The first cod war
The first Cod War was fought between Iceland and the United Kingdom. This War lasted from 1 September 1958 to 12 November 1958. This War was caused by the advancement of Iceland's waters from 4 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles. This put more water under the control of Iceland and barred other ships from fishing without Icelandic permission. The United Kingdom refused to except this and sent 37 warships to protect their fishing fleet in the disputed waters. This caused quick action from the Icelandic coast guard. Throughout this period there were many close calls were the Icelandic coast guard met with British trawlers and warships. Many shots were fired and some ships were rammed. However in the whole War no lives were lost and the disagreement solved through political action. In the end the United Kingdom acknowledged Iceland claims, but declared that they had to go through the International court to make claims in the future.
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The second cod war
The Second Cod War was fought from 1972-1973. This War was fought between the United Kingdom and West Germany. This, like the first, was fought over the expansion of nautical miles. This time Iceland expanded its reign from 12 to 50 nautical miles. Days after this the United Kingdom refused to acknowledge Iceland's new boundaries and continued fishing. This prompted the Icelandic coast guard to ask trawlers to leave when they did not do this they deployed a nut cutter to sever the fishing nets. After many confrontations the Royal Navy was deployed to protect their trawlers. The war would have continued except Iceland threatened to leave NATO which would deprive the U.K. of its bases on the island. This war ended through actions in NATO in which the new sea boundaries of Iceland were accepted but British trawlers could catch up to 130000 tons till November 1, 1975.
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The third cod war
The Third Cod War was fought from 16 November 1975 to June 1976. This war was once again fought by Iceland and the United Kingdom, but this time it was over the expansion of the coastal nautical miles from 50 to 200. Once again the U.K. did not recognize these claims and sent their trawlers to fish in the area under the protection of the Royal Navy. In this war the Icelandic coast guard set out and cut nets once again. In these confrontations however many ships from both sides were rammed and highly damaged. The issue was once again decided through NATO because Iceland threatened to leave the group which would leave the Atlantic Ocean open to Soviet Ships. At the end of the war the U.K. accepted the new nautical miles and quit fishing in Icelandic waters. The British trawlers however were allowed to maintain their temporary catch.
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sources:
www.britains-smallwars.com/rrgp/codwar.htm.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cod_wars
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cod_wars
Created by:
Ethan Mullikin