By Ricky D Phillips
Military Historian
HMS Vidal a Royal Navy survey ship formally annexed the remote Atlantic islet of Rockall for the United Kingdom September 18,1955. The British government feared the Soviet Union might use the isolated rock to spy on guided missile tests.
Queen Elizabeth II signed a royal warrant telling the ship’s captain to land on the rock and raise the Union flag, and a helicopter from the ship dropped a small team onto the peak: two RM cliff leaders affix a plaque formally annexing Rockall for Great Britain.