Eider Canal Eider Canal The Eider Canal (also called the Schleswig-Holstein Canal) was an artificial waterway in southern Denmark (later northern Germany) which connected the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of the rivers Eider and Levensau. Constructed between 1777 and 1784, the Eider Canal was built to create a path for ships entering and exiting the Baltic that was shorter and less storm-prone than navigating around the Jutland peninsula. In the 1880s the canal was replaced by the enlarged Kiel Canal, which includes some of the Eider Canal's watercourse. The canal's watercourse followed the border between the duchies of
White Sea–Baltic Canal and Caspian coasts. The White Sea Canal was also constructed with military use in mind, and early in its history the canal was used to transfer the Northern Fleet's first warships to the White Sea from the Baltic. According to historians, in the years between the canal's completion and the Soviet entry into World War II, the canal was used for the transfer of military vessels between the two seas on 17 occasions. During World War II, in August–September 1941, the canal was used to move a number of submarines from the Baltic Fleet to the White Sea. That included