Leeds nostalgia: Remembering the Cod Wars of 1976...

The so-called Cod Wars, whose origins can be traced back to the 15th Century (even though the term was not coined until 1958), were slowly reaching a conclusion.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 2 2006 COD WARS
The Icelandic gunboat Thor harasses a British frigate during the Cod War in 1976. Picture: Courtesy Hull Maritime MuseumTHURSDAY NOVEMBER 2 2006 COD WARS
The Icelandic gunboat Thor harasses a British frigate during the Cod War in 1976. Picture: Courtesy Hull Maritime Museum
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 2 2006 COD WARS The Icelandic gunboat Thor harasses a British frigate during the Cod War in 1976. Picture: Courtesy Hull Maritime Museum

The conflict was fought on the high seas, not between rival navies but trawlers from Great Britain and Iceland, both of whom were fighting over fishing rights off the coast of Iceland. The UK had a long tradition of using the waters but as demand grew and ships became more efficient, tensions rose, resulting in some ship-to-ship collisions, nets being cut and even the deployment of navy vessels as a deterrent.

On February 20, the 355-ton trawler Rose Leone, of Hull, had her nets cut in something called ‘warp cutting’, as openly acknowledged by the Icelandic Consulate.

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The Cod Wars were eventually concluded diplomatically, resulting in Iceland dramatically increasing its exclusion zone to 200 miles.

We might be enjoying the Winter Olympics but this month in 1976, the Winter Olympics were taking place in Innsbruck, Austria. The games took place from February 4-15.

John Curry took gold in the men’s single figure skating contest, securing our only medal of the games.