Kiel Canal Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (, literally "North-[to]-Baltic Sea canal", formerly known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula. This not only saves time but also avoids storm-prone seas and having to pass through the Sound or Belts. Besides its two sea entrances, the Kiel Canal is linked, at Oldenbüttel, to the navigable River
White Sea–Baltic Canal the USSR in 1941, supported by Finland in the Continuation War, the route of the canal became the front line. On June 23, 1941, the day after the German invasion of the USSR, 16 Finnish commandos were brought to the canal by two German Heinkel He 115 seaplanes, which had taken off in Oulujärvi. The commandos were Finnish volunteers recruited by the German Major Schaller. They wore German uniforms and had German weapons, as the Finnish General Staff did not want to have anything to do with the operation. The commandos' task was to blow up the canal's locks, but,