__NOTOC__ Loch Eriboll (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: "Loch Euraboil") is a long

sea loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised sp ...

on the north coast of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, which has been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of

Cape Wrath Cape Wrath ( gd, Am Parbh, known as ' in Lewis) is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain. The cape is separated from the rest of the ma ...

and the

Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth ( gd, An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corrupti ...

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

remains can be found in the area, including a

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ''sous terrain'', meaning "under ground") is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought north ...

and a very well preserved wheelhouse on the hillside above the west shore. A small scale lime industry developed here in the 19th century and Ard Neakie, a promontory on the eastern shore of the loch, had four large lime kilns developed in around 1870.Ard Neackie, Limekilns, Quarry
Canmore. Retrieved 11 April 2021. Before the development of the coast road around the loch in 1890, the Heilam ferry ran from the quay at Portnancon on the west shore to Ard Neakie. Both Ard Neakie and Portnancon were fishing stations. Loch Eriboll 2002

Around the shores of the loch are the crofting townships of Eriboll, Laid, Heilam, Portnancon and . Eilean Hoan is located at the northern, seaward end of the loch and there are various small islets in the vicinity including A' Ghoil-sgeir, An Cruachan, An Dubh-sgeir, Eilean Clùimhrig, and Pocan Smoo."Get-a-Map".

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

. Retrieved 28 November 2009. Today it is a largely unspoilt wilderness, in a region of high rainfall and with the lowest population density in the UK.

Naval use

The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

have been frequent visitors to the loch, particularly during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. There are stones arranged by sailors into the names of their warships, including and ''Amethyst'', on the hillside above the hamlet of Laid. It was nicknamed "Lock ’orrible" by the British servicemen stationed here during the war because of the often inclement weather. The largest island in the loch,

Eilean Choraidh Eilean Choraidh, also known as Horse IslandHaswell-Smith (2004) p. 203 is an island in Loch Eriboll in Sutherland on the north coast of Scotland. It is about in extent and the highest point is above sea level. During the 19th century the Rea ...

, was used as a representation of the German

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

'' Tirpitz'' for aerial bombing practice by the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

prior to the successful

Operation Tungsten Operation Tungsten was a Second World War Royal Navy air raid that targeted the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. The operation sought to damage or destroy ''Tirpitz'' at her base in Kaafjord in the far north of Norway before she could become ...

in April 1944. The surviving 33 German U-boats, for example and , formally surrendered here in 1945, ending the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. A leased area of the shore and loch is classified as a ''Minor training area'' by the

Defence Training Estate Defence Training Estates is an organisation within the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. It is the operating division of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, and is responsible for the management of the 78% of the defence estate allocated a ...

, generally being used for amphibious and specialist training for three fortnights per year. In 2011 the loch was used as part of Exercise Joint Warrior, the largest war games staged in the UK, involving the navy's new flagship, the assault ship HMS ''Bulwark''.

References

Notes

External links

*
Panorama of Loch Eriboll
(QuickTime required)
Northern Lighthouse Board

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eriboll Sea lochs of Scotland Lochs of Highland (council area) Loch Eriboll

Naval use

See also

References

Notes

External links