Aðalvík is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

located in the southwest part of Hornstrandir on

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. The bay splits into three main locations, the former fishing villages of Látrar (120 inhabitants in 1920) and Sæból (80 inhabitants in 1900) and Miðvík. All of the settlements were abandoned in the middle of the 20th century. The last inhabitants moved from Látrum and Sæból in October 1952. In Sæból and on the mountain above it, named Darri, the British occupation force built a military base during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which remains can still be seen, including remains of anti-aircraft guns, buildings, roads and

railway track Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...

s. In Látrar and on Straumnesfjall, the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

built a radar station named Straumnes Air Station. An airstrip was also built just outside the village. Jakobína Sigurðardóttir wrote the poem ''Hugsað til Hornstranda'' to protest the military activity there.

References

Westfjords {{Iceland-geo-stub