operator	Sooke Region Museum
Heritage	classified federal heritage building of Canada, heritage lighthouse
Light
First lit	1909
Focal height	37 m (121 ft)
Lens	First order Fresnel by Chance Brothers (original), modern optic (current)
Range	17 nmi (31 km; 20 mi)
Characteristic	Fl(2) W 15s

Estevan Point Lighthouse is located on the headland of the same name on the Hesquiat Peninsula on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.^[1]

During World War II, in 1942, the Estevan Point lighthouse was fired upon by the Japanese submarine I-26, marking the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1871.^[2]

Currently the Canadian Coast Guard still maintains Estevan Point, with the light still active as of 2022. The light emits a signal of a double flash every 15 seconds with the focal plane located at 37.5 metres (123 ft) above sea level.^[3]

History[edit]

The Spanish explorer Juan José Pérez Hernández, originating from Mallorca, traded with the natives of the region (the Nuu-chah-nulth people) when he explored the area in 1774 and named the headland "Punta San Esteban". Four years later, James Cook's expedition arrived in the Nootka Sound and made contact with the local population.^[4]

The lighthouse was established in 1909 as one in a series of buttressed lighthouses designed by engineer William P. Anderson. The lighthouse was constructed in concrete as a 30.5 metres (100 ft) tall octagonal tower supported by buttresses. Originally, a first order Fresnel lens made by Chance Brothers of England had been used but together with the lantern it was dismantled during the 1980s and was then donated to a regional museum in 2004.

Estevan Point lighthouse attack[edit]

During the Second World War, the Estevan Point lighthouse was attacked by the Japanese submarine I-26. On June 20, 1942, I-26, under the command of Yokota Minoru, surfaced and shelled the lighthouse,^[5] at the same time as the Japanese submarine I-25 made a similar attack at the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon, shelling Fort Stevens.^[6]

I-26 fired 25–30 rounds of 5.5-inch (140 mm) shells at the Estevan Point lighthouse and radio-direction-finding station, but failed to hit its target and the lighthouse station remained undamaged.^[7] Five Royal Canadian Navy patrol vessels and a RCAF Supermarine Stranraer flying boat were dispatched to search for the submarine but failed to locate I-26 which fled north and then returned to Japan. One of the 5.5-inch shells was recovered by a naval shore patrol after the attack while additional shell fragments were found in 1973.^[5] An explosive demolition team from CFB Comox destroyed one explosive fragment while an inert fragment was presented to the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Although the attack resulted in no damage or casualties, the subsequent decision to turn off the lights of outer stations caused difficulties for coastal shipping.^[8]

A 1995 episode of the CBC television newsmagazine program The Fifth Estate reported contradictions in eyewitness descriptions of the attacking vessel and speculated that the attack may have been a false flag conducted by Allied surface vessels with the intent of increasing domestic support for Prime Minister Mackenzie King and his wartime policies related to conscription.^[9]

Climate[edit]

Estevan Point has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). The average annual temperature in Estevan Point is 9.9 °C (49.8 °F). The average annual rainfall is 3,097.0 mm (121.93 in) with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 14.9 °C (58.8 °F), and lowest in December, at around 5.9 °C (42.6 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan Point was 30.5 °C (86.9 °F) on 28 June 2021; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −13.9 °C (7.0 °F) on 14 January 1950.

See also[edit]

• List of lighthouses in British Columbia
• List of lighthouses in Canada
• Henri de Miffonis

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Map of Estevan Point
• Aids to Navigation Canadian Coast Guard

Engineering