Les Casquets

Les Casquets or (The) Casquets (/kæsˈkɛts/ kas-KETS); is a group of rocks 13 km northwest of Alderney and are part of an underwater sandstone ridge. Other parts which emerge above the water are the islets of Burhou and Ortac. Little vegetation grows on them.

Theories as to the origin of the name include:

A map (Leyland map) dated from around 1640 gives a Latin name Casus Rupes (broken rocks), which would seem to confirm the third theory above, but which may be a folk etymology.

There have been numerous wrecks on the islets; fierce tides reaching 6–7 knots on springs and a lack of landmarks account for many wrecks in the area. The most famous include SS Stella, wrecked in 1899. The largest wreck was the 8000 tonne water tanker Constantia S lost in 1967.

It was believed for centuries that the loss of HMS Victory in 1744 was attributable to wrecking on the Casquets, the lightkeeper of Alderney even being court-martialled for failure to keep the light on at the time of the ship's loss. However, when the wreck of that ship was found in 2008, it was over 60 nautical miles (110 km) from the Casquets.

The island was the location of a daring raid by the forerunner of the British SAS, the SSRF on 2 September 1942; the raid was led by Major Gus March-Phillipps DSO, OBE and was one of the first raids by Anders Lassen VC MC. In the raid the entire garrison of seven was captured and returned to England as prisoners and the radio and lighthouse wrecked.

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