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Cod wars

First Cod War
Part of the Cod Wars
"Coventry City" and ICGV "Albert" off the Westfjords
Coventry City and ICGV Albert off the Westfjords
Date 1 September 1958 – 11 March 1961
Location Waters surrounding Iceland
Result Icelandic victory
An agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and Iceland where the UK accepts the Icelandic annexation while Iceland agrees to take further claims before the International Court at The Hague
Territorial
changes
Iceland expands its territorial waters to 12 nmi (22 km)
States involved
 Iceland  United Kingdom
 West Germany
Commanders and leaders
Strength
 Icelandic Coast Guard
  • 2 large patrol vesselsa
  • 4 small patrol vessels
 Royal Navy
Casualties and losses
None
a 3 by February 1960.
Second Cod War
Part of the Cod Wars
Net cutter
A net cutter, first used in the Second Cod War
Date 1 September 1972 – 8 November 1973
Location Waters surrounding Iceland
Result Icelandic victory
An agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and Iceland where the UK accepts the Icelandic annexation in exchange for permission to catch 150,000 tons of fish until 1975
Territorial
changes
Iceland creates 50 nmi (93 km) exclusive fishery zone
States involved
 Iceland  United Kingdom
 West Germany
 Belgium
Commanders and leaders
Strength
 Icelandic Coast Guard
  • 3 large patrol vessels
  • 2 small patrol vessels
  • 1 armed whaler
 Royal Navy
Casualties and losses
1 engineer killed None
Third Cod War
Part of the Cod Wars
ICGV "Odinn" and HMS "Scylla" clash in the North Atlantic
Icelandic patrol ship ICGV Óðinn and British frigate HMS Scylla clash in the North Atlantic.
Date 16 November 1975 – 1 June 1976
Location Waters surrounding Iceland
Result Icelandic victory
An agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and Iceland where the UK accepts the Icelandic expansion while receiving a temporary allowable catch for its fishing fleet
Territorial
changes
Iceland expands its exclusive fishery zone to 200 nautical miles
States involved
 Iceland  United Kingdom
 West Germany
 Belgium
Commanders and leaders
Strength
 Icelandic Coast Guard
 Royal Navy
Casualties and losses
No casualties
5 patrol vessels damaged
1 trawlerman wounded
15 frigates damaged
1 supply ship damaged

The Cod Wars (Icelandic: Þorskastríðin, "the cod strife", or Landhelgisstríðin, "the war for the territorial waters") were a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended with Iceland's victory. The final Cod War concluded in 1976 with a highly favourable agreement for Iceland, as the United Kingdom conceded to a 200-nautical-mile (370-kilometre) Icelandic exclusive fishery zone following 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 (370-kilometre) exclusive economic zone has been the United Nations standard.

The term "cod war" was coined by a British journalist in early September 1958. None of the Cod Wars meets any of the common thresholds for a conventional war, though, and they may more accurately be described as militarised interstate disputes. There is only one confirmed death during the Cod Wars: an Icelandic engineer accidentally killed in the Second Cod War while repairing damages on an Icelandic gunboat.

A variety of explanations for the occurrence of the Cod Wars have been put forward. Recent studies have focused on the underlying economic, legal and strategic drivers for Iceland and the United Kingdom and the domestic and international factors that contributed to the escalation into a dispute. Lessons drawn from the Cod Wars have been applied to international relations theory.

Fishermen from the British Isles began to fish in international waters near Iceland in and around 1400. From the early 16th century onwards, English sailors and fishermen were a major presence in the waters off Iceland.


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