Loch Long is a body of water in

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The

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 spel ...

extends from the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles (it is 164 metres deep at its deepest). The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic ...

at its southwestern end. It measures approximately in length, with a width of between . The loch also has an arm, Loch Goil, on its western side. Although it is fairly long, its name actually comes from the Gaelic for "ship lake". Prior to their defeat at the Battle of Largs in 1263, Viking raiders sailed up Loch Long to Arrochar, and then dragged their

longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...

s 2 miles overland to Tarbet and into

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of C ...

. Being inland, the settlements around Loch Lomond were more vulnerable to attack. Loch Long forms part of the coast of the

Cowal Cowal ( gd, Còmhghall) is a peninsula in Argyll and Bute, in the west of Scotland, that extends into the Firth of Clyde. The northern part of the peninsula is covered by the Argyll Forest Park managed by Forestry and Land Scotland. The Arroch ...

peninsula and forms the entire western coastline of the Rosneath Peninsula. Loch Long was historically the boundary between

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

and

Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...

; however, in 1996 boundary redrawing meant that it moved wholly within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The steamboat ''Chancellor'' used to traverse the loch, departing

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As wel ...

at 11 A.M. and returning about five hours later.
Colegate's Guide to Dunoon, Kirn, and Hunter's Quay'' (Second edition)
- John Colegate (1868), page 53 PS ''Waverley'' was also built to serve Loch Long and Loch Goil from 1947, a route which she still sails today albeit as more of an attraction than a primary means of transport.

Villages on Loch Long

Villages on the loch include Arrochar at its head and

Cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

on the east shore near its foot.

Fisheries

Several Scottish sea fishing records are attributed to the loch:

Sport

The Ardentinny Outdoor Education Centre on the western shore uses the loch for watersports. It is now a popular area for

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

on the numerous wrecks that scatter the loch.

Finnart Oil Terminal

The

Finnart Oil Terminal Finnart Oil Terminal, also known as Finnart Ocean Terminal or Chap Point, is an oil depot on the eastern shore of Loch Long, Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland, about to the north of Garelochhead on the A814 road to Arrochar. It has ...

is located on the eastern shore of the loch, linked to the

Grangemouth Refinery Grangemouth Refinery is a mature oil refinery complex located on the Firth of Forth in Grangemouth, Scotland, currently operated by Petroineos. It is the only operating crude oil refinery in Scotland (following the cessation in 2014 of Bitumen ...

via a pipeline.

Navy use

Admiralty Chart No 3739 Loch Long torpedo range

The eastern shore is also the location of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, part of His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde, and the Glen Mallan jetty, linked to Defence Munitions Glen Douglas. A testing range for torpedoes was established on the loch in 1912, in connection with the Clyde Torpedo Factory in Greenock. It operated through both World Wars, closing in 1986. The loch contains numerous wrecks.

References

External links

Gaelic place names of Scotland

Map showing Loch Long, circa 1600
National Library of Scotland
Video footage of the old Arrochar steamer pier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Long Long Long Firth of Clyde Cowal Wreck diving sites in Scotland