Title:FISHERY DISPUTE WITH ICELAND IN 1973 [Allocated Title]
Film Number:ADM 4675
Other titles:POST-WAR NAVAL OPERATIONS - COD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
Summary: Miscellaneous film shot from Royal Navy frigates involved in screening British trawlers from Icelandic gunboats in the 'cod war' of 1973. Several collisions between the rival warships are recorded.
Description: Reel Four. XLS of an Icelandic gunboat harassing a trawler. Various shots of HMS Lincoln (F.99) at sea. Reel Five. Aerial LS off the port beam of HMS Sirius (F.40) underway with Icelandic coast in the background - the aircraft crosses the frigate's bows and flies down her starboard side. Aerials of Sirius guarding a trawler and underway. Cut to LSs of the Icelandic coast from frigate at sea. MS of Sirius' bridge from raised focsle deck. Sailor scrubs down the flightdeck. Reel Six. HA aft down the port side of a frigate as she is 'broadsided' by the Icelandic gunboat Aegir. The cameraship pulls ahead, then reverses course to close the gunboat. MSs of the Aegir apparently hove to in rough sea. Reel Seven. MS of Odinn underway off the Icelandic coast, taken from a Royal Naval frigate steaming a parallel course. Telephoto of the 57mm gun in gazebo on focsle and pan aft to ship's name plate on bridge and radar on foremast. An Icelander regards the cameraship. HA to the Odinn alongside after an attempt to highside the cameraship. The gunboat makes sternway to get clear of the frigate. Reel Eight. LS of a trawler, and pan left to the Aegir close to the cameraship. Aegir is towing a chain to cut the trawler's nets. Various shots as Aegir manoeuvres for position. Sequence showing the gunboat Thor as the cameraship dogs her attempts to close on a group of trawlers - from the gunboat's stern a wire stretches to a towed float. CU as Thor highsides her pursuer. Reel Nine. Thor runs past frigate and trawler. LS of Aegir being shadowed by a Leander Class frigate. Aegir steams past left to right, and MS of her hove to in a slight sea, the shadowing Leander still close by - the gunboat makes off. LS sequence in foggy conditions - Odinn, trawlers, and Thor are present. Clear weather - frigate intercepts Aegir. Reel Ten. Sequence filmed from HMS Ariadne. LS as Thor and HMS Whitby clash while a trawler steams across mid-screen. The frigate moves off, crossing in front of the gunboat. Trawler turns to put Whitby between herself and the Thor. Reel Eleven and Twelve. Taken from HMS Lynx. Thor circles a trawler - the gunboat is dogged by a RN Wasp. Further shots of trawlers and the Thor. An aircraft passes overhead in the dense cloud cover. More of Thor harassing trawlers. Reel Thirteen. Taken from HMS Sirius ? Pan left from a British air direction frigate to the Aegir - low, overcast conditions. Frigate's Wasp overflies Aegir, now hove to. MS of Aegir's stern with chain tow. Three men walk the gunboat's flightdeck. CUs of towed chain as Aegir gets underway and pan up to her radar. Sequence taken from Andromeda - LS of Icelandic gunboat Albert and a trawler - the tug Lloydsman (?) circles the small gunboat. MS of two trawlers hove to - the cameraship sends off a Gemini. LS as Aegir circles Andromeda to cross close astern of a stern trawler - having accomplished this and presumably damaged the trawler's gear, the gunboat steams off. Shots of Thor in a rough sea. Reel Twenty-Six. Colour Sections. (i) Scene onboard a trawler as net is brought in and emptied of cod. MLS off port bow of a trawler in low light - she has her navigation lights on. CUs on the cameraship show deck lights and rigging covered in ice - a Leander Class frigate is visible in the background of some shots. (ii) HMS Galatea. Two men clear snow from the flightdeck. A man hoses down the waist to melt encrusted ice. Another chips ice from the superstructure. Shots from the frigate's helicopter as it closes on the ship, and onboard shots as Flight Deck officer directs the Wasp to a landing - flightdeck crew immediately secure the aircraft. The Wasp takes off again. (iii) MS aft over quarterdeck of a trawler - a Wasp from HMS Charybdis hovers to lower a small canvas bag down to the cameraship. (iv) HMS Sirius in heavy seas. MS through the bridge windows - the focsle is smothered in water and spray. Aerial shots show the frigate's bows burying themselves in the long oceanic swell (there are very few white caps), throwing up great quantities of water as they lift, and the ship's whole forebody coming clear of the water as she rises. MSs aft over the flightdeck emphasise the pitching of the ship. (v) The tug Lloydsman comes alongside the cameraship (HMS Scylla ?) in a heavy sea to receive a line by Costin gun - a canvas bag passes between the ships. A similar sequence with the frigate HMS Leopard (F.14) alongside to receive the line. (vi) Black and white. Jackstay transfer of materials between cameraship and RFA Olwen (A.122). LA.MS as a Wasp uses its winch to lift a man off the cameraship's flightdeck - a helicopter crewman fits the man into the winch sling and rides up with him. (vii) Colour. Aerial of HMS Jupiter (F.60) from the frigate's helicopter which then flies off to circle over two trawlers. XLS of a RAF Nimrod as it banks away. (viii) Black and white. MSs of Aegir running on either quarter of the cameraship and then closed up directly astern. Cut to HA of Odinn running alongside to starboard - she closes in an attempt to highside the cameraship, then falls astern and makes off. (ix) Colour. LS of Icelandic tug Arvakur as it circles a stern trawler - a second trawler stands off in the background. Cut to LS of Aegir - she closes to ram and catches the cameraship near the stern - the shock is perceptible at the camera point further forward. CU of the quarterdeck siderail, flattened by the collision. Aegir makes a second attack. Cut to LS of a decayed ice flow. (x) Black and white. Aerial LS over a scattered fishing fleet - Aegir is present, sparring with two frigates, a Type 12 and the Type 61 HMS Lincoln (F.99). Aegir rams Lincoln. A RN Commander watches the battle through one of the camera-aircraft's passenger windows. Aegir rams Lincoln a second time. Reel Twenty-Seven. (i) Colour. Thor molests some trawlers. Cut to Aegir at speed in a calm sea - ahead of her is a trawler towards which she and the cameraship are both racing. Aegir changes course to pass astern of the cameraship. As the two ships steam abreast again, a man can be seen running along the gunboat's flightdeck and down to the maindeck below. LS as Aegir bears down on a luckless trawler. Cut to MLS off port quarter of Odinn, and telephotos of her bridge, spectators crowding the bridge wing, and her main navigational radar. (ii) Shots as Reel Twenty-Six, showing Lloydsman and Leopard alongside for transfers. LA.CU of Scylla's 4.5-inch turret. On the flightdeck the Wasp is readied for flight. (iii) Black and white - generally rather a confused section. Shots from in front of the bridge to frigate's raised focsle - a little spray is coming in over the bows. A party on the focsle lay out rope in preparation for a jackstay transfer. RFA Olwen (A.122) closes on the cameraship. Focsle party readies a cargo net. With Olwen alongside, the jackstay is first tested with a two-ton dead weight before the cargo net is slung from the traveller to be hauled across to the Olwen. LS sequence showing the gunboat Thor harassing trawlers. CUs of the Aegir running alongside. Continuation of the replenishment sequence, with a fuel line being transferred from Olwen. LSs of trawlers at sea. LS of Aegir and HMS Charybdis (F.75) jockeying for position - the frigate turns away and steams off as the cameraship closes on Aegir. HMS Arethusa (F.38) passes. The cameraship pursues Aegir as the gunboat steams towards a trawler. Similar sequence involving the Odinn. Fragment of another replenishment - MS to the stern of RFA Wave Chief (A.265). MS to starboard forebody of HMS Scylla (F.71), rigged for a jackstay transfer - officers on the bridge wave to the passing cameraship. (iv) Colour. LA to the blue and yellow fishery protection pennant on Scylla's funnel. LS past one of the ship's Oerlikons to the distant Thor. LAs to pennant, single-bedstead aerial of Type 965 radar on the mainmast, and navigational radar on the foremast. (v) Black and white. Aegir runs alongside. MS to two men standing on deck apparently unconcerned as Aegir , now turning in to ram, looms above them - the impact of the collision vibrates the camera. Further shots of Aegir running alongside and crossing astern of the cameraship. (vi) Colour fragments. LA to Scylla's mainmast array again. Shots of Thor and then Aegir. Damage to frigate's quarterdeck siderail. CUs of a bearded crewman, wearing a woolly hat. Ice flow. Mainmast array. Reel Twenty-Eight. Colour with voice-over commentary. Cameraship is HMS Diomede on station thirty-one miles off the Icelandic coast. HA to the gunboat Baldur steaming alongside - she swings her stern round to catch the frigate's side but just misses. As they run alongside both ships sound on their sirens the international signal 'You are not doing your best to avoid collision'. HA as Baldur comes very close alongside before sheering off again. LS of the Baldur's target, the Grimsby trawler Carlisle. As Diomede speeds to intercept the gunboat, there is another "Cod War collision" as the frigate's bows hit the gunboat's stern. Finally the Baldur achieves its object, towing her wirecutters across the Carlisle's wake, "but it was too late, the nets were already coming in over the Carlisle's decks, and the bitter skirmish between the Navy frigate and Icelandic gunboat ended in stalemate."
Alternative Title:POST-WAR NAVAL OPERATIONS - COD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
