Cape Schanck Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
The Cape Schanck
lighthouse was built in 1859 as the second coastal lighthouse in Victoria. It is located on the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula
in Victoria, Australia. The tower was built from limestone, it is 21 metres tall. The light's focal plane is situated 100 metres above sea level, the light characteristic is the Morse Code
letter "N", a long signal of 10.8 seconds followed by a flash. Depending on the bearing
of the light, the colours are either white (south to west sector) or red (east sector). Due to its powerful lantern of one million candela
and a first order Fresnel lens
, which was installed in 1915, the light has a range of 26 nmi (48.2 km).
The lighthouse was not only one of the first such buildings in Victoria, it was moreover Australia's first lighthouse tower with stone stairs. During the 1970s and 1980s the facility was restored and has since become an attraction for tourists. Today there is a museum in the old assistants' quarters. Accommodation is available in the old residences of the lighthouse keeper.
Cape Schanck, Victoria
Cape Schanck is a locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula and separates the wild ocean waters of Bass Strait from the slightly calmer waters of Western Port....
lighthouse was built in 1859 as the second coastal lighthouse in Victoria. It is located on the southernmost tip of the Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion...
in Victoria, Australia. The tower was built from limestone, it is 21 metres tall. The light's focal plane is situated 100 metres above sea level, the light characteristic is the Morse Code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
letter "N", a long signal of 10.8 seconds followed by a flash. Depending on the bearing
Bearing (navigation)
In marine navigation, a bearing is the direction one object is from another object, usually, the direction of an object from one's own vessel. In aircraft navigation, a bearing is the actual compass direction of the forward course of the aircraft...
of the light, the colours are either white (south to west sector) or red (east sector). Due to its powerful lantern of one million candela
Candela
The candela is the SI base unit of luminous intensity; that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, weighted by the luminosity function . A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela...
and a first order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
, which was installed in 1915, the light has a range of 26 nmi (48.2 km).
The lighthouse was not only one of the first such buildings in Victoria, it was moreover Australia's first lighthouse tower with stone stairs. During the 1970s and 1980s the facility was restored and has since become an attraction for tourists. Today there is a museum in the old assistants' quarters. Accommodation is available in the old residences of the lighthouse keeper.