Lighthouses of Russia: Northern Chukotka

The Chokotka Autonomous Okrug (autonomous district) is the unit of the Russian Federation that occupies the easternmost extension of Siberia, reaching toward Alaska. It is a peninsula, with coastlines facing north on the East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea and south on the Bering Sea. This page has lighthouses of the Arctic coast, and there is a separate page covering the Pacific coast.

Although Russian explorers reached this remote area in the 17th century and mapped it in the 18th century, full control by the Russian Empire did not occur before late in the 19th century.

The capital of Chukotka, Anadyr, is the easternmost municipality in Russia; it has a population of about 10,000 and the total population of the district is only about 50,000.

During the Soviet period, few foreigners were able to visit Russia's Pacific ports, and even today tourism in the Russian far east is slight. As a result, no photos are available for many of the lighthouses. If you have or can locate additional photos, please let me know.

Special thanks to Michel Forand for his careful research on lighthouses of the Russian Arctic.

Russian lighthouses are owned and operated by the Russian Navy, although some of them have civilian keepers. The Russian word for a lighthouse is mayak (маяк); mys is a cape, ostrov is an island, and buhkta or zaliv is a bay.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Russian light list (RU) numbers are from Russian Navy Publication 2111 as reported by the Admiralty. Admiralty numbers are from volume L of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals, and U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 115.

Ostrov Kolyuchin Light, Iultinsky District, August 2011
Panoramio photo copyright Harry Shave; used by permission

Bilibinsky District Lighthouses

Kolyma Gulf Lighthouses
Note: The Kolyma Gulf is a bight of the East Siberian Sea extending eastward from the delta of the Kolyma River.
Mys Letyatkina: Date unknown. Inactive (?); focal plane unknown; white flash every 5.5 s. No description available, but a photo shows a square skeletal tower that is probably this lighthouse. Google has only a distant satellite view of the headland. Located on a high bluff about 80 km (50 mi) east of the Kolyma River Delta. Site status unknown. Not listed by the Admiralty. NGA 115-17660.
Mys Bol'shoy Baranov: Date unknown. Inactive (?); focal plane 23 m (75 ft); white flash every 5.5 s. 12 m (39 ft) square pyramidal wood skeletal tower. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the headland. Located on a prominent cape about 100 km (60 mi) east of the Kolyma River Delta. Site status unknown. Not listed by the Admiralty. NGA 115-17664.

Chaunsky District Lighthouses

Ayon Island Lighthouses
Note: Ayon Island is a large, roughly rectangular island on the west side of the entrance to Chaunskaya Bay.
* Ayon: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 34 m (112 ft); white flash every 1.3 s. 15 m (49 ft) square pyramidal wood skeletal tower. The tower carries a slatted daymark painted black with a white vertical stripe on each side. A photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Ayon is a Chukchi settlement on the northwestern side of Ayon Island; the village had a population of 440 in 2006. Located on a bluff above the East Siberian Sea on the west side of the village. Site open, tower closed. RU 2111-8600; Admiralty L9658.8; NGA 115-17680.
Ayon Severnyy: Date unknown. Active; focal plane 39 m (128 ft); white flash every 10 s. 17 m (56 ft) square pyramidal wood skeletal tower. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the area. Located on a ridge near the northern tip of Ayon Island. Site status unknown. NGA 115-17684.
Ostrov Chenkuul': Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 26 m (85 ft); white flash every 5 s. 11 m (36 ft) square pyramidal wood skeletal tower. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the island. Located on a barrier island off the northeastern coast of Ayon Island, marking the entrance to Chaunskaya Bay. Site status unknown. Not listed by the Admiralty. NGA 115-17688.
Pevek Area Lighthouses
Note: The district town of Pevek, on the east side of Chaunskaya Bay, has a population of about 4000. Pevek formerly served gulag camps where the prisoners mined uranium; during the Cold War it also supported a nearby Soviet Air Force base, now closed. Pevek is now an icebreaker and coast guard base and the home of the Marine Operations Headquarters that manages the Northern Sea Route between the Bering Strait and the mouth of the Lena River.
Mys Prolivnyy Range Rear: Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; white light, 1 s on 1 s off. Approx. 23 m (75 ft) square skeletal tower. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located about 500 m (0.3 mi) west southwest of the front light. Accessible only by boat. Site open, tower closed.NGA 115-17696.11.
* Proliv Pevek (Pevek Strait) South Entrance Range Front: Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; yellow flash every 2.5 s. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) square skeletal tower. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on the mainland coast about 8 km (5 mi) south of Pevek. Accessible by road. Site probably open, tower closed. NGA 115-17696.3.
* Proliv Pevek (Pevek Strait) South Entrance Range Rear: Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; yellow flash every 5 s. Approx. 16 m (52 ft) square skeletal tower. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located 650 m (0.4 mi) east northeast of the front light. Accessible by road. Site probably open, tower closed. NGA 115-17696.31.
* Proliv Pevek (Pevek Strait) Range Front: Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; white light, 1 s on 1 s off. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower. The lighthouse is partly seen at the right edge of a photo of an adjoining fuel tank farm, and Google has a satellite view. This is the main entrance range for vessels approaching Pevek. Located on the mainland coast about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Pevek. Accessible by road. Site probably open, tower closed. RU 2111-8720; Admiralty L9659; NGA 115-17690.
* Proliv Pevek (Pevek Strait) Range Rear: Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; white light, 2 s on 2 s off. Approx. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower. No photo available, but Google has a satellite view. Located on the coast about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Pevek. Accessible by road. Site probably open, tower closed. RU 2111-8721; Admiralty L9659.1; NGA 115-17690.1.
Yanranay and Cape Shelagskiy Lighthouses

Iultinsky District Lighthouses

De Long Strait Lighthouses
Mys Billingsa (Cape Billings): Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 26 m (85 ft); one long white flash every 10 s. 19 m (62 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the cape. Named for a British captain who explored this coast for Catherine the Great in the late 1700s, Cape Billings marks the division between the East Siberian Sea and Chukchi Sea. The wide De Long Strait (Proliv Longa) separates the cape from Wrangel Island. Located on a barrier beach on the point of the cape. Site status unknown. RU 2111-8880; Admiralty L9660.5; NGA 115-17732.
Mys Enmykay (Enmykey): Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 31 m (102 ft); white flash every 5 s. 13 m (43 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted with black and white stripes. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the cape. Located on a promontory at the eastern entrance to the De Long Strait. Site status unknown. RU 2111-9103; Admiralty L9847; NGA 115-17747.
Wrangel Island Lighthouse
Note: Wrangel Island (Ostrov Vrangelya) is a substantial island, 125 km (78 mi) long, lying 140 km (88 mi) off the coast of Chukotka. The island divides the East Siberian Sea to the west from the Chukchi Sea to the east. After early exploration of the area by British, American and Canadian captains, the island was annexed by Russia in 1916. The Soviet government established the settlement of Ushakovskoye on the south coast of the island in 1926. Following the fall of the Soviet Union Ushakovskoye was gradually abandoned; the last resident was killed by a polar bear in 2003. Wrangel Island is now a nature reserve.
Bukhta Rodzhers (Rogers Bay, Ushakovskoye): Date unknown. Probably inactive at least since 2003; listed with focal plane 9 m (30 ft); white flash every 2.5 s. 7 m (23 ft) orange square pyramidal tower. No photo available, and Google has only a very fuzzy satellite view of the area. This light is near the village of Ushakovskoye on the southeast coast of Wrangel Island (Ostrov Vrangelya), a large island in the western Chukchi Sea. Site status unknown. RU 2111-9050; Admiralty L9800; NGA 115-17744.
Chukchi Sea Lighthouses
Pil'gyn: Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 18 m (59 ft); white flash every 3 s. 15 m (43 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted black with a white vertical stripe. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the area. Located on a 50 km (30 mi) long barrier island about 125 km (75 mi) southeast of Mys Enmykay. The island is called the Kosa Dvukh Pilotov (Two Pilots Spit) after two American pilots whose plane crashed nearby in 1929. Site status unknown. RU 2111-9155; Admiralty L9886; NGA 115-17758.
Dvukh Pilotov: Date unknown. Active (?); focal plane 15 m (49 ft); white flash every 6 s. 10 m (33 ft) square pyramidal skeletal tower, painted black with a white vertical stripe. No photo available, and Google has only a distant satellite view of the area. Located near the village of Dal'stroy in the southeastern portion of the barrier island. Site status unknown. RU 2111-9160; Admiralty L9888; NGA 115-17760.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

Adjoining pages: East: Alaska | South: Eastern Chukotka | West: Sakha Republic

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