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the Cod wars

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the Cod wars

Postby icelander93 » Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:19 pm

The Cod Wars (Icelandic: Þorskastríðin) were a series of confrontations in the 1950s and 1970s between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. During the 1950s and 1960s Britain consumed 430,000 tons of cod each year, but as the stocks started to diminish the livelihoods of fishing communities in both countries were at stake.

The first Cod war took place in 1958 when Iceland extended its coastal fishing limit from 4 miles to 12 miles. The British declared that their trawlers would fish under protection from their warships in three areas. Many incidents followed, such as the one on 4 September, when the V/s Ægir, an Icelandic patrol vessel, attempted to take a British trawler off the Vestfjords, but was thwarted when HMS Russell intervened, and the two vessels collided. On 6 October, V/s María Júlía fired three shots at the trawler Kingston Emerald, forcing the trawler to escape to sea.

The second Cod War started in 1972 when Iceland extended its coastal fishing limit to 50 miles. During this war, the Icelandic Coast Guard started to use net cutters to cut the trawling lines of non-Icelandic vessels fishing within the new exclusion zone. It ended with an agreement between the two countries that limited British fishing to restricted areas, within the 50-mile limit.

This agreement was valid for two years and expired on 13 November 1975, shortly before the third Cod War started. Great Britain and Iceland confronted each other once again as Iceland proclaimed its authority to 200 miles from its coastline. There were several incidents of ramming by Icelandic ships and British trawlers, frigates and tugboats. Britain deployed a total of 22 frigates against the four Icelandic patrol vessels V/s Óðinn, V/s Þór, V/s Týr, and V/s Ægir, as well as two armed trawlers V/s Baldur and V/s Ver. The Icelandic government tried to acquire U.S. Asheville class gunboats, and when denied by the American government they tried to get Soviet Mirka class frigates.

A more serious turn of events came when Iceland threatened closure of the NATO base at Keflavík, which would, in the military perception of the time, have severely impaired NATO's ability to control Soviet naval movements at the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap. As a result, the British government agreed to have its fishermen stay outside Iceland's 200 nautical mile (370 km) exclusion zone without any conditions, leaving the Icelandic government to set quotas it deemed appropriate.





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Re: the Cod wars

Postby JamesTheJust » Thu Dec 16, 2010 8:32 pm

What is really sad about this and all the more serious confrontations among the various nations of the West is that we are all kin; we are family.

I pray for Yahshua's quick return when HE will rule over all of us. The wars will cease. The joy of family will begin.
Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from the fall, hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his grace, and crown him Lord of all.
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