2012Overprint - The First Cod War - Sheetlets

At the end of the 14th centure British seamen started fishing in Icelandic waters. These fisheries continued long into the 20th century. The first Cod War started on September 1st 1958 when Iceland expanded its fishery zone from 4 nautical miles to 12 nautical miles. The British declared that their trawlers would fish under protection from their warships in the new zone. At that time Iceland had seven patrol vessels and a single Catalina flying boat. On September 4th the Icelandic patrol vessel Ægir og the British warship HMS Russel collided. On 6th October, the patrol vessel María Júlía fired three shots at the trawler Kingston Emerald. The British and Iceland came to a settlement about the new 12 miles zone in November 1958. The second Cod War began 14 years later, on September 1st 1972, when Iceland expanded its fishery limits to 50 nautical miles. The third and the last Cod War started in November 1975 when Iceland again expanded the fishery limits, this time to 200 nautical miles. Some severe incidents occurred during this war which concluded with a resounding victory for Iceland.