KAISER WILHELM, or KIEL, CANAL. One of the important ship canals of the world, extending from the mouth of the Elbe, on the North Sea, to Kiel, on the Baltic, a distance of 61 miles. The military policy of Germany, however, has played a larger part in the purpose behind the digging of this canal than have the advantages to shipping. When Bismarck pro voked the war with Denmark in 1864 it was generally considered that one of his main mo tives was the acquisition of such territory in Holstein as it would afford a suitable terminal for a canal connecting the Baltic with the North Sea and so permit German vessels, and more especially German war vessels, a means of passing from the one sea to the other with out making the dangerous coastal voyage around Denmark, a distance of nearly 600 miles. Wi helmshafen on the North Sea, and Kid, on the Baltic, each an important naval station, have been the centers of gravity of the German naval war strategy, which has oscillated between the North Sea and the Baltic. The canal effects an inland passage between these two naval bases, so that in case of need the forces sta tioned at one base can quickly support those at the other, or the entire German naval power can be readily mobilized, at short notice, either in the. Baltic or in the North Sea.
The digging of the canal was begun in June 1887 and completed, as first planned, inJune 1895. The depth then was 29% feet and the
average width at the bottom was 72 feet, while the width at water level was 220 feet. The locks, as first constructed, were 492 feet long, 82 feet wide and 32 feet deep.
Then came the advent of the dreadnought, a war vessel of a size and draught which had not been contemplated at the time the canal was originally planned. This brought before the German strategists the need of having the canal widened and deepened, a work which was begun in 1907, and which is supposed to have deferred the great European War for some years.
In 1914 the alterations were completed, the canal having then cost upward of $55,000,000. The waterway is now 335 feet wide at water level, 144 feet wide at the bottom and 36 feet deep. The locks are 147/feet wide and have an available length greater than the big locks on the Panama canal; 1,082% feet. It is now possible for two of the largest ocean liners to pass each other in the canal and still leave 200 feet to spare between them. The official opening was celebrated 24 June 1914. Consult Wharton, A., 'Kiel: its Naval and Engineering Features,' (in the Engineer, London, Vol. 120, p. 20, 1915).