Sommers
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Sommers (Russian: Соммерс, Finnish: Someri, Swedish: Sommarö is an island and a lighthouse in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, outside the Gulf of Vyborg, about 19 km south of Virolahti in Finland.
The lighthouse is situated on a rocky skerry, which is elevating only 16 m above the sea. The first lighthouse on the island was built in 1808. This construction was a brick building, chalked in white, about 5 m high, with a lanternine on the top. The light source was modernized in 1866, and it was also raised to 8 m. The lighthouse was given a 3rd class lens system and a clockwork that turned an oil lamp with a double wick, which gave the lighthouse a reddish gloom.
The lighthouse personnel lived together with their families in a wooden house next to the lighthouse. A fog horn was constructed at the other end of the island by the beginning of the 20th century. The Russian army began constructing defence works on the island when World War I erupted, these were however never completed. In 1918 the Finnish pilot authorities manned the lighthouse.
The lighthouse was destroyed before the Winter War and the personnel was evacuated. At the new year's eve of 1941-42 a Finnish sorce of about 100 men were stationed at the island, as it had a strategic position. The Soviets also wanted possession of the island. On 8 July 1942 the Soviets attacked the island with several smaller vessles and aircraft. They managed to create a foothold on the eastern part of the island, but thanks to artillery support from the island of Ulko-Tammio (about 19 km north west of the island) the Finns managed to drive the Soviets away on 9 July 1942.
After the 1944 peace treaty the island was given to the Soviet Union, who also constructed the new truss lighthouse. There is also a number of buildings and radar masts on the island, probably to keep an eye on the increasingly intense shipping traffic in the area.
[edit] Sources
- Seppo Laurell: Finlands fyrar 1999, ISBN 952-5180-21-2
