On this day 18 September 1955

On this day 18 September 1955 Dragonfly helicopter lands team to claim Rockall for the UK

Lieutenant-Commander Desmond Scott RN, Sergeant Brian Peel RM, Corporal AA Fraser RM, and James Fisher (a civilian naturalist and former Royal Marine), were deposited on the island by a FAA Dragonfly helicopter from HMS Vidal flown by Lt Cdr Ronald 'Tubby' Leonard. The team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge (named after Captain Basil Hall, RN, a hydrographer who was the first to land on the island in 1811) and hoisted the Union Flag to stake the UK's claim. The inscription on the plaque read:

By authority of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other realms and territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and in accordance with Her Majesty's instructions dated the 14th day of September, 1955, a landing was effected this day upon this island of Rockall from HMS Vidal. The Union flag was hoisted and possession of the island was taken in the name of Her Majesty. [Signed] R H Connell, Captain, HMS Vidal, 18 September 1955.

In 1972, the Isle of Rockall Act was passed, which made Rockall officially part of the District of Harris, Inverness-shire, Scotland. This represented the last territorial expansion of the British Empire.