On the night of 18 April 1911, the Lusitania, a ship of 5 500 tons, with 774 people aboard struck the Bellows Rock below the lighthouse. 

It did not immediately break up but slid into the deep water on 22 April.  The crew were able to launch the lifeboats and get all the passengers and crew safely off the wreck.  Mr. Allan, the assistant lightkeeper, ran down the cliff to Maclear beach and by waving a lantern warned the boats away from the beach where they would capsize in the surf. The safest course was to row into False Bay and land at Buffels Bay, but Allan could not convey such

instructions by just waving a lantern.

Not withstanding his efforts, two boats attempted a landing and were capsized in the surf resulting in the loss of a couple of lives. Allan spent some time searching for a woman, thought to have been lost from one of the boats when he discovered a badly hurt man lying in the rocks. The injured man was taken away on horseback.