MORZHOVSKY (MORZHOVETSKY) LIGHTHOUSE

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

The Morzhovsky lighthouse was built near the southwestern coast of Morzhovets Island, which lies in the White Sea at the entrance to the Mezen Bay. The island is low, has a fairly flat surface, and is composed of alternating layers of sand and ice. In summer, the ice melts, which leads to the collapse of the banks. On average, the sea destroys land by almost 10 m per year.

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Morzhovets Island

The island apparently got its name from the industrialists who hunted here. Back in the 10th century, the first rich rookeries of walruses on the White Sea were discovered on it: “Opposite the Sosnovets Island, in the middle of the White Sea, there is a large and glorious island of Morzhovets, so nicknamed because many sea animals, called walruses, are found there” [19].

The eastern coast of the island was mapped in 1736 by members of the Great Northern Expedition of 1733-1743, lieutenants A. Sukhotin and A. Skuratov. A more detailed survey of the island was carried out in 1756 and 1757 by navigator Belyaev and his assistant Tolmachev. They made a sounding from this island to Cape Voronov and to the Mezen River. This sounding was the first made by Russian sailors in the White Sea, and until 1829 the only study of the depths in the southern part of the Mezen Bay.

The exact position of the island was determined on June 24, 1827 by M. F. Reineke during an expedition to the White Sea on the brig “Lapominka”. Approaching the island, he sent midshipman Pisarev and navigator Pakhtusov to it with instructions to carry out a hydrographic inventory of the area and install a tower, which was supposed to serve as a noticeable landmark for a further inventory of the White Sea.

Having explored the island,

The researchers recommended installing on it not just a tower, but a cool light beacon to guide sailors when entering the Mezen Bay and to indicate the position of the island, behind whose steep banks it was possible to wait out bad weather.

Morzhovets Island lies on the way to the port of Mezen, founded in the 16th century by the Novgorodians. M. F. Reinecke reports that by the beginning of the 19th century, the Mezen district extended from the seashore to the Ural ridge for 900 versts and south of the ocean coast to the northern border of the Vologda province for 500 versts. Industry and trade here at the beginning of the 19th century were significant: animal and fish goods went to Moscow and abroad by sea. Residents of this region sent their boats to Novaya Zemlya to fish for walruses, arctic foxes and bears. Sea hares, gray whales and beluga whales were hunted in Mezen Bay.

Northern explorer S. Maksimov wrote that hunters who hunted animals in winter often took refuge on the island. One of his interlocutors said in the 1840s: “They have now built huts along the shore along Kaninsky, although not very often; some have a chapel and an image - but what’s in the naled fishery in these huts. Here you break with the beast, cheat, beat him: you lose your mind

eat all sorts of clever things, and then look: the wind tore your ice floe from the fast ice, and carried it to the golomya (open sea. - Author). In the heat of the moment, you won’t notice this, but if you’re on fire, you’ll wave your arms, put the sign of the cross on your forehead, you’ll remember your parents, if you have them, friends who come to mind, you’ll strain your heart again, close your eyes, and float at random, wherever the wind takes you. In this case, the island of Morzhovets is a good help for us: we are finding ourselves on it more and more. So this happened to me once. Otherwise they are carried into the ocean, and they die there”[17].

Thus, the decision in 1836 of the Office of the General Hydrographer to prioritize the construction of a lighthouse on Morzhovets Island was completely justified.

In 1837, hydrographers Lieutenant N.F. Korsakov and engineer-lieutenant Tikhonov chose a place for the tower. In 1838, the first builders appeared here, and on August 1, 1842, the lighthouse began to operate. It was built on the sandy and clayey northwestern end of the island, 480 m from the coast. The lighthouse tower was made of red stone, 20.4 m high from the base. A metal lantern with a catoptric lighting apparatus of 7 lamps with reflectors was installed at the top. The lighthouse shone from August 1 until the end of navigation. Ner

It was also lit caustically in the spring to make it easier for fur traders to navigate.

The lighthouse was serviced by five sailors who lived in two wooden houses near the lake. There were no other residents on the lake. Communication with Arkhangelsk was carried out very rarely - only through lighthouse ships and only in the summer. From November to May, when floating ice appeared, communication with the mainland was interrupted.

It was difficult for the sailors on the island in winter without their families and loved ones. There is not a single tree around - just reindeer moss and bushes. Poor, monotonous diet often led to illness. In 1857, the entire crew died of scurvy - the caretaker with his wife and two employees (in the 1850s, the sailors were replaced by civilians).

During the Crimean War of 1853-1856, ships of the Anglo-French squadron appeared in the Barents and White Seas. The lighting of all lighthouses was stopped. The threat of attack loomed over the Morzhovsky lighthouse, far from Arkhangelsk. In June 1854, the peasant of the village of Patrakeevka M.D. Chukhchin, at the risk of his life, despite the prohibition of the provincial military authorities from going to sea, arrived on his ship on the island, took off the lighthouse team, the lighting apparatus and delivered everything to Arkhangelsk, for which he was awarded a silver

medal.

Thanks to the rescued apparatus, after the war the lighthouse was quickly put into operation.

Unfortunately, when choosing a location for the tower, they did not take into account the rate of collapse of the coast from being washed away by the surf. 16 years after the completion of construction, the edge of the shore approached the lighthouse and was 170 m from the tower, and by 1865 this distance had decreased to 106 m.

To avoid a collapse, in 1871 the stone tower was dismantled and a new light yellow wooden octagonal one with a metal lantern was built 300 meters northeast of the previous location.

The tower was cut down in Arkhangelsk from logs and disassembled and delivered to the island. It was installed on site by the peasant Kotlov. The lighting apparatus was left the same. The combustible materials for it were fish oil and hemp oil. The new lighthouse began operating on August 1, 1871. At first, its light illuminated the space from 225 to 330°, but in 1910, at the request of sailors, its lighting was made circular. For fog signals, the lighthouse was equipped with a cannon of the 1866 model.

At the lighthouse there were two outbuildings, a chapel, a bathhouse, and a barn. It was served, as before perestroika, by one caretaker and three employees with their families. Apart from them, there were no inhabitants on the island

. But from mid-February, the population of the island increased and sometimes reached 200 people, who lived here until the fall for animal hunting. The Imperial Water Rescue Society, which was supported by industrialists, provided them with a warm corner and supplies of provisions.

In 1916, a collapse began to threaten this lighthouse. The caretaker's house had already collapsed by this time. The Main Hydrographic Directorate gave the task to the Directorate of White Sea Lighthouses to urgently develop a design for a new reinforced concrete tower and ordered a new acetylene lighting apparatus from the Russian joint-stock company “Gazoakkumulyator” (a branch of the famous Swedish company of the same name).

The location for the new tower was chosen three kilometers south of the old one on the left bank of the Zolotukha River. However, the First World War and then the Civil War did not allow construction work to be completed.

In 1917, there was a fire at the lighthouse; the old catoptric apparatus could not be saved. In order not to interrupt the lighting, a lantern taken from the luminous cormorant was installed on the part of the tower remaining from the fire. His fire, of course, was very weak and visible at a short distance.

Troubles plagued the lighthouse one after another. A year after the fire while unloading in inclement weather

The provisions from the hydrographic vessel “Salombala” turned out to be soaked in sea water and almost all products were spoiled. For a long time, the lighthouse workers had to live on extremely meager rations until the ship made a new voyage. It should be recalled that the year was 1918 and there was a Civil War in the country, which significantly complicated the solution of such problems as the delivery of food to lighthouses. The lighthouse workers survived this period with great difficulty, but did not give up their work.

On November 17, 1918, a piercing north wind brought frost, visibility dropped sharply, and caretaker V.G. Redruzhin sent employee Daria Miller to ring the bell. At night the bell fell silent - the rope broke. Noticing this, the caretaker, in order not to leave the sailors without a signal, rushed undressed to quickly find out what was the matter and open fire from a cannon. Signals of danger again rushed over the sea, but Redruzhin caught a cold, and the caretaker’s family was left without an owner. His wife, two daughters and three sons were orphaned. The 24-year-old son of the deceased lighthouse keeper took command of the lighthouse.

In 1925-1927, at the insistence of Ubekosever, the lighthouse was finally rebuilt. The new tower was a wooden truncated tetrahedral pyramid with a lantern structure and acetylene lighting

m apparatus. The color of the tower remains yellow. Near the lighthouse buildings, the masts of a radio station rose, which connected the island with Arkhangelsk.

During the Great Patriotic War, the lighthouse played the role of a sentry at the entrance to the White Sea. The small garrison of the island kept a vigilant watch, watching the sea and immediately sending radio reports to the escort ships about the appearance of the enemy. During these years, the lighthouse workers had to endure both bombs and artillery shelling.

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Lighthouse Morzhovsky

The head of the lighthouse during the Great Patriotic War was Stepan Vasilyevich Malygin, one of the sons of the oldest lighthouse keeper of the northern seas, Vasily Malygin. He began his service long before the revolution. He served in different lighthouses and grew his own replacements. Stepan's sons Adolf and Appolinary became heads of lighthouses, Arkady became a senior technician, and daughters Nadezhda and Taisiya became technicians. Their families also linked their fate with lighthouses and the sea.

In the 1970s, the Morzhovsky lighthouse had to be rebuilt again. In 1974, a new reinforced concrete conical tower with a height of 30 m from the base came into operation. This time the traditional yellow color was abandoned. To enhance visibility, it was painted with black and white horizontal stripes. A light-optical lighting apparatus with a white group flashing light was installed in the glazed lantern structure. The height of the fire from sea level is 46 m, the visibility range is 26 miles. The lighthouse is equipped with a circular radio beacon with a range of 110 km.

From 1954 to 1997, Alexey Vasilyevich Tumanovsky was the head of the lighthouse for more than 40 years. Together with his wife Rosa Evgenievna, they gave the best part of their lives to the lighthouse, instilling a love for the sea and their son Pyotr Alekseevich, who works at

lighthouse since 1973. After his father’s retirement in 1997, he was appointed head of the lighthouse and, together with his wife, continues the traditions of the Tumanovsky family.