What is the best way for a foreign invader to conquer or at least neutralize the Panama Canal? Imagine that Britain and Japan in the 1920s for some reason pulled a Pearl Harbor on the Americans - the American fleet is neutralized - and that they want to take out the Panama Canal. What would be the best way to do it? I'm sure the Canal would be well defended.
Conquering the Panama Canal
- Thread starter Super Missile
- Start date
And would paratroopers be useful here, or should it just be regulars?
Any assault by air would meet with heavy resistance as the Panama Canal Zone was ringed with a ridiculous number of AA batteries.
My Advice? Dont target the Canal. It would actually be easier just to treat it as a strateigic bottleneck and target vessels leaving or entering it
If you REALLY must disable it a full frontal assault is difficult. In both world wars there were major efforts to safeguard the canal from both naval and airborne assault , and these would make anything less than a full scale theatre operation implausible.
However...
There is one weakness that I can see. What a lot of people dont realise is that the Panama canal isnt really a canal at all , it is actually a series of locks and cuts that connect an Artificial lake (Gatun Lake) to both sides of the Isthmus. When the canal was being built it was originally envisaged as a sea-level canal , but it was realised after many years of toil that geological conditions made this almost impossible. As such it was decided that , if they couldn't reduce the land to sea level , they would merely raise sea level above the land. Gatun dam was cosntructed on the Chagres River , forming a reservoir that flooded a large portion of central Panama. This was then connected to the sea using massive locks.
Now , what does this have to do with crippling the dam? Well , the locks in the canal are nigh on indestructible and exceptionally difficult to hit from the air due to their small footprint. The addition of Torpedo nets and anti-aircraft guns mean that even precision weapons would have a tough time. So , the only other weak link in the system is the dam itself , without which water level in the lake would drop to the point at which it is unnavigable. There are various ways one might do this , the most obvious being to send saboteurs to blow holes in it at high water. If one were more adventurous you might try a "Dambusters" type mission using bouncing bombs.
If you REALLY must disable it a full frontal assault is difficult. In both world wars there were major efforts to safeguard the canal from both naval and airborne assault , and these would make anything less than a full scale theatre operation implausible.
However...
There is one weakness that I can see. What a lot of people dont realise is that the Panama canal isnt really a canal at all , it is actually a series of locks and cuts that connect an Artificial lake (Gatun Lake) to both sides of the Isthmus. When the canal was being built it was originally envisaged as a sea-level canal , but it was realised after many years of toil that geological conditions made this almost impossible. As such it was decided that , if they couldn't reduce the land to sea level , they would merely raise sea level above the land. Gatun dam was cosntructed on the Chagres River , forming a reservoir that flooded a large portion of central Panama. This was then connected to the sea using massive locks.
Now , what does this have to do with crippling the dam? Well , the locks in the canal are nigh on indestructible and exceptionally difficult to hit from the air due to their small footprint. The addition of Torpedo nets and anti-aircraft guns mean that even precision weapons would have a tough time. So , the only other weak link in the system is the dam itself , without which water level in the lake would drop to the point at which it is unnavigable. There are various ways one might do this , the most obvious being to send saboteurs to blow holes in it at high water. If one were more adventurous you might try a "Dambusters" type mission using bouncing bombs.
The US were paranoid about the safety of the canal. This included through inspections of ships going through and even taking the crew off ships they felt couldn't be trusted and using their own crews to bring the ships through.
While it could work, it's not a method you can rely on.
It could theoretically work , but there are several reasons why it is unlikely. Aside from getting searched before entering , any vessel entering the locks would be under a pilot or mechanical hauliers. This would hinder any attempt to get especially close to the gates themselves. This is important , as to have any chance of destroying the gates (Some of which weigh more than 600 tons) they would have to be practically on top of them. A similar scenario that comes to mind is the St Nazaire raid (1942) when a stripped down warship (The HMS Campbeltown)was filled with explosives and then rammed into the gates of the Normandie Dock. Though successful , this raid highlights some of the potential issues with raiding Panama. The Campbeltown didnt explode initially , and it was only due to massive German incompetence that the huge bomb in the hold wasn't discovered and defused. Even then British planners had realised that the dock gates could actually be replaced pretty easily , and had to sacrifice several hundred Royal Marine Commandos on a one-way mission to blow up numerous pieces of dock infrastructure to keep it disabled for more than a year. If a similar attack on the Panama canal gates were succesfull against the odds it is likely that the power of American industry could be used to fabricate new ones within weeks.
The loss of water on the other hand , from the loss of the Dam , would take a year or more before the rainy season could refill the lake.
Note going to happen. Too many naval vessels with hydrophones stationed nearby to get in undetected. Even then the canal is too shallow to manouvre in and torpedo booms would undoubtedly snare the sub.
Anaxagoras
Banned
Yes, or perhaps unicorn cavalry can attack. No one would ever shoot at a unicorn...
I would. I've always wondered whether unicorn meat would make good chili.
There is a reason they are called Panama Mounts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_mount
In the Canal zone they were set up for 360 degree fire along with the larger, 12" and above, coastal guns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_mount
In the Canal zone they were set up for 360 degree fire along with the larger, 12" and above, coastal guns.
Look at Great Pacific War by Hector Bywater. An alternate history about a Japanese- American War in 1930 (Written in 1926) The War starts with a Japanes freightor blowing up the Galliard Cut. Blowing the locks won't be as effective because it would be almost impossible to blow up both of the parrallel sets of locks.
I think this author was working on pretty poor logic. The Galliard cut is massive , even a well packed freighter would have little chance of doing permanent damage. I mean , what's the worse that happens? A small section of the bank falls in , or causes a landslide. Those sorts of things happen all the time , they are generally cleared within days with steam shovels and (Ironically) explosives
Why try to attack, or do something yourself? Perhaps someone else, with other interests might do the job for you, if you are willing to pay a fee for it.
Hypothetically, the Panama region could be claimed back by Colombia, which in the past had ruled the region, now known as Panama, including the Canalzone. Perhaps Colombia could be bribed to take back, what had been theirs, using their large population as an Army of the masses in this conflict, which the US Forces would either have to kill (Problem of unarmed civillians getting killed), or surrender to. US troops killing seemingly unarmed civillians would be great for propaganda issues, leaving the USA with less friends worldwide, including in their own state, where the population would likely protest in one way or another.
After the hypothetical surrender of the region to the semi native population, Colombia might get in charge here, with or without a puppet government, after which allowing the Japanese and British to make demands on their terms, closing the canal for US shipping.
Hypothetically, the Panama region could be claimed back by Colombia, which in the past had ruled the region, now known as Panama, including the Canalzone. Perhaps Colombia could be bribed to take back, what had been theirs, using their large population as an Army of the masses in this conflict, which the US Forces would either have to kill (Problem of unarmed civillians getting killed), or surrender to. US troops killing seemingly unarmed civillians would be great for propaganda issues, leaving the USA with less friends worldwide, including in their own state, where the population would likely protest in one way or another.
After the hypothetical surrender of the region to the semi native population, Colombia might get in charge here, with or without a puppet government, after which allowing the Japanese and British to make demands on their terms, closing the canal for US shipping.