Myth of the first passage of the Suez Canal

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The story about George Nares in Newport beating the Aigle to be the first ship through the canal appears to be a myth. There was a maneuvering incident described, around the grounded french ship Péluse, which occurred at the end of the first day's sail, at the entrance to Lake Timsah, 41 nautical miles south of Port Said. It did not lead to the Newport passing ahead of the Aigle. The article cites two sources, one, Nares' obituary, actually clearly describes the Lake Timseh incident, and contradicts what is said in the article. The original source for the Lake Timseh incident is the contemporary (1869) account in the Pall Mall Gazette, whose correspondent was actually on the Newport. The other source cited in the article, the UCSD website, describes the mythical incident at the beginning of the passage through the canal. This material is archived in the Wayback machine, but seems not no longer to be available on the current UCSD site. I will wait a few days to see if there are any comments on this before modifying the article and adding citations to actual actual eyewitness accounts of the opening of the canal. Kognos (talk) 16:11, 11 October 2019 (UTC)Reply