Major States 945
Coding changes: End Date changed from January 22, 1972. Outcome changed from
Unclear.
MID#2222
Dispute Number: 2222
Date(s): April 9, 1977 to May 5, 1977
Participants: 2 United States of America/365 Russia
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The United States seized the Soviet trawler Taras Shevchenko for violat-
ing the 200-mile fishing boundary. The ship and crew were tried, fined, and released
on May 5.
Coding changes: End Date changed from April 10, 1977.
MID#2223
Dispute Number: 2223
Date(s): November 19, 1978 to January 4, 1979
Participants: 365 Russia/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side B (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute took place as the Iranian Revolution was nearing its end. The
violence in Iran, and the concern expressed by the United States, made the Soviet
Union nervous. The possibility of American forces moving to the southern border of
the Soviet Union was not palatable by Soviet Premier Breshnev. So, on November 19,
1978, Brezhnev warned the United States that interference in Iranian affairs would be
considered a matter affecting the security interests of the Soviet Union, to the point
that the Soviet Union may counter that interference militarily. President Carter denied
any such intentions, but as the next month went by the language used in the revolu-
tion grew more anti-Western. The rhetoric was strong enough that on January 4, 1979,
Carter sent American warships to the Persian Gulf in a show of force The Soviet
Union protested the act but did not act.
Coding changes: End Date changed from January 2, 1979.
MID#2224
Dispute Number: 2224
Date(s): August 9, 1979 to August 10, 1979
Participants: 365 Russia/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The US Navy dropped a practice Mark-37 torpedo during exercises west
of Guam. A Soviet intelligence-gathering trawler in the area seized the torpedo and
refused to turn it over. The American embassy in Moscow protested, there were nego-
tiations overnight, and the trawler gave the torpedo back the next day.