Great Savage Island (Laychindaung, Aracan)

The station was first established here in 1844 upon the commission of Lieutenant Siddons Royal Engineers. This lighthouse was built as part of a programme of early construction of lighthouses in all parts of the British Empire, for example the Bahamas and India. Ultimately, the lighthouses amongst other buildings and infrastructure served to consolidate their presence in any given country.

The construction was carried by the Royal Engineers, with Captain (later Colonel) Fraser supervising. The Chance Brothers of Smethwick near Birmingham supplied a new lens in 1870. The high stone tower itself measures 21m high. The lens is noted as both fixed and revolving in Chance paperwork.

The lighthouse is well positioned for ships sailing for Akyab, which entailed avoiding the reefs from Fakiers Point and a dangerous rock named “Passage Rock”, around a quarter of a mile NW from the Island. Importantly, the lighthouse aided the ships sailing during the south-west monsoon. The importance of the lighthouse for this journey is highlighted by Captain James Paterson, of the H.C.S. Amherst, in his instructions for navigating to the entrance of the Aracan River. He recommended that ships would need to “steer for the south end of western Borongo, in lat. 19°50’N., lon. 93°3’E., then standing along the coast to the northward and westward about 5 or 6 miles offshore until the light is sighted on the Great Savage, at the entrance of the Aracan River, then steer so as to bring it to bear N. by E., or N.N.E., and if they intend to run in during the night with either of these bearings, they will cross the bar in the best water, in 3 fathoms low water spring tides” (Horsburgh 1852, pp. 7).

Very little other information is available though it is thought to have become inactive in the 1980s and is now in a very poor state of repair. The lantern is now completely removed.