Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
The Cod Wars
Because of overfishing of the waters around their island, the government of Iceland decided in 1958 to expand their territory to twelve nautical miles, whereupon Great Britain sent warships to the 12 nautical mile zone to protect the British fishing trawlers.
All NATO members condemned the unilateral move by the Icelanders, while the British announced that they would have their trawlers protected by the navy.
There were relatively harmless clashes between Icelandic coast guard boats and British trawlers- here a confrontation between the Trawler "Coventry City" and the ICGV "Albert"...:
The conflict lasted from September 1 to November 12, 1958, with the Icelandic Coast Guard having great difficulty in controlling the large sea area around their island against superior British forces.
The Icelanders used the only means of pressure they had against the British and therefore threatened to withdraw from NATO and expel the US soldiers stationed in Iceland.
Even pro-Western cabinet members felt compelled to make these threats as they were Iceland's only way of applying pressure. After the Icelanders protested at the United Nations and before the NATO Council, Britain finally had to recognize the 12 nautical mile zone and withdraw.
After the collapse of the fish stocks in Icelandic territorial waters at the beginning of the 1970s and the income of fishermen had fallen sharply, Iceland extended the protection zone again to 50 nautical miles this time in 1972.
The island state now claimed 30% of the demersal fish yield in the North Atlantic. Great Britain and Germany did not want to recognize this, which led to further disputes. The Icelanders destroyed the gear of foreign fishing boats that were within the claimed 50 nautical mile protection zone.
On August 26, 1973, the cod wars became the only fatality. After a collision between the Icelandic Coast Guard's patrol boat "Ægir" and the British frigate HMS "Apollo"...
... there was a leak in the Ægir's engine room. Second machinist Halldór Hallfreðsson was in the process of welding the leak when a wave hit the Ægir and water entered. This led to the death of Halldór Hallfreðsson...
... from an electric shock from his welding machine.
The dispute was finally settled with the intervention of the US, fearing the possible loss of one of its bases, the air base in Keflavík...:
After receiving special fishing rights, Great Britain accepted the extension of the zone.
The expansion of the protection zone did not have the hoped-for effect and could not solve the economic problems either.
In 1974 the Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Hallgrímsson announced the extension to 200 nautical miles, which was carried out a year later.
Great Britain then sent warships back to the Icelandic coastal region to protect the trawlers. The Icelanders cut the nets of foreign ships again (including German fishing ships)...:
There were also a number of incidents where British and Icelandic ships rammed into each other...:
A well-documented incident occurred on January 7, 1976 when the Icelandic Coast Guard's patrol boat "Thor" collided with the British frigate HMS "Andromeda"...
... 35 nautical miles off the Icelandic coast...:
The Royal Navy takes the position that the Thor tried to cut the nets of the British trawler Portia, abruptly changing course and ramming the frigate.
Iceland, on the other hand, insisted that the Andromeda rammed the Thor instead.
On February 19, 1976 Iceland temporarily broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain. [4] The conflict was resolved by negotiation and on June 2, 1976 the British government accepted the 200 nautical mile zone in an interim agreement.
Because of overfishing of the waters around their island, the government of Iceland decided in 1958 to expand their territory to twelve nautical miles, whereupon Great Britain sent warships to the 12 nautical mile zone to protect the British fishing trawlers.
All NATO members condemned the unilateral move by the Icelanders, while the British announced that they would have their trawlers protected by the navy.
There were relatively harmless clashes between Icelandic coast guard boats and British trawlers- here a confrontation between the Trawler "Coventry City" and the ICGV "Albert"...:
The conflict lasted from September 1 to November 12, 1958, with the Icelandic Coast Guard having great difficulty in controlling the large sea area around their island against superior British forces.
The Icelanders used the only means of pressure they had against the British and therefore threatened to withdraw from NATO and expel the US soldiers stationed in Iceland.
Even pro-Western cabinet members felt compelled to make these threats as they were Iceland's only way of applying pressure. After the Icelanders protested at the United Nations and before the NATO Council, Britain finally had to recognize the 12 nautical mile zone and withdraw.
After the collapse of the fish stocks in Icelandic territorial waters at the beginning of the 1970s and the income of fishermen had fallen sharply, Iceland extended the protection zone again to 50 nautical miles this time in 1972.
The island state now claimed 30% of the demersal fish yield in the North Atlantic. Great Britain and Germany did not want to recognize this, which led to further disputes. The Icelanders destroyed the gear of foreign fishing boats that were within the claimed 50 nautical mile protection zone.
On August 26, 1973, the cod wars became the only fatality. After a collision between the Icelandic Coast Guard's patrol boat "Ægir" and the British frigate HMS "Apollo"...
... there was a leak in the Ægir's engine room. Second machinist Halldór Hallfreðsson was in the process of welding the leak when a wave hit the Ægir and water entered. This led to the death of Halldór Hallfreðsson...
... from an electric shock from his welding machine.
The dispute was finally settled with the intervention of the US, fearing the possible loss of one of its bases, the air base in Keflavík...:
After receiving special fishing rights, Great Britain accepted the extension of the zone.
The expansion of the protection zone did not have the hoped-for effect and could not solve the economic problems either.
In 1974 the Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Hallgrímsson announced the extension to 200 nautical miles, which was carried out a year later.
Great Britain then sent warships back to the Icelandic coastal region to protect the trawlers. The Icelanders cut the nets of foreign ships again (including German fishing ships)...:
There were also a number of incidents where British and Icelandic ships rammed into each other...:
A well-documented incident occurred on January 7, 1976 when the Icelandic Coast Guard's patrol boat "Thor" collided with the British frigate HMS "Andromeda"...
... 35 nautical miles off the Icelandic coast...:
The Royal Navy takes the position that the Thor tried to cut the nets of the British trawler Portia, abruptly changing course and ramming the frigate.
Iceland, on the other hand, insisted that the Andromeda rammed the Thor instead.
On February 19, 1976 Iceland temporarily broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain. [4] The conflict was resolved by negotiation and on June 2, 1976 the British government accepted the 200 nautical mile zone in an interim agreement.
At least the Chinese aren't up there (yet) - or maybe they are. They seem to have "fishing" fleets everywhere else at the moment.
