White Sea Canal.

This is coolbert:

"It must be done in twenty months, and it must be done cheaply!" - - J. Stalin.

"100,000 workers started, 100,000 workers finished!"

In his book, the GULAG Archipelago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn devotes a special chapter to the building of the White Sea Canal.

A canal, the building of which had a most definite military dimension to it.

A canal to link the Baltic and White Sea.

Would allow the Soviet Navy to rapidly move naval elements from one theatre to another. Movement hitherto impossible but highly desirable. The Soviet Navy, normally confined by geographical "choke points", no longer constrained and handicapped!

A canal, the building of which was accomplished by "slave labor", enormous numbers of "workers" perishing in the process. A CANAL ALMOST TOTALLY BUILT BY HAND LABOR!!

"The White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal . . . is a ship canal in Russia opened on 2 August 1933. It connects the White Sea with the Baltic Sea, near St. Petersburg . . . The canal was constructed largely by prison labour and during its construction some 100,000 people died"

A canal, built with a great cost in human life, with a definite military purpose in mind, but, when opened, found to be sorely lacking in the extreme. NEVER FULFILLING EXPECTATIONS, A BOONDOGGLE CONSTRUCTED AT AN ENORMOUS COST IN HUMAN LIFE - - THE MILITARY VALUE OF WHICH IN THE END BEING MORE OR LESS ZERO!!

"Its economic advantages are limited by its minimal depth of only 4m (13 ft) . . . making it useless to most sea-going vessels."

The canal was built in the allotted twenty months - - and cheaply - - but was too shallow to allow for naval vessels to pass!! The only conventional naval warships that were able to transit the canal were submarines, and those ONLY BEING ABLE TO DO SO WHEN CARRIED ON THE BACKS OF BARGES!!

Probably Soviet submarines of the Malyutka or "baby" class!! Itty-bitty midget subs!!

The White Sea canal too has another serious impediment in addition to depth? Traffic is able to pass through the canal only half of the year, ice blocking the passage the rest of the time, the canal located as far north as it is!!

"For the navigation seasons of 2008 to 2010, the canal locks were scheduled to operate from 20 May each year until 15/30 October, giving 148–163 navigation days per year."

Please note too in the wiki entry for the canal that NO mention is made of the military dimension to the construction of the canal. Stalin LIKED to THINK of himself as a military genius and great strategist! His "idea" for the canal is the type of project that megalomaniac dictators have engaged in since time immemorial! Grandiose "works" that often the functionality of which comes to nought!

coolbert.