Short History Of... - Suez Canal

Episode Date: September 10, 2023

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most famous waterways - connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and opening up trade between the East and the West. But ever since its legendary construction in 1869, the Suez Canal has been at the centre of conflict and controversy. Why does a ditch in a desert spark years of political crises? Who helped turn a pharaoh’s dream into a reality? And how does a 19th Century waterway still hold the key to global trade almost 2,000 years later? This is a Short History Of The Suez Canal. Written by Kate Harrison. With thanks to Sal Mercogliano, former merchant mariner and professor of history at Campbell University. And Alex Von Tunzelmann, author of ‘Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, And The Crisis That Shook The World’. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is 7 in the evening on July 26, 1956. In the sultry heat of the Sinai desert in Egypt, a young colonel sits in an open jeep listening to the radio. Mahmoud Younes is waiting for a signal to start the secret operation that will change his country's fortunes. In front of Younes lies the harbour of Port Ismailia on the west bank of the Suez Canal. In the distance he can see the lights of a convoy of four giant ships heading south towards the Red Sea.

To his left are the grand French colonial-style offices of the canal's European managers, surrounded by wrought iron fences and a lush palm garden. Lamps shine through the full-height windows. This waterway is a round-the-clock operation, with over 15,000 ships using the canal every year. The broadcast he's listening to comes from 200 miles away in Alexandria. In Manchea Square, the country's charismatic president is addressing 100,000 of his people. Through the airwaves, the crowd roar as the president describes the global importance of the very waterway Yunus can see through his windscreen. can see through his windscreen. President Nasser's impassioned voice rises

as he describes how the canal was dug by their Egyptian ancestors, yet is run by colonial powers. And now he names the French diplomat who made the canal a reality a century ago, Ferdinand de Lesseps. It's the code word Colonel Yunus has been waiting for. It's time.

He jumps out of the jeep towards the gate protecting the canal company HQ. His soldiers smash through the padlock. Yunus leads, running through the formal gardens until they come to the imposing front door. They bang on it until it's opened, then push past two bewildered guards. A British official challenges them, but lets them pass when he sees the ten soldiers are all armed. They tear up the stone staircase towards the main office, where a handful of Egyptian and European men work under the slow circle of ceiling fans. Eunice orders them to raise their hands, while his soldiers search the building for weapons or members of staff who might try to fight back.

Fear and heat are making the employees sweat through their shirts, but they won't loosen their ties. Only when everyone is gathered does Yunus explain. As of now, the Suez Canal is back in Egyptian hands. Shareholders will be compensated and operations will run as normal, with one exception. There will be no more communication with Paris or London. Younes, an engineer by training, is now in charge. When a French official argues that Younes doesn't have the authority, the colonel asks them if they have a radio.

When one is found, he turns it on, in time to hear the president confirming that from tonight the canal will be run for the benefit of Egypt and her people. His rousing final words are drowned out by applause and cheers. words are drowned out by applause and cheers. Once he's set up in the grandest office, Yunus contacts teams elsewhere on the canal. Their commanding officers confirm their missions have been successful. Even better, no blood has been shed. His work done, the adrenaline of the operation drains away. Exhausted, Eunice lays a blanket on the cool marble floor of his new office and lies down to sleep. Though today he has helped topple an imperial force, tomorrow will be a new dawn for his country.

will be a new dawn for his country. But as word spreads further afield, presidents and prime ministers are in for a very sleepless night. In nearby Israel, the news is met with alarm. In Europe, where NASA is seen as a grave threat, the British and French fear the implications of the takeover. The events that follow will bring the world to the brink of nuclear war. It'll trigger an outrageous secret plot that'll speed up the transition from colonial rule

to a new set of superpowers. But why does a glorified ditch dug through a desert become the focus for an international crisis? Who helped to turn a pharaoh's daydream into a vital shipping route running through one of the most disputed parts of the world? And why does a 19th century waterway still hold the key to trade in the 21st century? I'm John Hopkins. From Neisa, this is a short history of the Suez Canal. The Sinai Peninsula is a triangle of land lying between the Mediterranean in the north and the Red Sea in the south.

Measuring 60,000 square kilometers, this region of Egypt is mostly mountainous desert. But its location is pivotal. It borders Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and links Africa with Asia. The 78 mile strip of land where the two continents meet is known as the Isthmus of Suez. Since the age of the pharaohs, Egyptians have dreamed of creating a waterway here to allow ships to carry goods and people between east and west. Around 4,000 years ago, several small canals were built linking the Nile to the Red Sea, but over the millennia, these have dried out. Yet the concept never completely disappears.

When Napoleon sends his army to invade Egypt in 1798, he also orders his engineers to study how a canal could be constructed. But they conclude it's not feasible, because the differing sea levels would require enormous locks. But it turns out that they're wrong. In the middle of the 19th century, a retired French diplomat decides to try again. Ferdinand de Lesseps is mourning his wife and son when he visits an old friend, Saïd Pasha, who has just become the Ottoman ruler or viceroy of Egypt.

They originally met 20 years earlier. The legend goes that when Saïd was 13, his father tried to get him to lose weight by forcing him to exercise and restricting his diet. But Lesseps took pity on Said and secretly fed the boy plates of pasta. The early friendship now pays off when, in November 1854, 49-year-old Lesseps returns to Alexandria and explains that he wants to build the longed-for canal. Within days, and explains that he wants to build the longed-for canal. Within days, Said grants him the exclusive concession to make it happen. The land will still be Egyptian, but Lesseps and his successors

will be allowed to run the proposed canal for 99 years from completion. Engineers will incorporate existing lakes along the isthmus to reduce the amount of arduous digging needed. This also means once the canal is finished, ships will wait in the lakes until it's their turn to travel along the single-lane waterway. But work won't actually begin for another five years. Getting over the technical and diplomatic barriers calls for all Lesseps' determination and energy. The British protest, fearing the French-run canal will undermine their dominance of global

trade. Many respected engineers believe that mud and sand will block the waterway as soon as it's created. Money is an issue too. But Lesseps gets the support of his influential relative, Empress Eugénie of France, who whips up excitement to encourage ordinary French people to buy shares totalling 100 million francs. Lesseps hopes America, Russia and Britain will invest the rest. But when those nations show little interest, the Egyptian government takes out loans to buy the unsold shares. Even once the funds have been raised, building a canal in an empty desert brings unprecedented challenges.

Sal Mecoliano is a former merchant mariner and an associate professor of history at Campbell University. Obviously, you're going to need a huge amount of people. We're right on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution here. So we're starting to see the beginning of technologies that are going to help build the canal. And the canal is kind of a misnomer. You know, to mariners, the Suez Canal is referred to as the ditch. And the canal is kind of a misnomer. To mariners, the Suez Canal is referred to as the ditch. And it literally is. It's a big, long, massive ditch. There's no locks. It's not like the Panama Canal, where you see a series of engineering. This is literally just moving sand

out of the way. But it's very dangerous. Because of the nature of the geography, the sand, you'll have slides and landslides. And the environment is extremely harsh, the temperature of the geography, the sand, you'll have slides and landslides. And the environment is extremely harsh. The temperature, the weather, the conditions are really tough. On April the 25th, 1859, Lesseps himself lands the first blow of the pickaxe at Port Said on the Mediterranean end of the Isthmus. But it's Egyptian peasants, known as fellaheen, who are forced to dig out the early parts of the canal by hand. Conditions are appalling. Up to 60,000 men at a time are uprooted from their villages

to work as unpaid labor. After their shifts, the lucky ones crowd into shelters made from tamarisk leaves. Others must sleep in the open. At first, all drinking water and food has to be transported by camel, and despite the scorching heat, there's never enough to go around. The laborers can see how, on the other side of the canal, expat European workers live in relative luxury. No accurate records exist, but it's thought up to a million and a half Egyptian workers are involved. Up to 120,000 die during its construction.

In 1863, Lesseps' ally, Saeed Pasha, dies, and his nephew, Ismail, takes over. When he bans forced labour, European engineers develop new technology to replace the workers. The Industrial Revolution is underway, and soon steam and coal-powered dredgers and excavators are cutting through the desert at astonishing speed. All together, the labourers and the machines will move 75 million cubic metres of sand. In August 1869, four years behind schedule, the waters of the Mediterranean mingle with those of the Red Sea in the Great Bitter Lake. Once this landmark has been achieved, the Suez Canal Company plans an inauguration ceremony

on an incredible scale, though many fear the canal is too narrow and shallow to work effectively. It is the evening of the 16th of November 1869 at Port Said at the top of the Suez Canal. Around 8,000 prominent guests have travelled by ship, carriage, donkey and camel for the party of the century in the middle of the desert. But with just hours to go until the arrival of the grand flotilla of 78 yachts, steamers and warships, there's a hitch. Ferdinand de Lesseps is drinking champagne with the Empress Eugenie, the King of Hungary and the playwright Henrik Ibsen, when a messenger enters the grand silk tent. Weaving through the VIPs to reach Lesseps, he whispers bad news. A ship has completely blocked the canal.

Lesseps leaves quietly to prevent any rumors from starting. He travels by horse-drawn carriage alongside the waterway, heading south towards the new city of Ishmaelion, named after Egypt's viceroy. 64-year-old Lesseps knows this canal will be his legacy. It has dominated the last 15 years of his life. Tomorrow should be his big day, marking this wonder of the modern world. Yet now, a single boat threatens the entire enterprise. He makes out raised voices and lanterns in the distance, marking the site of the blockage. He is, by nature, an optimist.

But as he steps out of the carriage onto the sand, it's actually worse than he feared. An Egyptian boat, the Latif, has run aground across the canal. No other ships will be able to reach Ismailia, where another jaw-dropping Arabian-tented village has been created, complete with snake charmers, tightrope walkers, poetry recitals, and prostitutes. By the light of the moon and the lanterns, over two hundred men are trying to shift the boat. Some wade in the water, attempting to drag the hull free from the soft bed of the canal. Others shout orders at the Latif's captain from the bank. The Viceroy is here too.

Like Lesseps, he's in full evening dress, though he's loosened his bow tie as the veins of his neck throb with fury. The ruler spent over a million and a half Egyptian pounds on the inauguration. What should be a triumph for his modernized nation looks set to become an international embarrassment. The workers are up to their armpits in water, but now one comes forward with a new idea. The pilots, who've been studying the quirks of the new canal

suggest trying to harness the power of the water. Laborers get into position on the port and starboard sides of the ship, and the pilots shout orders, trying to be heard above the hubbub. Lesseps prays silently. above the hubbub. Lesseps prays silently. Did he imagine it? Or is the latif finally shifting?

Perhaps it was an optical illusion. No, it's definitely moving. And now the captain's in control again, steering his boat to one side of the canal. The waterway is clear. Lesseps dispatches a messenger back to the captain of the Imperial yacht, the Aigle. The party is back on. A few hours later, at first light, three steamers decorated in red, white, and blue sail up

the canal, heralded by music and cheers. Behind them, the high mast of the Eglere is just visible. Her captain takes it slowly, aware there's less than three meters clearance. As the yacht finally comes into the lake basin, rounds of artillery fire in celebration. Lesseps, in a fresh suit and shoes, his moustache pristine, stands next to the Empress on the high poop deck, acknowledging the applause. He hopes no one can see he has tears in his eyes. The party lasts three days and nights, with lavish banquets in tents seating 500 guests each,

featuring fine wines, fish, wild duck, and Arabian sweets. Later, there are firework displays and passionate speeches celebrating Lesseps' vision. The workers don't get a mention. a seps vision. The workers don't get a mention. But once the festivities end, it's time for the seafarers and the shareholders of the Suez Canal Company to reap the rewards. The canal has cost almost 12 million British pounds, but the potential profits from tolls are unlimited.

No longer are ships forced to take a dangerous, long-winded route around the Horn of Africa. The opening of the Suez Canal in many ways was almost akin to the landing on the moon. And it's very interesting that they're separated by exactly 100 years. When Neil Armstrong takes his walk on the moon in 1969 and the Suez opens up in 1869. It's, you know, one of the man-made wonders of the world. In its first full year, uptake is slower than expected. But still, 485 ships carrying around 400,000 tons of goods pass through the canal. By 1872, the tonnage exceeds a million. And within five years, the annual toll revenue is almost a million British pounds. But technical issues remain. Even the most experienced pilots can struggle in desert conditions.

It is not an easy transit. You're talking about 120 miles up and down the canal. It's very narrow, it's prone to to weather and also closures because of slides. The initial canal was not very large. And so it required a continual amount of dredging and digging to be done. And one of the things we've seen during the course of its history is it's been fought over repeatedly. And those fights are both military and economic. And those fights are both military and economic. Just six years after the grand opening, Egypt is in massive debt, and the Viceroy agrees to sell his 44% stake in the Canal Company.

Britain, keen to increase its role in the region, snaps up the shares. Now they operate the waterway with their French colonial rivals, though the country of Egypt still owns the land. As the 20th century begins, profits continue to soar. And as a vital route, the canal comes under attack during the First and Second World Wars. In World War II, Britain and her allies rely on the waterway to move battleships and access vital oil supplies. But it's in the unsettled 1950s when the Suez Canal becomes the focus for a conflict that threatens to go nuclear. Alex von Tunzelmann is an historian and the author of Blood and Sand,

Suez, Hungary and the Crisis that Shook the World. author of Blood and Sand, Suez, Hungary, and the Crisis that Shook the World. A Cold War had begun, a new period in history. And at the beginning of the crisis, people used to talk about three superpowers running the world. So at the time, that would have been the United States, the Soviet Union, and the British empires. Now, of course, we look back and we know that this era was the end of empires. But of course, people living then didn't know that this was the end period of empires. So the Middle East was very contested at this point with independent leaders coming up at the same time as you had colonial powers who were pretty keen to continue or restate their influence. The French and the British are trying to cling on to their nation's roles in the world.

It makes the prime ministers of both countries highly suspicious of the new generation of Middle Eastern and North African leaders. The French Prime Minister Guy Mollet is pelted with tomatoes when he visits the colony of Algeria, and the British leader Anthony Eden takes an instant dislike to the new President of Egypt when they meet in 1955. While Eden is nearing 60 and in poor health, President Gamal Abdel Nasser is over 20 years younger. Nasser felt very patronised by Eden, and Eden, I think, felt quite undermined by Nasser. I mean, many of these leaders did because Nasser was young, charismatic, tall,

you know, very physically powerful. And, you know, for Eden, who was kind of physically suffering at that point, having not very good health, I think that was probably quite challenging. Nasser's rise to the top has been rapid and impressive. Born into an ordinary Egyptian family, he served as an army colonel before helping to lead the revolution that dethroned King Farouk, who was seen as a British stooge. Four years later, Nasser is president.

He was incredibly popular. He was charismatic. He was independent. He also seemed quite rational. Funnily enough, he was also very popular with the CIA. The Americans on the ground liked him a lot, saw him as a potential reasonable leader, a good ally. As a savvy politician, Nasser tries to stay on the right side of eastern and western powers. He buys arms from the Soviet bloc and holds talks with China. But the US and the UK are suspicious of his ties with their enemies.

In 1956, they back out of a commitment to help fund a dam project on the River Nile. So on July 26, a month after being elected president, Nasser orders the army to take back control of the Suez Canal. Though Egypt has always owned the land, the private Anglo-French company still has over a decade left on their original 99-year lease. But Nasser has had enough. He doesn't need the West. The canal tolls will pay for his dam project in just five years. He promises to compensate European shareholders all their due, but is insistent that a waterway built by Egyptian toil and on Egyptian land should be run by the nation. A new Middle East crisis arises as President Nasser of Egypt tells a wildly cheering crowd in Alexandria that Egypt has seized the internationally owned Suez Canal.

His announcement touches off a rapid series of reprisals and counter-reprisals. Britain freezes all Egyptian funds and Egypt retaliates with the same measures. France lodges a bitter protest and suggests military action. The 85-year-old waterway, of which the United States is the second biggest user, brings a three-power meeting in London to discuss the biggest... There were really mixed opinions around the world about the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company. Generally speaking, in Europe, there were strong feelings that Egypt had overstepped the mark, that there ought to be an invasion and so forth. But the Americans were very opposed to

that. So was the Soviet Union. And of course, there was a huge amount of support for Nasser around the Arab world and around what was then called the Third World, the kind of wider world outside that, because Nasser had committed what was effectively seen as an anti-colonial act. American President Dwight Eisenhower writes to Anthony Eden, telling him forcefully the US will not back an invasion. Instead, he suggests a conference in London to settle the canal's future. But while French and British officials take part, behind the scenes, they're still planning military action. Three months after the canal is nationalized, the French, British, and Israelis

meet at a villa in the countryside just outside Paris to make a secret plan. meet at a villa in the countryside just outside Paris to make a secret plan. Really, this meeting was about creating a conspiracy. This was to create a plan for how these countries would invade Egypt and topple Nasser and take back the Suez Canal Company. The plan they came up with is sort of so crazy that many people found it quite hard to believe at the time when this came out. So the idea was that Israel would claim there had been Fedayeen raids into Israel, and on that basis, they would invade Egypt. Publicly, Britain and France would condemn this,

but secretly they would support it, arm it, provide military support and so forth. Britain and France would then issue an ultimatum and intervene as peacekeepers, ostensibly, to protect the canal. It wasn't really just about the canal. It was very much about their fears of Nasser personally as this very charismatic leader in the Middle East who would cause Arab nationalism to spread and who would inspire these movements, kind of anti-colonial movements around the world. When Eden relays the idea to the cabinet and to British military commanders,

the reaction is very mixed. Admiral Louis Mountbatten, the first sea lord and cousin to the queen, opposes it. Others can't believe it'll really happen. But at 3 p.m. on the 29th of October, one week after the secret meeting near Paris, Israeli forces begin their invasion and fan out across the Sinai Peninsula. In their own territory, the terrain is passable. But as they enter Egypt, many vehicles are slowed or break down altogether in the soft sand.

Many vehicles are slowed or break down altogether in the soft sand. When Nasser heard that there was news that the Israelis were in the Sinai Desert, he was actually incredibly confused initially. He said to one of his aides, why are they fighting the sand? A day later, Britain and France deliver the ultimatum they've already written as part of the secret agreement. Their plan has always been to use the Israeli attacks and the Egyptian fight back as an excuse to send in an Anglo-French peacekeeping force to retake control of the Suez Canal. So they now order both Israel and Egypt to withdraw 10 miles from the canal. If this doesn't happen within 12 hours and Egypt refuses to accept a temporary occupation

force to protect the waterway, French and British troops will invade. Yet the ultimatum ignores the fact that there's no fighting anywhere near the canal at this point. Immediately everybody could see what is happening here. Obviously, this is nonsense. Obviously, this is something that had been pre-agreed, that they thought the fighting would be at a different stage by this point, and it isn't. So really, as a conspiracy, as a cover-up, it didn't fly at all. I mean, it didn't work remotely. Nobody believed it. France and Britain issue a 12-hour ultimatum that all fighting must cease.

Within hours of its expiration, Britain's warplanes are winging their way to Egypt and its bombers attack five key cities, including Cairo. Following a Security Council veto by Britain and France of a United States motion for a ceasefire, President Eisenhower, after consultation with Secretary of State Dulles, makes a firm declaration of United States policy. United States was not consulted in any way about any phase of these actions, nor were we informed of them in advance. Eisenhower is furious and the UN Security Council meets with members condemning French and British

aggression. But the military operation continues. French paratroopers land in Egypt, while France's navy moves into position. British bombers mount air raids across Egypt, trying to destroy NASA's air force. But the operations don't go to plan. American citizens are being evacuated on the road next to the military airfield, so there's a big risk some might die if the operation goes ahead.

The bombers are diverted to another target, but mistakenly bomb Cairo's international airport instead. And, forewarned by the bungled attack, Nasser has his bombers moved elsewhere to safety. As Egyptian casualties mount, Nasser orders what he calls a people's war, putting his soldiers in plain clothes and employing snipers among civilians so the invaders can't tell where the next attack might come from.

The president also orders the sinking of ships to make the Suez Canal impassable. It's exactly what the British have been trying to avoid. The closure puts them under huge financial pressure and cuts off the supply of oil from the Middle East British dollar reserves were very low so they could afford to buy oil in pounds sterling from these oil fields in the Persian Gulf

But if they had to switch and start buying oil from the US that was priced in dollars. Now, that was very, very hard to afford. In fact, it was going to cost $800 million a year, an absolutely enormous amount of money. And Eisenhower had already said he was prepared, quote, to let Britain boil in their own oil. He was not going to help them out. So there was a huge amount of pressure on Britain to stop this invasion, to do something about it, because actually it was getting to the point where they were going to have to turn the lights off. And Eden is also coming under attack on the streets and in Parliament.

There were huge public protests all around Britain. There was also real opposition in the House of Commons as politicians on both sides, Labour and Conservative, began to realise that they had been lied to, that this was, in fact, an invasion, not a peacekeeping operation. So in the House of Commons, there were extraordinary scenes, booing, jeering, even people thought actual physical fights might break out. The country's in danger of running out of money for food and fuel. So Eden's government asks the International Monetary Fund for a loan. But Eisenhower is so angry about being lied to that he threatens to block the bailout unless there's a ceasefire in Egypt. He even threatens to sell off UK government bonds to cause a run on the pound.

And then the Soviet Union piles on more pressure, writing to the French and British governments threatening nuclear attacks on London and Paris unless their troops withdraw from Egypt. Effectively, in London, they felt they were facing nuclear annihilation from the east and financial annihilation from the west. Couldn't afford US oil in dollars. Eisenhower wouldn't give them credit unless they stopped the military advance. So really, it did come down to, at that

point, they just ran out of road. They just had to stop. So Eden telephoned Mollet that morning on the 6th of November to say that he could only really keep going for about another 24 hours, that really Britain was reaching the end of the line. A ceasefire is agreed. The fighting stops just after midnight on the 7th of November. It takes weeks to bring in a UN peacekeeping force. When the French and British troops finally withdraw from the Canal Zone in December, the Egyptians take a symbolic revenge by dynamiting the statue of Ferdinand Lesseps, leaving only his feet. Not only had there been thousands of lives lost,

soldiers and civilians injured, infrastructure, property destroyed, and all the expense, of course, of these failed military operations, but there was also the fact that oil wasn't flowing through the pipelines and international traffic wasn't flowing through the Suez Canal. All of that had to be fixed. There was a crisis in sterling. There was economic damage to all the countries involved. And then, of course, there were costs that are much harder to calculate in figures. British prestige had taken a huge knock. Britain's, France's and generally the West's relations with the Arab world were in a difficult position by that point. The prospect of Arab-Israeli peace got even

further away. Prime Ministers Mollet and Eden face political wipeouts. Mollet's government falls seven months later, while Eden loses the faith of British voters. It doesn't help that two weeks after the ceasefire, he goes on holiday to Ian Fleming's beachside house in Jamaica. He resigns in the new year, though he will insist for the rest of his life that his actions over Suez were the right ones. Gamal Abdel Nasser is horrified by how poorly the Egyptian army performed, but the conflict enhances his own image. It was a political success for him in terms of his standing in the Arab world and much more broadly around the world.

It grew tremendously. He was seen as this vanquisher of these imperialists in Britain and France. You know, so his reputation grew greatly. It elevated him to a huge level of power. He became a kind of a towering figure of Arab nationalism, of the Arab world. of a towering figure of Arab nationalism, of the Arab world. Though the conflict itself has only lasted for nine days, it changes global politics forever. It really was the moment at which people stopped talking about there being three superpowers in the world that were, you know, the United States, the Soviet Union and the British Empire and started talking about there being two.

It really made Britain drop out of that top tier of countries in terms of how people looked at them. The canal reopens in April 1957 and brings big revenues for the Egyptian government. NASA orders the waterway to be widened to allow access for larger ships, and the UN peacekeeping force stays until 1967. British and French ships can use the canal, but Israel cannot. But as soon as the UN force starts to leave, Israel strikes back. It's the morning of June 5, 1967. In the dim morning light, a convoy of merchant ships begins to move up the Suez Canal from the southern end.

Each one has an Egyptian pilot on board to help guide the captain towards the Mediterranean. A 20-year-old able seaman is on watch on one of the last ships in the convoy. He's traveled along the canal before, but today he's on edge. Tensions between Israel and Egypt are escalating. The captain even allowed the crew to vote on whether they wanted to travel up the Suez. The majority wanted to avoid the long diversion around Africa. Right now, the mariner is wondering if they made the right choice. At least they're not alone. He's spotted 15 ships in this convoy.

Four fly the British Red Ensign. Others travel under the flags of the United States, France, West Germany, Poland and Sweden. They reach the great Bitter Lake, where ships anchor briefly when there's congestion in the canal. a great bitter lake where ships anchor briefly when there's congestion in the canal. The air pipe used for communication blows and the young man holds it to his ear. It's the captain. He has just heard on the BBC World Service that Israel has declared war on Egypt. As he replaces the pipe, the sailor hears a distant rumble. He glances right over towards the eastern Sinai.

But the low morning sun dazzles him. Suddenly, three Israeli warplanes streak through the blue sky. The roar makes his body shake. As the fighters dip so low, they sneak in between his ship and the others at the back of the convoy. Are these merchant ships the target? Men run onto the deck to see what's going on. Now the bombing begins. Ear-splitting explosions and fireballs blooming to the left of the canal.

The sailor realizes the bombers are attacking Egyptian runways and hangars a mile west of the Suez Canal. Everyone on deck instinctively ducks as the three planes fly back across the water, barely clearing the ship's mast before disappearing once more into the blinding sun. Now another wave of three soars down from the east. They keep coming, a new assault every five minutes or so. The Egyptians finally fight back with anti-aircraft fire. But the ships are caught in the middle with nowhere to hide. All they can do is pray they won't be hit.

After three terrifying hours, the sky is clear. But the thick smoke to the west makes the young man cough. It doesn't look like there's much left of the Egyptian defenses. Hopefully now the ships can move out of the lake where they're sitting ducks towards the top end of the canal and safety. Except now the captain comes down from the bridge to break worrying news. The Egyptians have ordered them to stay put, for now. No one's sure why or for how long.

But having seen what the Israelis are capable of, no one's going to refuse either. It's definitely not good news for the Egyptians. 90% of their Russian-supplied planes have been destroyed on the tarmac. The canal is the front line, and access to this vital trade route can be a weapon in itself. The crews of the 15 cargo ships have no choice but to wait it out. Initially, they all believed, well, this is going to be a short duration. So they anchored in the lake, and they kind of sat out the war. And the war was over in six days, but the Israelis had gotten to the canal,

so much so that the canal actually became the border between Egypt and Israel and fortified. And so these ships found themselves literally in a demilitarized zone, stuck between Egypt and Israel. found themselves literally in a demilitarized zone stuck between Egypt and Israel. 11,000 Egyptians and 700 Israelis will die in the Six-Day War, which ends when Israel seizes control of the Sinai. But already, the crews of the merchant cargo ships are worrying about the future. Egyptian policemen board each ship and lock up the radio to stop the captain's sharing intelligence. The truth dawns on the crews. The Egyptians have mined the canal and sunk ships on purpose at the top and bottom of the Great Bitter Lake. They put the Suez Canal out of action for trade, but also trap 14 of the 15 ships.

The shipping companies keep the crews on board, hoping they'll be allowed to move on soon. But as the days turn into weeks, desert storms coat the vessels with sand, turning them a strange color. Someone jokes they should call themselves the Yellow Fleet. And just like the sand, the name sticks. It's an early sign of the humour that will help forge one of the strangest communities in the world. Initially, one captain takes a lifeboat to visit the other ships in turn, suggesting they join forces to trade food and supplies. Each holds different cargo, from Australian fruit and vegetables

to T-shirts and plastic toys. Bartering gives them variety and eases the monotony. Soon the men are socializing regularly over beers. At Christmas, after almost seven months stranded in the demilitarized canal, the Polish sailors build a Christmas tree, and the Germans sing Still Nacked as the stars twinkle above the desert. One ship becomes the official post office, and sailors design their own stamps, which are now collector's items. While the rest of the world is in the grip of the Cold War, the nations mingle happily. So the ships were maintained with the idea that this is going to end soon, we'll get the ships out.

And the ships kind of nested together, they shared common supplies, they kind of almost became a world unto themselves. It's 1968, the Olympics is happening. They actually staged their own kind of Olympics on the Great Bitter Lake. Poland wins the Yellow Fleet Olympics, with Germany and Great Britain coming second and third. The Bulgarian freighter hosts movie nights, while on the deck of the French ship, sailors grow fresh vegetables. And as months turn into years, skeleton crews maintain the vessels, spending a few months on the canal before being replaced by new teams. Altogether, over 3,000 men and one woman spend time on the lake, each receiving a tie and badge

as members of the Great Bitter Lake Association. The canal doesn't reopen to shipping until 1975, over eight years after the war began. Only two of the 14 ships, both West German, can still sail under their own power. 30,000 people turn out to welcome them home when they arrive back in Hamburg. But the blockade changes not only the lives of the sailors of the Yellow Fleet, it also affects the nature of global shipping. The ditch, as it's known, was built for the

Victorian era. But the long blockade encourages the growth of mega-ships. While the canal is closed, it makes more sense to send larger cargoes on the much longer trip around Africa. As soon as the canal reopens, it needs upgrading again. And the work never stops. In the most recent expansion in 2015, 500 million cubic meters of sand is removed. That's the volume of 200 giant pyramids. And the more traffic, the higher the tolls for the Egyptian government. In 2022, it made a record 8 billion US dollars in transit fees. More than 20,000 vessels now pass through the Suez Canal every year,

an average of 56 every day. And despite the latest maritime technology, the canal remains vulnerable to accidents, just as when it was opened 160 years ago. In March 2021, the Ever Given cargo ship starts the 12-hour trip north along the canal, en route from Malaysia to Rotterdam. Longer than four football pitches, the hulking vessel carries over 17,000 containers. Their contents include Nike trainers, Lenovo laptops, and IKEA furniture, worth up to a billion US dollars. worth up to a billion US dollars. As the ship moves, the already stormy weather worsens, with gusts of wind up to 45 miles per hour, reducing visibility and making the vessels impossible to control.

Typically, when ships go aground in the Suez, they almost do it like when you have a flat tire on a highway, you can kind of pull over to the side. And most ships are able to kind of lose propulsion. They use their rudder and they kind of go off to the embankment. They run aground, but not a lot. They just kind of nose into the sand. Ever Given plowed at 12 knots into a wall and then jammed its stern up so that both sides of the ship, the front and the back, were actually suspended

over the Suez Canal. And there was a big fear, actually, that the ship could break in half and that would completely block the canal for months, if not a year, to clear that salvage. The spectacle captures attention worldwide as the Suez Canal Authority calls in international salvage operators to help

their own teams to free the ship. An enormous backlog builds up of almost 400 vessels. It takes seven days, 16 tugboats, and a supermoon high tide to refloat the Ever Given. The holdup disrupts billions of pounds worth of trade. The Ever Given incident really highlighted it, not just to people in the shipping industry, not just to manufacturers and people who purchase goods, but to the average everyday person who realizes today that when you hit that app on your phone to order something that's going to arrive on your doorstep in one to two days, it has actually been moving for 90 to 100

days beforehand on ships and eventually on trucks and train and aircraft. And that final delivery van that shows up outside your house is only the end result of a process that is long and laborious and involves things like the Suez Canal. In Britain, at least, the Suez Canal is still associated with political meltdown. The phrase, the worst crisis since Suez, is used even by those who have little idea what happened in 1956. Alex von Tunzelmann believes the events of almost 70 years ago are still relevant now. It is such a kind of salutary story. It's so striking. It's so obvious that it was a ridiculous thing to do. It was poorly planned. It was poorly

executed. It was incredibly embarrassing. And it's kind of this encapsulation of this hubris, this arrogance. And I do think it unfortunately fed a lot of views around the world about the kind of untrustworthiness, deceptiveness, imperialism, and so on of Britain and France. Those memories haven't entirely gone away. They do still inform some people's views of the West today. For mariners though, the Suez Canal is memorable for different reasons. Passing through remains a journey that's impossible to forget. It's a beautiful transit. It's really surreal because you're going past towns and cities and farms and then deserts

and battlefields. I remember when I did it, and it was back in the 90s and the early 2000s, there were still burnt out pillboxes and tanks from the Arab-Israeli wars. And then you get in the Great Bitter Lake, and it's an amazing lake. All of a sudden, you're in this huge, expansive area. You go anchor for a little while to wait for the convoy to pass. It's a moment to kind of catch your breath in the canal and then off you go again and it's an amazing event to see egypt in that way next time on short history of we'll bring you a short history of Joan of Arc.

That's the problem with somebody like Joan. How does Joan retire? What's Joan's second act? There's some terrible logic of her story that drives her to the stake. Because what can this life do other than sort of burn up out of its own insane incandescence? That's next time.