Akmenrags: Lighthouse

Lighthouses were important and strategic military objects during military conflicts in the 19th and 20th century, and enemies tried to destroy them to hinder the coastal movement of the opponent’s ship. That’s exactly what happened to the Akmeņrags lighthouse. The navigation light dated back to 1879, with the lighthouse protecting ships from cunning shallows in the area. Ten years later, a 28-metre wooden lighthouse was erected. It was destroyed during World War I. A new lighthouse was built in 1921, and it stood 37.5 metres above sea level. That lighthouse is still in service today. Local fishermen say that the area is one of the largest ship graveyards in the Baltic Sea. On January 13, 1923, the steamship Saratov ran aground near the lighthouse – the same ship which had once given refuge to Latvia’s temporary government, including Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis, during the battle over Latvia’s independence. True, at the time when it ran aground, the ship was sailing under the hammer and sickle, as it had been turned over to the new Soviet Union after the war. It was carrying cargo from Rīga to Great Britain and had a scheduled stop in Liepāja. The accident occurred on a snowy evening, and apparently it was poor visibility or navigation errors which caused the ship to run aground at a place where the water was just five metres deep. The helmsman was shot for his mistake. The ship remained on the reef until the 1930s, causing problems for fishermen and navigation. It was blown up, and some of its parts were melted down in Liepāja. Still, some parts of the Saratov are still in the Akmeņrags shallows. They won’t give up everything that they have.