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 and 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.