5,000 tourists that would visit during the summer months. In 1870, the British ship Admiral ran aground near Vilsandi and many barrels of a new product, petroleum – the oil economy didn't exist yet – washed ashore and were used for fuel at Vilsandi's lighthouse and island homes, replacing firewood and flax oil. Artur Toom (1884–1942) was appointed to manage Vilsandi's lighthouse in 1906 and he was instrumental in having the small Vaika islands just northwest of Vilsandi designated as a maritime bird reserve in 1910. The islands comprise a sensitive marine ecosystem used by a multitude of migratory birds as breeding and nesting grounds. World War I During World War I, in October 1917, Germany launched Operation Albion, a massive fleet of over 300 ships and 25,000 soldiers, to occupy Saaremaa and other Baltic islands to try to force Russia, who governed Estonia at the time, to surrender. The invasion began at Vilsandi and was first noticed by Artur Toom, Vilsandi's lighthouse keeper. In 1941, Toom was arrested by the Russians, accused of undertaking counterrevolutionary activities and spying for capitalist countries, and was sent to a Stalinist work camp where he perished in 1942. One of Vilsandi's residents was Jaen Tear, a well-known seaman and shipbuilder, and the largest ship-owner on the island. He also managed the lifesaving station until his death in 1925. Jaen Tear's grandson, Jaan Elmar Teär, was born in Kuressaare on 24 December 1930. In 1941, Jaan Teär's father and uncle, who were being held by the Russians at the Bishop's Castle in Kuressaare, the capital of Saaremaa, were executed. Vilsandi has produced 16 ship captains or Master Mariners, some of whom were related to Peeter All (1829–1898), a noted resident of the nearby island of Loonalaid. Such captains include Peter Mender, Johann Kalmar, Siim Roos and Johannes Mänder. Kalmar, Mender and Roos worked in the Russian Far East and China prior to World War II and in 1930 co-founded the Estonian shipping firm Merilaid & Co. World War II On 19 September 1944 about 40 of Vilsandi's 155 inhabitants escaped by boat to Sweden, evading a blockade by the Kriegsmarine. Records show that 96 people escaped from Vilsandi in 1944, during the war, followed by one who escaped in 1956 and another in 1959, by which time only 46 inhabitants remained. Of the people who were able to flee the Russians, the majority settled