Isafjordur trawler disaster: medical aspects.

Shortly before midnight on 4 February 1968 the 659-ton trawler Ross Cleveland capsized in hurricane-force winds offIsafjordur, in North-west Iceland (Fig. 1).The wind direction was NNE, velocity 70 knots gusting to over 100 knots (see Table ).Air temperature was -7 to -8° C. and water tempera- ture +20 C. The storm was one of the worst in living memory.Only one of the crew of 19 men survived.Another trawler, the Notts County, ran aground near by at about the same time.The crew were rescued next day, demoralized and suffering from exposure.One man was lost, and both the captain and the mate sustained injuries.A small Icelandic trawler with six men on board was also lost in the area; there were no survivors.