Fire at Skerryvore lighthouse

On the morning of the 17 March 1954, the observer on duty in Hynish made a shocking discovery. The light was not showing and the outside of the tower was blackened. Fortunately, the support vessel was due to visit that very day:

"Skerryvore, which stands on a rock ten miles south-west of Tiree, is today a burned-out hulk. The three keepers were rescued yesterday after they had clung to a rock in the Atlantic for nearly 12 hours. Principal keeper John Mowatt and his two assistants, Malcolm MacKinnon and James Jaffray, all married men, were found by the lighthouse tender Hesperus when it arrived on a routine trip with their reliefs. In a night of terror, with the Atlantic breaking over them, the three men crouched on a narrow ledge of rock in fear that the 158-foot tower, weakened by fire and shaken by explosions from rocket and other signal charges, would fall on top of them." (Edinburgh Evening News, 18 March 1954)

The fire had been discovered in the light room at 7pm. The keepers fought the flames with extinguishers but the fire quickly grew out of control, and they had to evacuate the tower. It took five years to repair, during which time the rock was guarded by an unmanned lightvessel.

Contributed by Dr John Holliday on behalf of the Hynish Trust

Image: Aerial shot of Skerryvore Lighthouse, from the collections of An Iodhlann, the historical centre on Tiree