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The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.
The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausoleum is said to stand where Saint Munn's church was once located.
Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
During World War II, the loch was used as a British Royal Navy submarine base. From 1961 to 1992, it was used as a United States Navy ballistic missile submarine base. In 1992, the Holy Loch base was deemed unnecessary following the demise of the Soviet Union and subsequently closed.
All the villages used to have piers served by , and now Western Ferries runs between Hunters Quay and McInroy's Point on the outskirts of Gourock, while the Argyll Ferries service runs from Dunoon to Gourock pierhead. At the end of the loch, the A815 (after being joined by the A880 at Ardbeg) leads north, to the east of the River Eachaig, to the Benmore Botanic Garden and Arboretum (also known as the Younger Botanic Gardens), Loch Eck and on towards Inveraray.
After the war the yard built the successful one-class Loch Longs and two 12-metre challengers for the America's Cup: Sceptre (1958) (17 tonnes) and Sovereign (1964). The Robertson family sold the yard in 1965, and it was turned over to GRP production work (mainly Pipers and Etchells). During its 104-year history, Robertson's Yard built 500 boats, many of which are still sailing. The yard ceased trading in the early 1980s; at this point it was owned by Terry Hooper who ran the yard servicing mostly the US Navy. After the US navy packed up and left the area Hooper sold the yard in the 1990s. The site has since been converted to residential building and the new Holy Loch Marina development. The yard today is still widely known in the area as 'Hooper's Yard'.
Near the Holy Loch an anti-submarine boom was constructed between Dunoon and the Cloch Point Lighthouse to defend waters from German .
Holy Loch was one of several locations on or near the Firth of Clyde considered for the refit site. Others were Faslane, the channel between Largs and Cumbrae, Rosneath Bay, and Rothesay Bay. Site selection criteria included the requirements for a sheltered anchorage, relative proximity to an international airport, and sufficient shore facilities to provide housing for military personnel and their families. Agreement for the use of Holy Loch was reached near the end of 1960 and the arrival of the first tender, scheduled for December. Divisions within the British government and concerns about protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) caused her arrival to be rescheduled to 3 March 1961. Protests at the site followed.
Between 1961 and 1982, the Naval Support Activity ashore was administered by US Naval Activities London. In 1982, Naval Support Activity (NAVSUPPACT), Forward Base, Holy Loch, Scotland became its own command. NAVSUPPACT ultimately managed 42 facilities and leased 342 housing units for Navy personnel and their dependents.
Holy Loch's most prosperous period occurred with the naval base and its 3,000 Americans. A monument was built to the US Navy years in the Castle Gardens, Dunoon.
Over the years, five different and one floating dry dock served in the loch.
| + Submarine tenders | |||
| March 1961 | January 1963 | Commenced first site one refit 6 March 1961. () | |
| January 1963 | August 1966 | ||
| August 1966 | May 1970 | ||
| May 1970 | November 1975 | ||
| November 1975 | January 1982 | ||
| January 1982 | June 1987 | USS Hunley (AS-31) | |
| June 1987 | March 1992 | USS Simon Lake (AS-33) |
| + Floating dry dock | |||
| June 1961 | February 1992 | February 1964, completed the first "off centre" docking of a Polaris submarine |
Two notable incidents occurred during the three-decade long deployment of SUBRON 14 at Holy Loch. On 29 November 1970, a fire erupted on USS Canopus, killing three of her complement. Almost four years later, on 3 November 1974, the nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS James Madison (SSBN-627) collided with a Soviet submarine, assumed to be a Victor-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, during a dive just after departing from Holy Loch. The American submarine was dented and suffered a nine-foot scratch on her hull. She spent a full week at the base for inspection and repairs. (2025). 9781610393584, PublicAffairs. ISBN 9781610393584
Laurel Clark, known to her shipmates as "Doc Salton", was assigned as the Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer at SUBRON 14. Clark was one of the astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on 1 February 2003.
New technologies and the end of the Cold War led to the base being deemed unnecessary. The last submarine tender to be based there, the , left Holy Loch in November 1991, ahead of the base closing the following June. The closing of the base caused significant economic decline.
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