The Greenpeace story

1971: A group of anti-war protestors chose to take non-violent direct action against US nuclear weapons testing on Amchitka Island, Alaska. They chartered a ramshackle fishing vessel the Phyllis Cormack, renamed her Greenpeace, and sailed off to bear witness in the prohibited zone.

1972: The US Government abandoned their nuclear testing at Amchitka. Inspired by victory, Greenpeace turned its attention to French atmospheric nuclear testing at Moruroa, in the South Pacific. A Canadian businessman, David McTaggart, donated his yacht, Vega, to sail to Moruroa and disrupt these tests.

1973: Crew members of the Vega were beaten up and badly injured by French navy commandos, on their second trip to Moruroa. Photographic evidence of the attack increased already widespread international opposition to French nuclear testing.

1974: France announced to the UN General Assembly that all future nuclear tests would be conducted underground - a clear victory for Greenpeace.