Schichau-Werke
Encyclopedia
The Schichau-Werke was a German engineering works and shipyard based in Elbing, formerly part of the German Empire
, and which is today the town of Elbląg
in northern Poland
. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig (now: Gdańsk
).
had studied engineering in Berlin
, the Rheinland and Great Britain
. In 1837 he founded the
engineering institution, later known as F. Schichau GmbH, Maschinen- und Lokfabrik, Elbing (F. Schichau engineering and locomotive factory, Elbing). It started with the production of hydraulic presses and diggers; in 1860 it began to produce the first locomotives for the Prussian Eastern Railway. From 1867 locomotive construction began in earnest and, three years later, the factory was connected to the railway network. In the early 1900s the firm was one of several that delivered the Prussian P 8
, the most numerous passenger train steam locomotive
of its day.
From 1877 the shipyard produced ships for the Imperial Prussian Navy and export, becoming specialized in torpedo boat
s and later destroyers. It became a major manufacturer of torpedo boats for the Prussian Navy. The engine of S 1, which was built by Schichau in 1884 as one of Germany’s first torpedo boats, is shown on display in the Deutsches Museum
in Munich today.
Since the shipyard's location on the Elbing River limited the size of ships that could be constructed, in 1892 Schichau built a second shipyard in Danzig, which was capable of producing bigger warships, up to battleship
size, as well as freighters and passenger ship
s. Both shipyards also built ships for export worldwide, especially torpedo boats. In 1889 Schichau built a small repair shipyard in Pillau (present-day Baltijsk) near Königsberg (Prussia) (today Kaliningrad
). Schichau's son-in-law, Carl Heinz Ziese, worked at Schichau-Werke and continued to run the business after Schichau's death in 1896, until 1917.
(now: Yantar Shipyard).
Following the separation of East Prussia
from Germany
after the First World War the Schichau works, together with the Union-Giesserei in Königsberg (that they later took over), was encouraged to focus on locomotive building with the aid of eastern European aid (Ostlandhilfe). During the Second World War, the firm of Borsig placed several contracts with the Schichau-Werke in Elbing, that continued production until January 1945.
(German Navy) at its Danzig shipyard. The yard in Elbing
produced engines and submarines of the Seehund
class. In addition to the manufacture of Type VII C submarines
, the shipyard in Danzig also built the new Class XXI U-boats
. Up to 1944, 62 Type VII C U-boats (and two Type VII C/41s) were built, before production was switched to the Type XXI. A total of 30 submarines of this latter class were built and launched at Danzig by the end of the war.
and the Polish State Railways
. These included the DRG and DRB standard steam locomotive (Einheitsdampflokomotive
) classes 23
, 41
, 52 and 86
. The Schichau-Werke also designed the Class 24
and delivered the first two batches The factory sites were dismantled by Russia
n occupying forces after the war.
to Poland and the Soviet Union. They no longer build locomotives, instead building ships, wagons, and boilers. The Schichau shipyard at Danzig was included into the Lenin shipyard in 1950 and, in 1980, attracted world-wide media coverage as a result of protests led by the Solidarność trades union.
In early 1945 a floating dock was transferred to Flender Werke
in Lübeck
, in March the same year Hermann Noë, the chief executive, and some employees fled Danzig with uncompleted ships to Bremerhaven
. In April Noë founded there a new company named F. Schichau Aktiengesellschaft, however, the uncompleted rumps and u-boats, tugged from Danzig, could not be finished anymore. With employees from the old premises machinery, agricultural engines, locomotives and trams were repaired after the war. Furthermore Schichau developed a new welding torch with a photo-electric steering. After on 26 May 1951 the western Allies lifted the ban on shipbuilding in West Germany Schichau reopened its shipyard in Bremerhaven. In 1953 Schichau was restituted its floating dock which had been taken as a British reparation in the meantime.
Schichau was later merged into the Schichau Seebeck Shipyard Company, which went into bankruptcy in 1996 following the demise of Bremer Vulkan
. Its successor company was the SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard
, closed down on 31 July 2009, based at Bremerhaven.
}: Launched 26 May 1903
}: Launched 27 May 1904
}: Launched 30 June 1910
Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class Torpedo Boat
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, and which is today the town of Elbląg
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
in northern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. It also had a subsidiary shipyard in Danzig (now: Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
).
Early years
Ferdinand SchichauFerdinand Schichau
Ferdinand Gottlob Schichau was a German mechanical engineer and businessman.- Biography :Schichau was born in Elbing, West Prussia to a smith and iron worker. He studied engineering in Berlin and visited the Rhineland and England. In 1837 he started his own company in Elbing...
had studied engineering in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the Rheinland and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. In 1837 he founded the
engineering institution, later known as F. Schichau GmbH, Maschinen- und Lokfabrik, Elbing (F. Schichau engineering and locomotive factory, Elbing). It started with the production of hydraulic presses and diggers; in 1860 it began to produce the first locomotives for the Prussian Eastern Railway. From 1867 locomotive construction began in earnest and, three years later, the factory was connected to the railway network. In the early 1900s the firm was one of several that delivered the Prussian P 8
Prussian P 8
The Prussian Class P 8 steam locomotive of the Prussian state railways was built from 1906 onwards by the Berliner Maschinenbau and the Linke-Hofmann factory in Breslau by Robert Garbe...
, the most numerous passenger train steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
of its day.
Shipyards
From 1847 Schichau produced steam engines for ships, starting with the engine for the first entirely Prussian-built steamer James Watt (of neighbor Mitzlaff shipyard). In 1854 Schichau built the shipyard at Elbing, known as the Elbinger Dampfschiffs-Reederei F. Schichau ('Elbing Steamship Shipping Company F. Schichau'). The first ship launched was the small steamer Borussia in 1855 (she was the first Prussian iron screw ship). The shipyard was subsequently expanded, and in 1872 Schichau bought Mitzlaff's shipyard in Elbing.From 1877 the shipyard produced ships for the Imperial Prussian Navy and export, becoming specialized in torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s and later destroyers. It became a major manufacturer of torpedo boats for the Prussian Navy. The engine of S 1, which was built by Schichau in 1884 as one of Germany’s first torpedo boats, is shown on display in the Deutsches Museum
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...
in Munich today.
Since the shipyard's location on the Elbing River limited the size of ships that could be constructed, in 1892 Schichau built a second shipyard in Danzig, which was capable of producing bigger warships, up to battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
size, as well as freighters and passenger ship
Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...
s. Both shipyards also built ships for export worldwide, especially torpedo boats. In 1889 Schichau built a small repair shipyard in Pillau (present-day Baltijsk) near Königsberg (Prussia) (today Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
). Schichau's son-in-law, Carl Heinz Ziese, worked at Schichau-Werke and continued to run the business after Schichau's death in 1896, until 1917.
Inter-war years
When Ziese died in 1917 the management of the company passed to the husband of his only daughter, Hildegard, the Swede, Carl Carlson. After his death, Hildegard Carlson ran the firm. After World War I the shipyard was threatened with bankruptcy and in 1929 it was bought by the German government. In 1930 the company bought also a small yard in KönigsbergKönigsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
(now: Yantar Shipyard).
Following the separation of East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
after the First World War the Schichau works, together with the Union-Giesserei in Königsberg (that they later took over), was encouraged to focus on locomotive building with the aid of eastern European aid (Ostlandhilfe). During the Second World War, the firm of Borsig placed several contracts with the Schichau-Werke in Elbing, that continued production until January 1945.
U-boat production
F. Schichau-Werke built 94 U-boats for the KriegsmarineKriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
(German Navy) at its Danzig shipyard. The yard in Elbing
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
produced engines and submarines of the Seehund
Seehund
The Seehund , also known as Type XXVII, was a successful series of German midget submarines created during World War II...
class. In addition to the manufacture of Type VII C submarines
German Type VII submarine
Type VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which was set up by Germany after...
, the shipyard in Danzig also built the new Class XXI U-boats
German Type XXI submarine
Type XXI U-boats, also known as "Elektroboote", were the first submarines designed to operate primarily submerged, rather than as surface ships that could submerge as a means to escape detection or launch an attack.-Description:...
. Up to 1944, 62 Type VII C U-boats (and two Type VII C/41s) were built, before production was switched to the Type XXI. A total of 30 submarines of this latter class were built and launched at Danzig by the end of the war.
Locomotive Production
Up to the end of the war in 1945, the Schichau-Werke had supplied about 4,300 locomotives of several classes to customers that included the Deutsche ReichsbahnDeutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Reichsbahn – was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I....
and the Polish State Railways
Polskie Koleje Panstwowe
is the dominant railway operator in Poland.The company was founded when the former state-owned operator was divided into several units based on the requirements laid down by the European Union...
. These included the DRG and DRB standard steam locomotive (Einheitsdampflokomotive
Einheitsdampflokomotive
The German term Einheitsdampflokomotive, sometimes shortened to Einheitslokomotive or Einheitslok, means standard steam locomotive and refers to the steam engines built in Germany after 1925 under the direction of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft...
) classes 23
DRG Class 23
The German Class 23 engines of the Deutsche Reichsbahn were standard steam engines that were conceived as a replacement for the Prussian P 8 by the Schichau Works...
, 41
DRG Class 41
The German Class 41 steam locomotives were standard goods train engines operated by the Deutsche Reichsbahn and built from 1937 - 1941.- History :...
, 52 and 86
DRG Class 86
The DRG Class 86 was a standard goods train tank locomotive with the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. It was intended for duties on branch lines and was delivered by almost all the locomotive building firms working for the Reichsbahn...
. The Schichau-Werke also designed the Class 24
DRG Class 24
The DRG Class 24 steam engines were German standard locomotives built for the Deutsche Reichsbahn between 1928 and 1939 to haul passenger trains.-History:...
and delivered the first two batches The factory sites were dismantled by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n occupying forces after the war.
Recent history
At the end of the war the original factory sites went into Polish ownership with the loss of East PrussiaEast Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
to Poland and the Soviet Union. They no longer build locomotives, instead building ships, wagons, and boilers. The Schichau shipyard at Danzig was included into the Lenin shipyard in 1950 and, in 1980, attracted world-wide media coverage as a result of protests led by the Solidarność trades union.
In early 1945 a floating dock was transferred to Flender Werke
Flender Werke
Flender Werke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Lübeck. It was founded in 1917 and was at a time one of the largest shipyards in Germany.During World War II, Flender Werke built 2 Type II and 40 Type VII U-boats for the Kriegsmarine....
in Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, in March the same year Hermann Noë, the chief executive, and some employees fled Danzig with uncompleted ships to Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
. In April Noë founded there a new company named F. Schichau Aktiengesellschaft, however, the uncompleted rumps and u-boats, tugged from Danzig, could not be finished anymore. With employees from the old premises machinery, agricultural engines, locomotives and trams were repaired after the war. Furthermore Schichau developed a new welding torch with a photo-electric steering. After on 26 May 1951 the western Allies lifted the ban on shipbuilding in West Germany Schichau reopened its shipyard in Bremerhaven. In 1953 Schichau was restituted its floating dock which had been taken as a British reparation in the meantime.
Schichau was later merged into the Schichau Seebeck Shipyard Company, which went into bankruptcy in 1996 following the demise of Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....
. Its successor company was the SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard
Schichau Seebeckwerft
Schichau Seebeckwerft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Bremerhaven. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with Seebeckwerft.-History:...
, closed down on 31 July 2009, based at Bremerhaven.
Battleships
}: Launched 6 January 1901}: Launched 26 May 1903
}: Launched 27 May 1904
}: Launched 30 June 1910
- Kaiser class battleship:
- SMS König AlbertSMS König AlbertSMS König Albert "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the fourth vessel of the of battleships of the German Imperial Navy. König Alberts keel was laid on 17 July 1910 at the Schichau-Werke dockyard in Danzig. She was launched on 27 April 1912 and was commissioned into the fleet on 31...
: Launched 27 April 1912
- SMS König Albert
Submarines (U-boats)
- 64 x Type VII submarinesGerman Type VII submarineType VII U-boats were the most common type of German World War II U-boat. The Type VII was based on earlier German submarine designs going back to the World War I Type UB III, designed through the Dutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw den Haag which was set up by Germany after...
(1939–1944) - 30 x Type XXI submarinesGerman Type XXI submarineType XXI U-boats, also known as "Elektroboote", were the first submarines designed to operate primarily submerged, rather than as surface ships that could submerge as a means to escape detection or launch an attack.-Description:...
(1943–1945)
Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class Torpedo BoatGroßes Torpedoboot 1913 class torpedo boatThe Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class torpedo boat was a class of torpedo boat built for the Deutschen Kaiserliche Marine. It was the largest class ever built for the High Seas Fleet, consisting of 71 ships...
s
- SMS S31
- SMS S32
- SMS S33
- SMS S34
- SMS S35
- SMS S36SMS S36SMS S36 was a Großes Torpedoboot 1913 class torpedo boat of the Deutschen Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, and the 12th ship of her class.-Construction:Built by Schichau-Werke in Elbing, she was launched in October 1914...
Schichau made ships still afloat
- Stralsund (build in 1890), small railway ferry, Wolgast, Germany
- Jacob Langeberg, ex von Bötticher (build in 1902), tug and icebreaker, originally used one Kiel CanalKiel CanalThe Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
, today in Wormerveer, Netherlands
Sources
- Werkbahn: Schichau Werke
- Important busts in the memorial hall of the Deutsches Museum, including Ferdinand Schichau
- F.Schichau developed a steamship engine with triple-expansion
External links
- There is a relevant English-language forum at Railways of Germany