SS Ancon became the first ship to pass through the Panama Canal after its 1914 opening.
Ancon was a cargo and passenger vessel operated by the Panama Railroad Company. On 15 August 1914, she made the first official transit of the completed Panama Canal, traveling from the Atlantic entrance toward the Pacific side.
The canal connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Isthmus of Panama, eliminating the need for ships to sail around Cape Horn. Its locks raise and lower vessels to and from Gatun Lake, which forms part of the canal route.
The first transit is sometimes confused with earlier test passages or with the first commercial voyages. SS Ancon’s crossing was the official opening transit. Her sister ship, Cristobal, was also important in the canal’s construction and early operation, but Ancon holds the specific first-transit distinction.