On 1 September 1958, Iceland extended its fishing limit from four to 12 nautical miles from the coast. British vessels ignored the official deadline for withdrawal and refused to move outside of the new fishing zone, leading to confrontations with Icelandic crews. Boats were rammed, shots fired and Royal Navy warships were deployed to protect the British trawlers.
This became known as the first cod war - a phrase coined by Fleet Street in September 1958 - with disputes continuing as Iceland extended its zone to 50 miles in 1973 and in 1976 a 200-mile limit. Each phase saw an increasing number of ramming and net-cutting incidents.
Guardian reports from 1958 describe the first confrontations between rival fishermen in the unforgiving seas around Iceland.
Navy hopes for early friendly finish
From our special correspondent
On board HMS Hound, 1 September 1958
The Navy, it can now be officially revealed, is here. Early to-day four ships of the Fishery Protection Squadron were standing by in Icelandic waters to prevent any interference with British trawlers fishing within the twelve-mile limit. Iceland’s unilateral extension of her territorial waters to twelve miles came into force at midnight.
The ships are HMS Eastbourne, HMS Russell, and HMS Palliser (all frigates), and HMS Hound, an ocean minesweeper. They had sailed from various British ports during the last week, and until midnight their movements were under a strict security blackout to avoid any appearance of gunboat diplomacy while there was still -a chance that the dispute could be settled by negotiation. T
Iceland’s navy
Ranged against the British ships if there is any-trouble will be the tiny Icelandic navy. It consists of eight small coastguard patrol vessels, three of them. under 100 tons, and the largest of them, the Thor, only 693 tons. According to Icelandic sources, they intend to fire into the bridge of any trawler inside the twelve-mile limit which-fails to stop after a shot across the bows.
Skipper back from Iceland tells his story: uncollected bet with boarding party
10 September 1958
The British warships are now dispersed around the one thousand tricky miles of Iceland’s coastline. They will patrol three areas within the, twelve-mile limit off the south-east and north-west coasts. Some forty British trawlers are reported to be in Icelandic coastal waters already, with another fifty on their way. ‘They are required by their owners to spend at least the first three days fishing in the protected areas. After that they may, if they choose, fish outside the twelve-mile limit but any trawler skipper, caught operating inside the limit and outside the protected area will be liable to severe punishment.
Skipper Jim Crockwell, of the trawler Northern Foam, arrived at Grimsby yesterday and told this story of how, a week ago, the trawler had been boarded by a party from the Icelandic frigate Thor.
“We were fishing in the protected area known as Spearmint II,” he said, “and we were in dense fog. Visibility was nil. I could see there were two ships approaching on the radar screen, and I supposed that they were other ships fishing in the area. They were going about the same speed as we were, but in the opposite direction. Suddenly Thor appeared out of the fog on our port side and Maria-Julia came up on our starboard side. The Thor positioned herself on our port bow.
To have kept on going would have meant colliding with the Maria-Julia and we would have sunk her, because she is only a wooden ship. To avoid any damage we hauled our gear and while we were doing that the boarding party came on board.
The officer in charge of the boarding party came on to the bridge and said, ‘Skipper, I advise you to go on board the gunboat.’ I told him I was not going anywhere. Another officer came on to the bridge and said to me, Skipper, have you got secret paper? ‘ I said ‘Yes.’ He held out his hand and said, ‘I want them.’ I said, ‘Go jump in the ocean and get lost.’
Swopped yarns
In the meantime my wireless operator, Ted Armstrong, locked himself in his wireless cabin and after making sure that no one could get into him he called HMS.Hound and told them what was happening. The Hound contacted HMS Eastbourne and Eastbourne sent me a signal saying, We are steaming to you at 25 knots? We never moved and the Icelandic boarding party were very nice. In fact, we swopped a yarn or two with them.
Then the fog cleared a little. When the Icelanders saw the Eastbourne appearing out of the fog one of the officers rang the telegraph to ‘full speed ahead’ and he turned to me and said, ‘Skipper. we are going to ram this ship’ – meaning the Eastbourne. Two men took over the wheel and another took over the telegraph. When I tried to contact the engine room they held their hands over the voicepipe, and another one stepped into the chart room door so that I could not speak to the wireless operator.
The mate was on the bridge at the time. so I whispered to him, ‘Go and tell the chief to stop the bloody engines and not to move at all.’ So he did. I said to the officer in chargeAre we going somewhere?’ and if looks could have killed I would have dropped dead. That officer, by the way, was wearing dungarees and a stocking cap.
Within about ten minutes tale boarding party from Eastbourne came aboard, and as soon as the first Icelandic officer saw them coming he turned to me and said, ‘Hitler is coming.’ He bet me a dollar that they would take my ship into Iceland. and now I think of it I forgot to ask him for the dollar as he was put aboard Eastbourne. He also said, if it takes ten years we will get you’
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The boarding party from the Navy was on board by that time and they refused to leave without orders from their captain. Commodore Anderson (of the Eastbourne) went on board the Thor and when he returned again the skipper of the gunboat refused to take his crew on board. So they were removed by the Navy. There was no force used. They stood like mules and would not shift because I don’t think they wanted to go.”
Skipper Crockwell, a Newfoundlander, came to Britain during the war and served in the Navy. After two or three days on the slipway Skipper Crockwell will take Northern Foam back to Icelandic waters. He said: “ We arc still going back and I shall fish within the twelve-miles limit under the watchful eye of the British Navy. I hope every other skipper will do the same, and let them see who is boss.”
Eventually the dispute was settled through diplomatic means with NATO-mediated sessions leading to Iceland and the UK reaching an agreement on 1 June 1976. The British were allowed to keep 24 trawlers within the 200 mile zone as long as their catch was limited to 50,000 tons. However, Iceland had achieved its overall aims. The already-declining British fisheries were hit hard by being excluded from their prime fishing grounds and large northern fishing ports such as Grimsby, Hull, and Fleetwood saw thousands of deep-sea fishermen and people in related trades losing their jobs. A compensation package for loss of livelihoods was finally agreed in 2001.
