Rockall might seem like a bleak, wave slapped islet in the middle of the North Atlantic sea but its history is surprisingly colourful

The Scottish Labour Peer Lord Kennet wasn't pulling his punches when he said of Rockall: "It is a dreadful place. There can be no place more desolate, more despairing, more awful to see in the world". Kennet, a former seaman, was speaking ahead of Royal Assent being granted to the Island of Rockall Act in 1972, a new law which incorporated Rockall into the United Kingdom, effectively safeguarding potential mineral finds and existing fishing grounds. The passing of the Act is just one episode in the UK's curious relationship with the uninhabited chuck of rock, measuring just 25 metres wide by 21 metres high, located 240 miles west of the Outer Hebrides.

1946: A Guardian reader summaries past expeditions to Rockall. Click on image to read full article

Rockall first appeared on maps around 400 years ago. An early Scottish Gaelic name for the islet was Rocabarra, which is said to translate as "the spiked rock". Inspired by what is believed to be the first landing in 1810, Victorian adventurers made daring attempts to set foot on the treacherous tooth like granite rock to research its geology, ornithology, meteorology, and marine life.

Whilst the scientific community were enchanted by Rockall, many sailors - aware of the dangerous waters around it - described it as an 'evil lump of granite'. In 1904, six hundred Scandinavian emigrants bound for New York perished when their vessel, the Norge, smashed onto a reef, several miles from Rockall. Only around 100 people survived, making it one of the worst shipping disasters in maritime history.

1904: Many lives feared lost near Rockall reef. Click on image to read full article

Other examples of contact with the island have been less perilous: Rockall is said to have been mistaken for an iceberg, a sailing ship, a whale and a submarine. An armed merchant cruiser, thinking it was an enemy vessel, warned it to surrender in the first world war before opening fire. All of this will probably come as a surprise to those who only know Rockall as the sea area cited during the radio shipping forecast.

But it is for territorial reasons that Rockall has figured so largely in British history. In 1955 it was annexed by Britain as Whitehall feared that the Soviet Union might build a spy platform on it. Two marines and an ornithologist were landed by helicopter and raised the Union flag. The land grab was the last made by the British empire.

1955: the Royal Navy's might is called upon to annex Rockall

In more recent times, Ireland, Iceland and Denmark have all staked their claims. Its ownership – and the valuable fishing and mineral rights that could go with it – remain in British hands.

Undeterred by the inherent hazards in trying to reach Rockall, several attempts at occupying it in the last few decades have been made. In 1985, British adventurer and former SAS soldier Tom McClean set a 40-day-long solo occupation record. In 1997, Rockall was occupied by Greenpeace activists, witnessed by the Guardian writer John Vidal. The 42 days occupation was a record, and drew attention to oil exploration in the area.