Trinity House has 400-Year History

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 768, 14 September 1929, Page 31

Trinity House has 400-Year History

SEAMEN’S GUARD IHUGE LIGHT SYSTEM Trinity House is the oldest brotherhood of seamen in Great Britain, if not in the world. It received its first charter of incorporation from Henry VIII. in 1514, though long before that time it existed as a fraternity of “godly disposed" men who banded themselves together to check the systematic wrecking and pillage of ships on the coasts of England, and to erect sea marks and beacons for the guidance of seaferers (says a writer in the “London Times.” Since the earliest period of its history, it has been responsible for the provision of the skilled pilots for certain English waters, where expert local knowledge is necessary, and for this pui-pose not only examines candidates, but maintains a fleet of pilot steamers and auxiliary motor-cutters, stationed principally in the English and Bristol Channels and the approaches to the River Thames.

It also provides for the lighting and buoying of some 2,400 miles of coast in England, AVales, and the Channel Islands. For the purposes of control and administration, the coast is divided into seven districts, all save one of which have their depots and sea-going tenders for the maintenance and replenishment of buoys and beacons in their areas, and the regular relief, storing, and provisioning of the offshore lighthouses and lightships. -

Trinity House administers 64 large and 27 minor lighthouses; two fog signal stations; 46 manned and two unmanned lightships; 139 lighted and 479 unlighted buoys; and 55 beacons. In carrying out their work, the nine lighthouse tenders steam upward of 100,000 miles a year. Lighthouses and lightships are relieved monthly, the men generally serving on their stations for two months at a stretch, followed by one month ashore. The masters of lightships, however, serve one month afloat and one ashore. At offshore lights in exposed positions, like the Wolf of the Eddystone, bad weather and heavy seas may sometimes delay the relief by a month or six weeks.

Wonderful Buoys Every week, from Monday to Friday, the tenders are under way in their districts. Bad weather does not stop them, and it is an education to see them at work. There are no fewer than 30 different types of buoys in general use, varying in weight between scwt and about 9J tons. All have their own history sheets, giving full details of their careers and service, and all except the very largest—which are cleaned and painted annually on their stations, and are brought in triennially for refitment —are lifted each year for overhaul, and replaced. Some of the lighted buoys burn acetylene, and others oil gas, and all carry sufficient illuminant to last for 12 months. They have a small pilot jet in the lamp Itself, which remains burning throughout, the pressure of gas in the buoy itself operating an ingenious mechanism which causes puffs of gas to reach an incandescent mantle at periodical intervals, thus producing the winking effect familiar to seafarers and dwellers by the coast. A buoy -which flashes every second will wink 31,500,000 times without attention, while if one incandescent mantle becomes damaged, another pivots round and falls into place. It is surprising, too, to discover the venerable age of some of the lightships. That at the Nore, or off Sheerness, where a sea mark was first established in 1732, like the famous “Warner" off St. Helens, Isle of Wight, Is no fewer than 90 years old. The St. Nicholas, off Yarmouth, and the Selker, north of Barrow-in-Furness, are even more elderly, dated from 1836 and 1837 respectively. Some of these older vessels, which are small and built of wood, are used as a rule in less exposed positions, and still carry the old-fashioned oil lamps and hand-worked fog signals. The more modern steel craft are much larger, and have modern illuminants, motor machinery, and mechanically worked fog signals. All Modern Improvements

Trinity House is essentially up-to-date and progressive in the execution of its duties. Improvements in lighting and fog signalling are constantly being tried and adopted, and many lightships nowadays are fitted with wireless telephony for communication with the shore, as well as for the enjoyment of their crews, who may listen to the 8.8. C. programmes. One is impressed by the good seamanship of the officers and men serving in the lighthouse tenders, sturdy vessels of comparatively small size, with a speed of about 11J knots, provided with massive derricks for lifting buoys, and powerful winches for placing and replacing the heavy lightship moorings. The work, which is not without its difficulties and thrilling moments, is carried on without least symptoms of fuss or bother. But the sympathy of all mariners and those who travel by sea should also go forth to the crews of the offshore lighthouses and lightships, who. in fair weather or foul, night in and night out, maintain their lights so that those who voyage in ships may pass by in safety. A lightship in a calm, sunny day, with her crew smoking their pipes and fishing over the taffrail, points to a life of blissful ease and indolence. But the same lightship during thick weather, with her strident fog siren shaking the whole vessel at periodical intervals, so that nobody on board can sleep; or in a gale of wind and a heavy sea, with the ship rolling and pitching, lurching and tumbling, so that men can hardly stand, with the heavy spray coming over the bows, and the vessel bringing up with a jerk every time she reaches the end of her tethering cable —well, life then must be sheer purgatory. But all night and every night the warning gleams of their lights shine out to point the way to safety; through the fogs and spring and summer and autumn and winter the hoarse sirens howl out their regular warnings of rocks and shoals and sandbanks. Without these men, and without these ships and towers, sea traffic could not continue.