Photo of the Fleet in the Cromarty Firth
Cromarty Courthouse Museum

This black and white photograph from 1911 reminds us that the Cromarty Firth was a major base for the Royal Navy in the first half of the twentieth century. Cromarty became intimately associated with the Navy at this time. The image has been made into a postcard, suggesting it was an important moment for the community at the time.

The scene shown is a royal gun salute being fired at Cromarty Harbour. The small vessel in front is the Enchantress, the Admiralty Yacht, which is known to have had Winston Churchill on board.

Churchill was the ‘First Lord of the Admiralty’ from October 1911 until May, 1915. The two cruisers are HMS Natal and HMS Achilles.