Ushant/Ouessant - Summer 2019

[XB-70A]

Some photos taken in Brittany and Eusa (Ouessant/Ushant) a few months ago (all taken with the pocket-sized RX100 IV).

 

 

The Stiff lighthouse, active since 1700, with a typical Peugeot 205 made of tin-can metal.

 

 

Looking East-North-East, with the Stiff radar tower. Its building was decided following the successive shipwrecks of the Olympic Bravery and Amoco-Cadiz tankers in 1976 and 1978, in order to set up a surveillance of the commercial navigation off the coast of Brittany. Originally inhabited when it was commissioned in 1982, it is now fully automatic and monitored from different coastal traffic control centers.

 

 

Improvised bunker from the Luftwaffe, made of stones and land.

 

Such as the Channel Islands, the Wehrmacht's considered Ushant more like an early warning observation site, rather than a defense system against a landing. Most of the installations around were for detection, anti-aircraft purposes, and electronic intelligence.

 

 

A propeller shaft, stranded on the rocks and covered of fuel oil. It's hard to know from which ship it came from, but the technology and the shape of the propeller are more likely showing a ship that was probably sunk during one of the two World Wars.

 

 

The Créac'h lighthouse insight. Rising to 70 meters, it remains one of the most powerful coastal lighthouses in service in the world, with an intensity of 500 million candelas, giving an effective range of nearly 59 km (32 nm).

 

 

A closer look of it.

 

The whole building surrounding it used to be the offices and accommodations of the guardians, it is now a museum devoted to lighthouses.

 

 

Another sight of it.

 

 

Just another of those aggressive gull, standing on its throne of stone.

 

 

I don't know about the history of this house, but I would bet she served the guardians of the Nividic lighthouse that can be seen in the center left of the photo. It is known as one of the ugliest lighthouses in the region, its shape, location, and lack of paint make it a grim-looking building. This area is well known in the region for its pretty inclement weather along the year, and everything can change pretty fast. Here is an example:

 

Taken around 12:30 local time. Cloudy but still enough natural light. 

 

About 30 minutes later:

 

 

A stormy front is now approaching. Here, we can understand why this lighthouse is not so much appreciated for its appearance. However, it remains essential to the safety of navigation in this area full of shoal and reefs that have taken many lives.

 

 

Typical coastal rocks.

 

 

The old cemetery is full of tombs and monuments dedicated to sailors and passengers who have perished in this area, including those of SS Drumond Castle (of which only 3 people survived on 361).

 

A plate dedicated to Flight-Lieutenant H. Jeffreys and Flight-Officer D.A. Burden from the Royal Air Force, they crashed off the coast of the island on-board their deHavilland Mosquito Mk XVIII (HR117) after being hit by AA-fire from an R-boot, four days after the D-Day.

 

The whole story of this event is disturbing. It all began when the U-821 was attacked in the morning of 10th June by four Mosquito Mk XVIII of the RAF. Severely damaged, the submarine was terminated by a Liberator of 206. Sq around 11:15. Later, while an R-boot was recovering the survivors, another Mosquito wing arrived, and the R-boot fired at the HR117. Hit, the deHavilland went to crash at sea, less than 500 m off the coast of Ushant. However, the three remaining Mosquito returned fire with their 57 mm Molins cannons (a compact adaptation of the traditional QF-6 Pounder), and hit the minesweeper. Of the 50 crew members of the U-821 and the R-boot, only one survived.

More available here:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/70517

 

 

Despite the cold atmosphere of the place, a cat found a good source of heat on one of the gravestones.

 

 

The local monument to the fallen, the two central plates being dedicated to those who perished during WW1, and those at the ends to WW2. When we know that the population in 1911 was 2953 individuals, that would mean about 3% of the population would have perished during the First World War.

 

 

The long-range radio antenna of Lampaul.

 

 

A couple of friends taking a break, with La Jument insight.

 

This is the place where one of the most famous picture of a lighthouse was taken, in 1989.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at the South-East, the island of Molene is visible at the middle-right.

 

 

 

Time to leave.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2019 by XB-70A
Added some element to the story of HR117