Operation Pelikan

{{short description|German plan for disabling the Panama Canal during World War II}}

{{Refimprove|date=August 2007}}

{{Infobox operational plan

| name = Operation Pelikan

| partof = the American Theater of World War II

| image = Panama-Canal-rough-diagram-quick.jpg

| image_size = 300

| caption = A schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages.

| scope =

| type =

| location = Panama Canal, Panama

| coordinates =

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| planned =

| planned_by = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}

| objective = Sabotage of the Panama Canal

| target =

| date = 1943

| time =

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| outcome = Aborted

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}}

{{Campaignbox North American Theater}}

Operation Pelikan ({{langx|de|Unternehmen Pelikan}}), also known as Projekt 14, was a German plan for crippling the Panama Canal during World War II. In mid-late 1943 the Wehrmacht had completed preparations to haul two Ju 87 Stukas with folding wings on two U-boats to an unnamed Colombian island near the coast of Panama, reassemble the planes, arm them with "special bombs", and then send them to attack the Gatun Dam. After completing the mission, the pilots would fly to a neutral country and seek internment. However, Germany called off the plan, for unknown reasons, at the last minute. Rumors among the Germans who planned the sabotage were that it had been called off due to betrayal.

Most of these types of plans involved acts of sabotage using agents in place and/or landed by U-boat.{{Cite web|last=Daley|first=Jason|title=Documents Show Chile Foiled Nazi Plot to Attack Panama Canal|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chile-foiled-nazi-plot-attack-panama-canal-documents-show-180963836/|access-date=2020-06-18|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}