Little Basses Reef Lighthouse

Lighthouse

6°24′26″N 81°43′49″E / 6.407297°N 81.730232°E / 6.407297; 81.730232TowerConstructed1878Constructiongranite towerHeight37 metres (121 ft)Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lanternMarkingswhite tower with a black horizontal bandLightFocal height34 metres (112 ft)Lenshyperradiant Fresnel lens

Range27 nautical miles (50 km; 31 mi)^[1]CharacteristicVQ (2) W 10s.

Little Basses Reef Lighthouse is an active offshore lighthouse at the southern end of Sri Lanka and it is operated and maintained by the Sri Lanka Navy.^[2] It is located on a reef called Kuda Ravana Kotuwa (Fort of Little Ravana), but when the British invaded Ceylon they named it Little Basses (fourteen kilometers off the coast of Yala National Park and northeast of the Great Basses Reef Lighthouse). The two Basses lighthouses are among the most famous offshore lighthouses of Asia.

The lighthouse was designed by Sir James Nicholas Douglass and built by William Douglass using the same steam ships, crew and workers as the Great Basses Reef Lighthouse was completed in 1878.^[3]^: ch7

It withstood the force of a tsunami in 2004 with only modest damage; it was repaired with assistance from the UK lighthouse authorities Trinity House and the Northern Lighthouse Board.

The lighthouse is close to Daedalus Rock, site of the sinking of HMS Daedalus (1811).

Lens

Little Basses was one of a limited number of lighthouses that were designed to house the large Hyperradiant Fresnel lenses that became available at the end of the 19th century. Four of these lenses were used in Sri Lankan lights, all made by Chance Brothers in England.^[4]

References

^ Little Basses Light Lighthouses Explorer
^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Sri Lanka". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
^ "LIFE OF WILLIAM DOUGLASS M.INST.C.E." (PDF). uslhs.org.
^ "Hyper-Radial Lenses". United States Lighthouse Society. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2016.