SEPTEMBER 15, 1971

Setting sail from Vancouver, Canada, on September 15, 1971, the 12-man crew of the Phyllis Cormack fishing boat were united by one common goal – to help save the planet.

The headstrong group, who called themselves the Don’t Make a Wave Committee, planned to reach the small volcanic island of Amchitka, where they would protest and, hopefully, prevent the

United States Atomic Energy Commission from carrying out underground detonations.

The men believed the scheduled “Cannikin” nuclear test – which would be 250 times stronger than the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 – could have dramatic ramifications for the natural environment, including triggering an earthquake or a radiation leak into the Atlantic. The Phyllis Cormack didn’t make it to the test site, and the crew members were arrested by the US Coastguard.

However, their mission didn’t end that day. Instead, the intrepid crew made headlines and sparked a global conversation about the dangers of nuclear testing – and led to the creation of the influential environmental organisation now known as Greenpeace. Today, almost 50 years since the founders stepped onto that now infamous 80ft fishing boat, Greenpeace is a world-leading figure in the campaign against threats to the natural world, such as global warming, destruction of ancient forests, and pollution in our oceans.

Not bad for just 12 so-called “hippies” on a boat.