Editing Outer Hebrides (section)

=== Shipwrecks ===
[[File:Admiralty-yacht-HMS-Iolaire-ship-Amalthaea-1908.jpg|thumb|right|The [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] yacht [[HMY Iolaire|HMS ''Iolaire'']]]]

The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and [[lighthouse]]s are sited as an aid to navigation at locations from Barra Head in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Main/ |title=Lighthouse Library |publisher=Northern Lighthouse Board |access-date=16 April 2016}}</ref> There are numerous sites of wrecked ships, and the [[Flannan Isles]] are the location of an enduring mystery that occurred in December 1900, when all three lighthouse keepers vanished without trace.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp.&nbsp;329–31</ref>

''Annie Jane'', a three-masted immigrant ship out of [[Liverpool]] bound for [[Montreal|Montreal, Canada]], struck rocks off the West Beach of Vatersay during a storm on Tuesday 28 September 1853. Within ten minutes the ship began to founder and break up, casting 450 people into the sea. In spite of the conditions, islanders tried to rescue the passengers and crew. The remains of 350 men, women and children were buried in the dunes behind the beach and a small cairn and monument marks the site.<ref>{{Canmore|num=102881 |desc=Annie Jane: Bagh Siar, Vatersay, Atlantic |fewer-links=yes |access-date=16 April 2016}}</ref>

The tiny Beasts of Holm off the east coast of Lewis were the site of the sinking of {{ship|HMS|Iolaire }} during the first few hours of 1919,<ref>Thompson (1968) p. 76</ref> one of the worst maritime disasters in United Kingdom waters during the 20th century. [[Calvay]] in the Sound of Barra provided the inspiration for [[Compton Mackenzie]]'s novel ''[[Whisky Galore (novel)|Whisky Galore]]'' after the {{ship|SS|Politician}} ran aground there with a cargo of [[single malt whisky]] in 1941.