page_title: Loch Striven
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Loch Striven / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Highball Bouncing Bomb at Abbotsbury Swannery, Dorset, UK
context_page_description: Loch Striven is a sea loch extending off the Firth of Clyde, and forms part of the Cowal peninsula coast, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
  Loch Striven extends off of the Firth of Clyde just north of the Isle of Bute, where it forms a narrow inlet about 8 miles long extending north into the Cowal Peninsula. Terminating at Ardtaraig the hamlet at the head of the loch, where the B836 road provides access to the area.
context_section_description: 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) training during World War II. The training programme was directed from HMS Varbel in Port Bannatyne 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" used by The Dambusters. Over 100 dummy bombs were dropped in the loch between Spring 1943 and Autumn 1944, using (at first) a Wellington but mainly Mosquitoes based at RAF Turnberry. Two of these bombs were recovered in 2017; one is now at Brooklands Museum and the other at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum.
caption: Highball Bouncing Bomb at Abbotsbury Swannery Dorset UK
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix S5600", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix S5600   Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2008:04:07 14:39:15", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "294", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1306", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8876", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/20", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:04:07 14:39:15", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:04:07 14:39:15", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "459/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "113/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "17/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "63/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2592", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1944", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1158", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "4442", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "4442", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}