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Loch Striven ( gd, Loch Sroigheann) is a
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 ...
extending off 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 ...
, and forms part 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 coast, 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 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 ...
. Loch Striven extends off of 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 ...
just north of the
Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...
, where it forms a narrow inlet about long extending north into 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. Terminating at
Ardtaraig Ardtaraig is a hamlet lying at the head of Loch Striven on the Cowal peninsula, Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. The hamlet is on the single track B836 road. Cowal Hydro Scheme The Cowal Hydro Scheme is part of the Sloy/Awe Hydro-Electric ...
the hamlet at the head of the loch, where the B836 road provides access to the area.


Hydro-electric generating station

A hydro-electric generating station is located at the head of Loch Striven at
Ardtaraig Ardtaraig is a hamlet lying at the head of Loch Striven on the Cowal peninsula, Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. The hamlet is on the single track B836 road. Cowal Hydro Scheme The Cowal Hydro Scheme is part of the Sloy/Awe Hydro-Electric ...
, supplied with water through large pipes from water captured at
Loch Tarsan Loch Tarsan; is a freshwater loch and impounding reservoir located 13 kilometres Northwest of Dunoon, on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. This three-armed Reservoir extends into both Glen Tarsan and Glen Lean. It supplies w ...
, known as the Striven Hydro-Electric Scheme (also known as the Cowal Hydro-Electric Power Scheme).


Laid up ships

During times of recession in shipping, the sea loch has been used as a sheltered anchorage for laid-up vessels. The (then) newly built LNG carriers MV Gastor and her sister ship MV Nestor were laid up here from delivery from the shipyard
Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and th ...
in 1976 until being sold 15 years later to
Bonny Gas Transport Bonny Gas Transport is a subsidiary of Nigeria LNG or NLNG which itself is an incorporated joint-venture of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Gas B.V., TotalEnergies Gaz & Electricite Holdings and Eni International N.A. N. ...
in 1992. The Danish shipping company Maersk used the sea loch for cold layup of some of its vessels (namely four of the B- class vessels in its fleet and ''Sealand Performance'') from 2009 to 2010.


World War II

The upper reaches of the sea loch, because of their secluded location, and their topographical similarity to Norwegian fjords, were used extensively for midget submarine (
X-craft The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44. It was substantially larger than the original Chariot manned torpedo. Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to the ...
) training 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 ...
. The training programme was directed from HMS Varbel in
Port Bannatyne Port Bannatyne ( gd, Port MhicEamailinn) is a coastal village on the Isle of Bute, Firth of Clyde, Scotland that is home to many steamers. Port Bannatyne developed into the 1900s as a quieter and more unusual alternative to Rothesay. It is a pop ...
to the south in the luxury Kyles Hydro Hotel, overlooking the port, which was requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as the HQ for midget submarine operations, including the attack on the Tirpitz. Ardtaraig House, located at the head of Loch Striven, and similarly requisitioned by the Admiralty, became a secondary naval base for the 12th Submarine Flotilla midget submarines and became known as HMS Varbel II. The loch was also used as the main trials area for "Highball" (see picture), the smaller anti-ship version of "Upkeep", the "
bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-deter ...
" used by The Dambusters. Over 100 dummy bombs were dropped in the loch between Spring 1943 and Autumn 1944, using (at first) a
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...
but mainly
Mosquitoes Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small Diptera, flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish ...
based at
RAF Turnberry RAF Turnberry was an airfield in Scotland used by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the First World War, and again by the RAF in the Second World War. Between the two wars, the site reverted to its pre-1914 use ...
. Two of these bombs were recovered in 2017; one is now at
Brooklands Museum Brooklands Museum is a motoring and aviation museum occupying part of the former Brooklands motor-racing track in Weybridge, Surrey, England. Formally opened in 1991, the museum is operated by the independent Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, a pri ...
and the other at the
de Havilland Aircraft Museum The de Havilland Aircraft Museum, formerly the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, is a volunteer-run aviation museum in London Colney, Hertfordshire, England. The collection is built around the definitive prototype and restoration shops fo ...
. Between 15 and 17 May 1944,
HMS Malaya HMS ''Malaya'' was one of five s built for the Royal Navy during the 1910s. Shortly after commissioning in early 1916, she participated in the Battle of Jutland of the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. In the Second World War, ''Mal ...
was used in Loch Striven as a
target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...
for inert Highball bouncing bomb prototypes, one of which punched a hole in the ship's side.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loch Striven Striven Striven Firth of Clyde Cowal