Cape D'Aguilar lighthouse

Cape D'Aguilar Lighthouse ; Hok Tsui Beacon ; 鶴咀燈塔
	Cape D'Aguilar Lighthouse, 2013
Place:	Shek O, Hong Kong , China;
Location:	Hong Kong , People's Republic of China
Geographical location:	22 ° 12 '32.6 " N , 114 ° 15' 33.2" E Coordinates: 22 ° 12 '32.6 " N , 114 ° 15' 33.2" E
Fire carrier height :	9.7 m
Fire height :	60 m
Identifier :	Fl.W.15s
Scope knows:	20 nm (37 km )
Operating time:	1875–1896, since 1975
International ordinal number:	P 3576

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The lighthouse of Cape D'Aguilar ( Chinese 德忌立角燈塔 / 德忌立角灯塔 , Pinyin Déjìlìjiǎo Dēngtǎ , Jyutping Dak ¹ gei ⁶ lap ⁶ gok ³ Dang ¹ taap ³ ), in Chinese mostly as Hok Tsui Beacon ( 鶴咀燈塔 / 鹤咀灯塔 , Hèzuǐ Dēngtǎ , Jyutping Hok ⁶ zeoi ² Dang ¹ taap ³ - "crane's beak lighthouse"), named after the local Chinese name of the D'Aguilar peninsula ( 鶴咀半島 / 鹤咀半岛 , English D 'Aguilar Peninsula - "crane's beak peninsula"). The Cape D'Aguilar lighthouse is the first and therefore the oldest lighthouse in Hong Kong . It is located on the headland Cape D'Aguilar ( 鶴咀 / 鹤咀 - "crane's beak ") in the extreme southeast of Hong Kong Island near the small town of Shek O ( 石澳 / 石澳 - "rocky bay, stony bay") east of Stanley and administratively belongs to the Southern District . The location and the surroundings of the lighthouse have enjoyed special legal protection since 1975. Since geologically rare compositions and biologically valuable animal and plant species have been discovered on the D'Aguilar Peninsula , it belongs to the “ Site of Special Scientific Interest ”, or “SSSI” for short ( 具特殊科學價值地點 / 具特殊科学价值地点 - “ Site of Special Scientific Interest ”) to the nature reserves of Hong Kong based on the British model .

description

The over 140 year old round, white painted granite tower is 9.7 meters high. In the upper area it widens to a round platform. The base of the tower, like the iron entrance door, is framed by massive stone blocks. There is a window about halfway up. Below is the number 158, the serial number of the lighthouse at the Hong Kong Maritime Office ( 處 / 海事处 , English Marine Department ). The identifier consists of a white flash with a return of 15 seconds (Fl.W.15s). The tower's beacon has a range of up to 23 nautical miles .

history

Since the beginning of the 1870s, shipping traffic in the South China Sea and Victoria Harbor had increased significantly. Traders had therefore requested the construction of lighthouses to ensure safety in shipping. Three possible locations for the beacons have been identified, namely Waglan Island ( 橫瀾島 / 横澜岛 ) ⊙ , the northeast of Lamma Island ( 南丫島 / 南丫岛 ) ⊙ and Gap Rock ( 蚊尾洲 ) ⊙ . However, these were all outside the control of the British and the Chinese government was not ready to lease these areas. For this reason, three alternative locations for lighthouses were specified in 1873, namely next to Cape d'Aguilar, the island of Green Island ( 青洲 ) west of Hong Kong Island ⊙ and Cape Collinson ( 黑角頭 / 黑角头 ) ⊙ near Siu Sai Wan . In 1874 the lighthouse keeper Archibald Baird from London was hired. In 1875 the government announced that it would open Hong Kong's first beacon on Cape D'Aguilar on April 16. This was equipped with a first-degree Fresnel lens . The beacon was fired using coal or town gas . The construction of the entire facility cost HK $ 15,000 at the time . As early as 1896, the lighthouse was shut down because the Waglan Island lighthouse, built in 1893, had taken over the navigation services. In 1905 the lens was removed and installed in the Green Island lighthouse, which until then had only had a fourth-order lens. In 1975 the now 100-year-old lighthouse with automatic control was put back into operation. The building has been listed as a historic building by the local monument office since 2000. The historically valuable tower has been a listed building since 2006 . In 2010 the Hong Kong Post Office released a stamp with the lighthouse as a motif. 22.181944 114.30333322.2078 114.15621.81374 113.9377622.2846 114.113122.2613 114.2577