The Rockall reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Rockall

Rockall is a small, rocky island in the North Atlantic but is probably better known as an area in the BBC's Shipping Forecast. Its status is disputed, being claimed by the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Iceland. By itself, the island does not have much importance, but the seas around it are considered very valuable. Therefore, it is also an important question whether Rockall is considered habitable. If so, its owner can claim 200 nautical miles of exclusive economic zone; if not, the claim can go no further than Rockall's territorial waters.

The rock is the summit of an extinct volcano and is located at 57°35'48"N 13°41'19"W, some 300 miles west of Manish Point, North Uist in Scotland. The rock is about 25 metres wide at its base and rises sheer to a height of approximately 22 metres. There is a small ledge of 3.5 metres by 1.3 metres, known as "Hall's Ledge", 4 metres from the summit. The rock's only permanent inhabitants are colonies of gannets, seagulls, and periwinkless.

The earliest recorded landing on the island was in 1810; the next was not until 1888. On 18 September 1955 the island was officially annexed by Britain when Lieutenant Commander Desmond Scott RN from HMS Vidal was deposited on the island by a Royal Navy helicopter. He cemented in a brass plaque and hoisted the Union Jack to stake the British claim. On 10 February 1972 the Isle of Rockall Act received Royal Assent to make the island part of Inverness-shire, fully incorporating it into the United Kingdom. A navigational beacon was later installed on the island and Britain declared that no ship would be allowed within a 50 miles radius of the rock. In 1985 former SAS member and survival expert Tom McClean lived on the island for 40 days to affirm Britain's right to the island.

Greenpeace occupied the islet for a short time in 1997, calling it Waveland, to protest oil exploration, but the company sponsoring it collapsed in 1999, and the experiment ended.

Rockall is also close to the Darwin Mounds, deep-water coral mounds about 185 km. north west of Cape Wrath

External links

• The Rockall Times
• Greenpeace press release
• http://www.waveland.org/

---

See Also

• An Irish/Celtic band, "The House Band", has an album called Rockall, named after the place.
• Rockall is also the name of the land where Anthony Swithin's series "The Perilous Quest for Lyonesse" takes place.

This is the "Rockall" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.