GIANT WAVE - The Lighthouse - page 92

Flannans,however,wheretheseaappearstocomeoverfromthenorthtowardsthewest
landing on a small scale in violent storms, but it is in fact spray blown from a high geo
and a small river that has stone boulders bordering it - this is not where the men would
have been working.
Notes
1 The terms giant, rogue, freak and monster are all interchangeable in reference to very large
waves.
2 Report by Superintendent Robert Muirhead, 8 January 1901, Scottish National Archives file
no. NL/3/1/1.
3 Meteorological Office Archives Exeter, see Appendix III.
4 Account of visit by a minister to Flannan Isles Lighthouse, April 1900, in Scotsman , 29
December 1900.
5 Ibid.
6 Letter from NLB Secretary James Murdoch to PLK James Ducat, 11 April 1900, Scottish
National Archives file no. NL/3/1/1.
7 Ibid.
8 Official circular from NLB Secretary James Murdoch to all stations, 18 February 1898,
Scottish National Archives file no. NL/3/1/1.
9 Pole Star was the then lighthouse relief vessel for the NLB.
10 Official circular from NLB Secretary James Murdoch to all stations, 18 February 1898,
Scottish National Archives file no. NL/3/1/1.
11 Report by Superintendent Robert Muirhead, 8 January 1901, Scottish National Archives file
no. NL/3/1/1.
12 Interview ,'Boxing Day on Flannan Rock', with Anna Ducat by Joan Simpson, The Times ,
26 December 1990.
13 Stargazing by Peter Hill, Canongate Books, 2003, p. 250.
14 Lighthouse by Tony Parker, Eland Publishing, 1986, pp. 45-8.
15 See www.cil.ie .
16 LASH, an acronym for Lighter Aboard Ship, i.e. a vessel designed to carry barges.
17 11 on the Beaufort Scale denotes exceptionally high waves. Very large patches of foam,
driven before the wind, cover much of the sea surface. Very large amounts of airborne spray
severely reduce visibility, with waves up to 52ft.
18 The loss of the München was featured in an edition of the BBC documentary series Horizon
entitled 'Freak Wave', which was first shown on 14 November 2002. In 2003, the Science
Channel made a documentary about killer waves that included the disappearance of the
München and concluded that a rogue wave was the most likely cause of her loss.