February 19: On This Day in World History … briefly
The term 'cod war' was coined by a British journalist in early September 1958.
1976: ‘Cod War’ – The chips are down
Iceland broke off diplomatic relations with Britain in a further episode of the ‘cod war’ that soured relations between the two countries in 1972. Conflict with Britain broke out in 1958 when Iceland extended its territorial waters from 3 to 12 nautical miles to protect its cod fishing grounds. Britain finally recognised the 12-mile limit in 1961. In 1972 Iceland extended the limit to 50 miles (80km). British fishermen took no notice until an Icelandic gunboat sank two British trawlers, starting a sporadic ‘war’ which lasted a year. In January 1976 an Icelandic gunboat rammed the Royal Navy frigate Andromeda, which was protecting British trawlers within the 50-mile limit. Following the breakdown in relations, Britain planned on sending a fourth ship.
On February 19, 1976, the British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced that a fisherman from Grimsby had become the first British casualty of the Third Cod War, when a hawser (huge deck rope) hit and seriously injured him after Icelandic vessels cut a trawl. While a British parliamentary source reported in a 1993 debate that a British trawlerman was accidentally killed by a solid shot fired by an Icelandic patrol boat, this suggestion has not been corroborated by any other historical source.
Each of the disputes ended with an Icelandic victory. The Third Cod War concluded in 1976, with a highly favourable agreement for Iceland; the United Kingdom conceded to a 200-nautical-mile (370km) Icelandic exclusive fishery zone after threats that Iceland would withdraw from NATO, which would have forfeited NATO’s access to most of the GIUK gap, a critical anti-submarine warfare chokepoint during the Cold War. As a result, British fishing communities lost access to rich areas and were devastated, with thousands of jobs lost. Since 1982, a 200-nautical-mile (370km) exclusive economic zone has been the United Nations standard.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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