North Mole Lighthouse

The tower is cast iron and was prefabricated by Chance Bros. It was supplied with a fourth order optic, at the request of the harbour master at the time. When erected the tower was painted French grey with white lanterns, and remained in this colour scheme for many decades.
It remained in storage until 1906 while engineers waited for the rocks of the North Mole to settle. A temporary wooden pyramidal structure preceded the cast iron lighthouse.
When lit in May 1906, North Mole exhibited a fixed red light. It was powered by oil, but a newspaper report that month noted that it would be changed to electricity as soon as possible. In 1947 the light was changed to flashing red every second, and to very quick flashing red in 2018.
In 1942 Fremantle harbour was closed and it became the largest submarine base in the southern hemisphere; 170 British, American and Dutch submarines were based there at different times throughout the rest of the war. In 1943 the lantern was removed from the lighthouse so that observation posts and anti-submarine guns could be placed on top. The lantern was reinstated after November 1946.