What is a lighthouse?

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

Fencing off marine hazards.

In order to ensure the safety of navigation, at least two conditions must be met: all known sea dangers must be marked with sufficient accuracy on the navigation chart and these dangers at sea must be protected by certain, clearly visible signs or other artificial objects by which the navigator could easily navigate and avoid meeting the danger in advance. In addition, every navigator needs various coastal and sea landmarks to determine his place in the sea, identify the coast, approaches to ports and anchorages.

The set of all means and devices that ensure the safety of navigation in a certain area or sea, indicate surface or underwater danger, make it possible to identify the opening shore and determine the position of the ship when sailing near the coast, called navigation equipment for a given area or sea as a whole. At the installation site, navigation equipment can be coastal or floating.

The main purpose of navigation equipment is to protect against sea hazards. A floating fencing is installed on the water - this is

buoys, cormorants, milestones and floating lighthouses, which serve to directly warn the navigator about the danger existing in a given place. Coastal fencing - sea and coastal lighthouses, coastal signs and towers, directional signs - are installed on the coastal strip of continents and islands. In some cases, the role of coastal fencing is performed by various noticeable places and objects marked on the map - individual heights, triangulation towers, noticeable buildings (churches, towers, etc.).

The scope of use of floating lighthouses is much smaller than that of other floating warning signs. As a rule, lightships are installed in areas of maritime dangers, significantly removed from the shore at the entrance to straits, canals or terra (for example, the floating lighthouse in the Gulf of Riga), often as receiving lighthouses of large ports. Each lightship is painted in a noticeable and different way from the paint of other ships. The freeboards of lightships are usually painted red. The name of the lighthouse is written along both sides in large letters. Floating the lighthouse, located in its regular place, must carry a lattice ball on the top of the mast, and below it - a yellow lighthouse flag with a straight blue cross. A lighthouse torn from its regular place is considered inoperative and instead of the ball and the lighthouse flag must carry: during the day: - one black ball in the bow and stern (or one red flag) at night - one red light in the same places. Floating lighthouses can also give fog and other signals. Recently, floating lighthouses are falling out of use and are being replaced by tower-mounted sea lighthouses.

A floating fence is called standard if it is on

included in the maps, Additional fencing put up for any special purposes in the summer is called summer fencing. Winter fencing is erected after freeze-up in freezing ports to mark the entrance and exit from ports, as well as areas and roadsteads for the safe movement of icebreakers and the caravans they carry. The installation of summer or winter fencing is reported in the “Notices to Mariners”.

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public no-info · m56.gifFig.56: Coastal lighthouse.

Coastal fencing means - lighthouses, illuminated and unlit signs, targets, etc. - are installed in order to make it easier for mariners to navigate at sea regarding sea hazards, to better identify the shore and the entrance to a port or roadstead, to determine the position of the vessel when sailing in visibility of the shores. The main coastal landmark is the lighthouse. Equipped with a powerful light source, the lighthouse in good weather at night has a visibility range of up to 15-20 miles or more. Mariners treat lighthouse signals with the highest degree of confidence, since their location is unchanged.

Unlike other navigational signs, the lighthouse serves sailors around the clock and in any weather. Depending on the location of installation, coastal lighthouses are divided into coastal ones and sea ones.

Coastal lighthouses are usually erected on high capes of the mainland or large islands protruding into the sea (Fig. 56), sea lighthouses - on natural or artificial islands located far from the coast or simply on an underwater rock (Fig. 57). According to their purpose, coastal lighthouses can be identification (indicative) and guiding. The first, as the name implies, usually serve as receiving signs at the entrance to a port or canal (for example, the Doobsky lighthouse when approaching Novorossiysk), turning signs in the place where passing ships usually change their course (for example, Povorotny in the Sea of ​​Japan), and warning signs indicating a certain navigational hazard (for example, Rodsher in the Gulf of Finland). Leading lighthouses are installed to facilitate the passage of ships in narrow places or entry into a roadstead, harbor or port (for example, Tallinn guiding lighthouses).

To avoid confusion, all beacons differ from each other not only in appearance, but also in the characteristics of the light and fog signal. It is practically established that lighthouses with the same characteristics should not be located closer than 80 miles from each other.

The main requirements for beacons are as follows:

• The location of each lighthouse must be accurately marked on the map.

• It should be clearly visible both day and night.

• The light of the lighthouse should not be mistaken for any random fire on the shore.

• The lighthouse must have a reliable fog alarm.

In addition to lighthouses, illuminated and unlit signs are installed on the shore. Illuminated signs differ from beacons in that they are smaller in size and in that they are equipped with automatic light sources, which are less powerful and do not require constant maintenance. Unlit signs serve as landmarks only during the daytime (Fig. 58).

Signal and other stations.

In addition to floating and coastal fencing signs, navigation safety is ensured by a number of special signal stations, the task of which is to transmit information relevant for safe navigation to ships at sea. They can be located at lighthouses or work independently. These stations primarily include radio stations that, depending on their purpose, transmit weather reports, radio navigation notices, time signals and medical advice. These programs are conducted according to a set program, on demand or at a certain time of day.

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public no-info · m57.gifFig. 57: Sea lighthouse. White round tower.

Telephone exchanges at lighthouses allow you to connect them with the nearest port or populated area.

Weather reports and radio navigation notices (abbreviated as METEO and NAVIM) inform mariners about the expected weather and changes in the navigation situation. They are transmitted by all coast stations of the Ministry of the Navy in clear text. These notices may be regular or urgent. The latter are transmitted immediately upon arrival at the radio station, and the next ones are transmitted according to the transmission schedule. Time signals by radio are given in accordance with the program established by the given station, details of which are indicated in the directions and in the special publication “Radio Time Signals”.

In addition to radio communications, sound, flag (curly) and light signaling devices are also used to transmit the necessary information to ships. To give such signals, signal posts are installed in a place clearly visible from the sea, equipped with a mast on which I raise certain combinations of flags or figures indicating the required signals. At night, these signals are transmitted in Morse code using a flashlight or a combination of red, green and white lights

to her. The following signals are usually issued from signal posts:

“Danger warning” - is given by floating lighthouses, on the mast of which a two-flag signal according to the International Code of Signals is raised for ships whose course leads to danger - “You are heading towards danger” with the simultaneous launch of rockets (at night the signal is given only by rockets). The signal is given until the ship sees it and changes its course.

“Pilot signals” - they regulate the movement of ships along a canal or fairway, report the depths on the fairways, the ebb and flow of the tide in the port, currents and water heights, etc.

Image removed from public review package. Local review only · not public no-info · m58.gifFig. 58: Coastal sign.

"Storm signals" - to warn sailors and the population of port cities about impending storms and strong winds. These signals have significance for a limited area and serve primarily as a warning to ships going to sea (see Appendix 2, e).

Fog signals, which are very important for the safety of navigation near the coast, are given by air and underwater sound alarms when visibility decreases (fog, snow, frost, etc.). In Soviet waters, air fog signals are sent by coastal lighthouses using the following devices:

• nautofon - a membrane emitter with a sound reminiscent of the sound of a bugle. The hearing range reaches 3-4 miles;

• siren - steam or pneumatic with a fixed or rotating horn. Makes a strong howling sound and has an average hearing range of 6-8 miles;

• diaphone - produces a strong intermittent sound, audible at a distance of 6-8 miles;

• foghorn - has a monophonic sound with a short audibility range (up to 2 miles). Mainly used on lightships;

• a whistle (or howler) is used on sea buoys. Works automatically when there is a disturbance of a certain strength;

• cannon - shots are fired at intervals of 10 minutes. When there is a wind from the sea, shots are fired more often;

• explosions - a strong sound from the explosion of a special cartridge at a high altitude; spreads in all directions and is considered more reliable than a cannon;

• bell - currently used only on sea buoys and as a backup device on lighthouses.

Coastal lighthouses sound a two-stroke ringing with an interval of up to 3 minutes; floating lighthouses - three-beat ringing with an interval of up to 2 minutes.

Separately, radio direction-finding stations and radio beacons can be identified, which, by transmitting certain signals, serve to determine the ship’s position at sea using radio bearings.

Pilot stations provide pilotage of ships to and from the port, and rescue stations provide assistance to ships in distress.

All information about lighthouses, signal stations and the signals they transmit is given in “Locations” and separate publications “Lights and Signs” for each sea. The same publications contain information about pilot and rescue stations. Points where there are such stations are indicated on maps.

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