UTRISH LIGHTHOUSE

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Cape Utrish (Bashmak, Sukko) juts out into the sea to the northwest, 20 km from Novorossiysk, as a low-lying strip from a high steep mountain covered with forest. The tip of the cape is bordered by surface and underwater rocks; in the cable to the west of it there is the island of Utrish. Previously, it was connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus and was considered the tip of the cape.

In 1868, the director of the lighthouses of the Black and Azov Seas, Captain 1st Rank V.I. Zarudny, drew up a project for equipping the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea with lighthouses. In this project, among the priority tasks, he provided for the construction of a lighthouse on Cape Utrish. Substantiating his proposals, he wrote to the Hydrographic Department: "Cape Utrish seems to have been deliberately prepared by nature for the construction of a lighthouse on it: it forms something like a foundation built on the bottom of the sea and connected by a narrow but reliable dam to the shore of the Caucasus. It is impossible to leave this extremely important point without illumination by a strong lighthouse light. Even during the day it serves as an excellent distinctive object."

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Cape Utrish

Further, developing his idea about lighthouse construction in Russia in general, Zarudny noted: "Modern new lighthouses are needed. We need preliminary reconnaissance, leveling and measurements near points. Someday disasters will happen. Time and true need will take their toll, and pitiful lanterns hung on hastily assembled points will give way to lighthouses with solid apparatus installed in the places indicated by complete and conscientious research. Is it not better to immediately build new lighthouses on a solid foundation in order to instill in sailors the highest degree of confidence in action and peace of mind, depending on such conveniences as can be provided by the combined action of science, art and money” [100].

Viktor Ivanovich’s plans were not soon destined to come true. Despite the obvious need to fence off the cape located on the approaches to Novorossiysk, the first lighthouse was built here only in 1898. At the same time, it was not cool, as a passionate fan of lighthouses dreamed of it, but was a fire in the same “pathetic lantern” in a wooden booth on wooden trestles. The height of its fire from sea level was only 14.7 m, and the visibility range did not exceed 6 miles.

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Lighthouse Utrish

In 1911, the lighthouse was rebuilt by building an iron box 4 m high on iron trestles. The lantern contained an automatic acetylene apparatus that glowed with a green flashing light. The lighthouse stood in this form until the Great Patriotic War.

On September 2, 1942, before the fascist German troops entered the North Caucasus, the hydrographic vessel “Zuyd” removed 21 people from the Anapa lighthouse area and Cape Utrish and evacuated them to the rear.

During the Novorossiysk-Tamansk operation in September 1943, at Cape Utrish, hydrographers of the Black Sea Fleet installed lights to orient our landing craft in the dark. This helped them reach their designated points accurately.

In 1975, a new lighthouse was built on the cape - a brick tower with a gray bas-relief, which is also a monument to the fishermen who died in the Great Patriotic War. The height of the tower from the base is 17 m, from sea level 26 m. The visibility range of white isophase fire is 15 miles.