The Cape St. George Killer: the legend of the lighthouse that destroyed more ships than it saved (9 photos)

This is the story of a lighthouse whose light, as its creators thought, would guide ships to a safe, quiet harbor. But it became a symbol of troubles and tragedies. This lighthouse, like an insatiable ghost, lured ships to fatal rocks, causing more shipwrecks than rescues.





For more than forty years, it stood on one of the rocky peninsulas jutting out into the Tasman Sea, not far from Jervis Bay - the southern limit of Australia's sea dangers.



The rocks located south of St. George's Bay were famous for their treachery. Ships were repeatedly wrecked on their sharp ledges. In the mid-19th century, a decision was made to build a lighthouse to prevent future tragedies.





And so, in 1857, under the direction of architect Alexander Dawson and surveyor E. F. Millington, the search for a suitable point began. However, as it turned out, the craftsmen did not particularly care about navigational expediency - their main priority was the speed and ease of construction.



Soon, representatives of the Board of Pilots, responsible for the safety of navigation, went to check the chosen place. What did they find? The place turned out to be invisible from the sea, and the maps prepared by Dawson and Millington were full of inconsistencies.



Despite all the obvious shortcomings, the chairman of the board sanctioned the construction of the lighthouse. And its long and sad journey began. The lighthouse, installed in an unfortunate location, was the cause of many shipwrecks for 40 years: its light was dim and led captains to dangerous reefs.



By 1899, a new lighthouse was built in another place nearby - Point Perpendicular Light - more suitable and safer. But even after the old lighthouse was closed, it still cast an ominous shadow of the past and caused problems for navigation. At the end of the century, the lighthouse was destroyed to prevent new disasters.



And it wasn't just the ships that suffered: tragedies haunted those who lived nearby. One of the lighthouse keepers drowned: by a fatal accident, his fishing trip ended in tragedy. Another lost his life after being kicked by a horse, and two teenage girls playing with a gun ended in tragedy. It seemed that mysticism and evil lurked in every stone of this abandoned monument - a symbol of human stupidity, arrogance and fatal fate.



Today, the ruins of the Cape St. George lighthouse are protected as a historical monument, reminding us of the tragic fate that linked man and the sea.