As stated in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Suez Canal is an artificial waterway about 100 mi. long, connecting Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea with Suez on the Red Sea, enabling shipping between Europe and the east to avoid the long sea passage by the Cape of Good Hope.
        Article 1 of the convention signed at Constantinople in 1888 states that the canal shall always "be free and open, in time of war as in time of peace, to every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag."
        And so begins the journey through the Suez Canal, South towards the Red Sea, first reaching Lake Timsah, then Great Bitter Lake, and finally into the Gulf of Suez.  (or vice versa...)

Map of the Suez Canal
ca. 1962

The Certificate

USS Glover in the Suez Canal....

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The Suez from space

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