1801- Smalls Lighthouse- just off the coast of Pembrokeshire-
In the early 1800s, British lighthouses made the switch from two-man crews to three-man, following a disturbing incident in 1801.
The Smalls Lighthouse two-man team of Thomas Howell and Thomas Griffith were famously known to argue intensely. During one long shift together, Griffith fell ill and died of natural causes. Howell was so petrified of being blamed for the death of his colleague that he kept the body as evidence, rather than throwing it over into the sea. Worried that the body would soon start to rot and smell, Howell built a makeshift wooden coffin, and lashed it to the outside of the lighthouse. Before long, the wind and waves tore the coffin apart, and the decaying arm of Griffith fell out of its wooden cage. As the wind bellowed, it is said that the arm almost looked as if it was beckoning Howell to come outside. The violent storms continued for a horrifying three weeks, at which point Howell was eventually relieved from his position. He was so harrowed by the experience that some described him as 'demented' and even many of his close friends didn't recognise him anymore.
After this distressing ordeal, the three-man roster was introduced, until automation began in the 1980s.
However, 178 years after the Smalls disaster, a two-man team was used one more time.
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The Lighthouse
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