Operation Pelikan
Operation Pelikan[1] (German: Unternehmen Pelikan), also known as Projekt 14, was a German plan for crippling the Panama Canal during World War II. In mid-late 1943 the Wehrmacht had completed preparations to haul two Ju 87 Stukas with folding wings on two U-boats to an unnamed Colombian island near the coast of Panama, reassemble the planes, arm them with "special bombs", and then send them to attack the Gatun Dam. After completing the mission, the pilots would fly to a neutral country and seek internment. However, Germany called off the plan, for unknown reasons, at the last minute. Rumors among the Germans who planned the sabotage were that it had been called off due to betrayal.
Operation Pelikan | |
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Part of the American Theater of World War II | |
![]() A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages. | |
Location | |
Planned by | ![]() |
Objective | Sabotage of the Panama Canal |
Date | 1943 |
Outcome | Aborted |
Most of these types of plans involved acts of sabotage using agents in place and/or landed by U-boat.[2]
See also
- Panama during World War II
- Colombia during World War II
- Panama Canal strike
- Operation Bolivar
References
- Grayson, William C. (2005). Delaware's Ghost Towers: The Coast Artillery's Forgotten Last Stand During the Darkest Days of World War II. AuthorHouse. ISBN 1420847147.
- Daley, Jason. "Documents Show Chile Foiled Nazi Plot to Attack Panama Canal". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-06-18.