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This firm was created in 1935 through the fusion of the Linzer Werft, and the Schiffswerft Korneuburg, the two leading shipyards in the Austrian provinces. The Linzer Werft was founded in 1840 by Ignaz Mayer, and it constructed the first iron-hulled Danube steamer that same year. The Schiffswerft Korneuburg, near Vienna, was founded in 1852 as a ship repair yard for the Danube Steam Ship Company, which later integrated into ship and engine construction. While the Linz yard has confined itself to construction of barges and commercial steamers, the Korneuburg yard built vessels for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the years prior to the Great War, and has built river craft for the Kriegsmarine since the accession of the Austrian provinces.

At the present time some six hundred workers are employed at the Linz facility, where steel-hulled river-sea ships and barges are constructed, together with steam and diesel engines. The Korneuburg facility employs more than 1,300 workers, and in addition to its naval construction, builds all manner of river tugs, barges, river-sea ships and pleasure craft, both steam and diesel powered.


(In Wesworld terms, the Korneuburg facility represents the Dock Nr.1 Type 0.0 and Slip Nr.1 Type 0.0 at Vienna as cited in the German infrastructure report.)

In October 1837 Ferdinand Schichau founded a workshop for the production of steam engines and other machinery in the East Prussian city of Elbing. In 1841 the firm produced Germany’s first dredge, and in 1852 established a small shipyard at Elbing to undertake the construction of coastal steamers. In 1859 the production of steam locomotives was undertaken with considerable success; in 1880 the firm constructed the first compound locomotive in Germany and by 1899 had constructed more than one thousand locomotives for service at home and abroad.

Due to restricted depth of water in the harbour of Elbing, a branch shipyard was organised in the city of Danzig, where the firm undertook the construction of numerous naval vessels for the Imperial German Navy as well as building many commercial steamers. During the Great War the firm was a major supplier of munitions and naval vessels, employing more than 8,500 workers in its facilities in Elbing, Pillau and Danzig.

The end of the Great War saw the severance of Danzig from Germany and with it the firm lost control of its shipyard, which was reorganised as the International Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. Nevertheless the firm was able to recover thanks to the postwar demand for railway equipment and the support given to it by the German Government in the form of credit guarantees. In 1923 the firm delivered its three-thousandth locomotive, and from 1928 it participated in the production of standardised steam locomotives for the German railway system.

The firm has subsequently established shipbuilding facilities at Memel in cooperation with the Kriegsmarine.


(In Wesworld terms, the Schichau facility represents the Dock Nr.1 Type 1.0, and the Slip Nr.1 Type 1.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 0.0 and Slip Nr.3 Type 0.0 at Memel as cited in the German infrastructure report.)

This enterprise, affiliated with the Krupp concern, was organised in 1928 to amalgamate and rationalise the activities of a number of shipbuilding companies in northern Germany. Financing was provided in part by the Bremen banking house of Schröder.

While Krupp’s firm AG Weser, with its yards at Bremen were the largest constituent of the enterprise, other constituent firms included the Maschinenbau “Vulkan” of Hamburg, the Johann Tecklenborg Schiffswerft at Geestemünde, the Seebeck yard at Cuxhaven, the Neptunwerft at Rostock, the Stettiner Maschinenbau at Stettin, the yard of Nüscke and Compagnie, also at Rostock, and the yard of Frerichs und Compagnie at Einswarden. The

Under the leadership of Franz Stapelfeldt, general director from 1928, the firm has consolidated its activities at six locations – Bremen (formerly AG Weser), Hamburg (formerly “Vulkan”, Geestemünde (formerly Tecklenborg), Cuxhaven (formerly Seebeck), Rostock (formerly Neptunwerft) and Stettin (formerly Stettiner Maschinenbau). The Nüscke yard was shut down and consolidated with the former Neptunwerft, and the Frerichs yard at Einswarden was closed. The enterprise’s facilities are capable of constructing all manner of ships. In addition to its shipbuilding and repair facilities, the enterprise is capable of manufacturing marine boilers and engines of all types – reciprocating, turbine and diesel. It also maintains its own research and test facilities, whose innovations included the widely employed Bauer-Wach exhaust turbine and the Maierform hull, designed by the engineer Fritz Franz Maier. Since its formation the enterprise has constructed many ships the Kriegsmarine and foreign navies, and has constructed numerous vessels for commercial service. It has taken a lead in the construction of many of the standardised ship designs that form a significant part of the output of German shipyards.

Currently active shipyards include:

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Neptun, Rostock (mercantile construction only)

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Stettin, Stettin (mercantile construction only)

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Tecklenborg, Geestemünde (naval and mercantile ship construction)
(In WW terms, this represents the facilities at Bremerhaven - Dock Nr.1 Type 3.0, Slip Nr.1 Type 3.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 1.0 and Slip Nr.3 Type 1.0 – cited in German infrastructure reports)

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Seebeck, Cuxhaven (naval and mercantile ship construction)
(In WW terms, this represents the facilities at Cuxhaven - Dock Nr.1 Type 4.0, Dock Nr.2 Type 2.0, Slip Nr.1 Type 4.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 2.0, Slip Nr.3 Type 1.0 and Slip Nr.4 Type 1.0 – cited in German infrastructure reports)

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Vulkan, Hamburg (naval and mercantile ship construction)
(In WW terms, this represents the facilities at Hamburg - Slip Nr.1 Type 2.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 2.0, Slip Nr.3 Type 0.0 and Slip Nr.4 Type 0.0 – cited in German infrastructure reports)

Deutsche Schiff und Maschinenbau AG, Werke Weser, Breman (mercantile construction only)

In the wake of the defeat sustained in the Great War Germany suffered the loss of most its navy, and with that loss it was necessary to reduce the naval shore establishments. To preserve the facilities of the former Imperial Dockyards at Kiel the Government organised the Deutsche Werke as a subsidiary of the Vereinigte Industrie-Unternehmungen AG, the newly created state-owned holding company for former properties of the German Empire. In addition to the shipbuilding yards at Kiel-Gaarden-Ost the newly organised firm operated the torpedo workshops of the former Imperial Navy at Kiel-Friedrichsort.

In the 1920s facilities were constructed for the manufacture of marine boilers, turbines and diesel engines, adding to the yard’s capabilities. In the 1930s it underwent modernisation and expansion. With its four graving docks, five building slips and four massive floating cranes of up to 150-tonne capacity, it is one of the nation’s premier shipyards for construction of naval and merchant vessels of the largest size.

(In WW terms, the Deutsche Werke represents the facilities at Kiel - Dock Nr.1 Type 4.0, Dock Nr.2 Type 2.5, Dock Nr.3 Type 2.0, Dock Nr.4 Type 0.0, Slip Nr.1 Type 4.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 3.0, Slip Nr.3 Type 1.0, Slip Nr.4 Type 1.0 and Slip Nr.5 Type 1.0 – cited in the German infrastructure report.)

(The Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven is not a private company in the proper sense, being a national dockyard under control of the Defence Ministry. However, it is included here for the sake of completeness.)

Founded in 1871 as the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven the dockyards here have served the German Navy since its inception. Greatly expanded during the time of Großadmiral Tirpitz the facilities remain the premier shipbuilding and ship maintenance centre for the Kriegsmarine.

(In WW terms the Kriegsmarinewerft represents the facilities at Wilhelmshaven – Dock Nr.1 Type 3.0, Dock Nr.2 Type 0.0, Slip Nr.1 Type 1.0, Slip Nr.2 Type 0.5 and Slip Nr.3 Type 0.5 – cited in the German infrastructure report.)

This shipyard was founded in 1872 by a group of local entrepreneurs to undertake the construction (and repair) of iron and steel-hulled vessels for the expanding German merchant navy. A site was acquired on the western side of Flensburg Harbour and a one-hundred metre slipway constructed; the first vessel constructed by the firm was completed in 1875. The firm constructed its first floating dock in 1892, before moving to larger facilities on the Ostseebad Flensburg, where five slipways of 150-metre length and 20-metre width were constructed, each capable of constructing a vessel of up to eight thousand tons. The original facilities were reconstructed as a ship repair facility. By the year 1900 the firm was employing more than two thousand workers.

Following the Great War the firm concentrated on the production of a number of standard freighter designs for both the German merchant marine and for export. The firm is responsible for the design of the Hansa Bauprogramme Typ steam freighters, many of which have been built or are building in the firm’s yards and elsewhere.

(The Flensburger yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This element of the Krupp concern was established in 1867 to operate a ship and marine-engine building works on the eastern shore of the Hörn in Kiel-Gaarden Ost. Known as the Norddeutsche Schiffbaugesellschaft, the firm failed to prosper, and in 1879 fell into bankruptcy. In 1882 it was reorganised as Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG “Germania“, which in 1896 became a part of the Krupp industrial empire.

In the years prior to the Great War the shipyard constructed many warships for the Imperial Navy including the battleships Kaiser Wilhelm der Große, Braunschweig, Hessen, and Schleswig-Holstein; the Dreadnoughts Prinzregent Luitpold and Kronprinz; and many cruisers, including the Gazelle, Nymphe, Amazone , Cöln, Magdeburg and Karlsruhe. The yard also built many of Germany’s large passenger steamers in this period.

Following the nation’s defeat in the Great War the yard was much reduced in scope; warship production ceased and for a number of years the firm survived on the construction of utility freight steamers for foreign account. From the middle 1920s the firm came to specialise in the construction of large steel-hulled luxury yachts, which were delivered mainly on American millionaires. In the 1930s the firm switched its emphasis to construction of motor cargo ships for the German merchant marine.

(The Germaniawerft yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

In 1846 Heinrich Christopher Stülcken established a shipyard in Hamburg for the repair of ships and their engines; however, in 1853 his yard launched its first new building – the bark Hermannas. In the following years his yard constructed more than twenty wooden sailing vessels, but in 1876 constructed its first iron-hulled steamer. The firm was organised as a joint stock company in 1876 following the death of the founder, and under the leadership of his son, Julius Caesar Stülcken. The firm came to specialise in small coastal cargo steamers, tugboats, pilot boats and fishing trawlers. In 1914 the yard employed nearly nine hundred workers.

In the years following the Great War the firm constructed a number of motor cargo ships but came to rely on his growing expertise in the construction of cargo handling equipment for heavy loads. With the adoption of the Hansa Bauprogramme to renovate the national merchant navy, the yard benefited from orders placed by several domestic shipping companies. It presently employs more than fifteen-hundred workers and is one of the larger civilian shipbuilders in the city.

(The Stülcken yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

The completion of the Dortmund-Ems Canal in 1899 gave a great fillip to the port city of Emden, and prompted the foundation there in 1903 the shipyard that would come to be known as the Nordseewerke. Established by a consortium of Rhenish and Westphalian industrialists as the Emder Werft und Dock Aktiengesellschaft, the firm struggled in its first years, surviving through the construction of small river craft and the assistance of the Emden municipal authorities. In 1912 the enterprise was acquired by the Ruhr industrialist Hugo Stinnes, who re-equipped the yard for the construction of large ocean-going freighters; this, together with the completion of Emden’s Großen Seeschleuse in 1913 assured the yard’s success. During the Great War the firm completed a number of small auxiliary warships for the Imperial Navy, but its principal business was the construction of freighters and river-sea vessels upon which the Ruhr industrial district depended.

Following the Great War the yard came into the financial orbit of the Vereinigte Stahlwerke but continued to maintain its output of cargo vessels; it also developed a significant ship repair capability. It presently employs some eighteen-hundred workers.

(The Nordseewerke yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

In 1838 the engineer August Ferdinand Howaldt and Kiel entrepreneur Johann Schweffel founded the Maschinenbauanstalt and Eisengießerei Schweffel und Howaldt to manufacture boilers, steam ovens and agricultural machines. The firm built its first marine engine in 1849, and from that time forward built engines for craft built in other shipyards. In 1879 the heirs of Schweffel retired from the business and the sons of August Howaldt took control of the enterprise, which was reorganised as Maschinenfabrik Gebrüder Howaldt. With the founding of the Imperial Navy’s dockyard in the city demand for marine engines increased, as did the demand for ships generally. Under the leadership of Georg Ferdinand Howaldt the firm opened its own shipyard in 1889, and by the close of the century had completed nearly four hundred steam vessels, chiefly for service with the expanding German merchant marine. In the years immediately prior to the Great War the firm expanded its activities and constructed warships for the Imperial Navy, including the dreadnoughts Helgoland, Kaiserin and Bayern.

In the years following the Great War the firm returned to the construction of merchant vessels, primarily large oil tankers, many for export. By 1936 employment had returned to its prewar level with more than three thousand men working in the shipyard. Among the modern designs of this shipyard the Rosario class refrigerated cargo ships constructed for the Hamburg-Sudamerikanische Dampfschiffahrts Geselleschaft is perhaps the best recognised.

(The Howaldtswerke yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

Located in the town of Rendsburg on the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, this firm was founded in 1905 by Otto Stork. In the years prior to the Great War the firm constructed more than seventy vessels, chiefly barges and pontoons; the yard also engaged in ship repairs, as its position on the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal afforded access to ocean going vessels as well as coastal craft. During the Great War it constructed auxiliary vessels for the Imperial Navy. Following the conclusion of hostilities, the yard concentrated on the repair of vessels and the production of small motor sailing craft for service in the Baltic.

Under contract to the Kriegsmarine the yard has been engaged in the construction of lighterage pontoons of standard size. At the present time more than five hundred workers are employed in the shipyard.

(The Nobiskrug yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This shipyard, one of the largest in the northwestern Germany, was founded in 1893 to undertake the construction of large passenger steamers for the growing German merchant navy. Among its founding shareholders were the merchant Franz Ernst Schütte, the ship owner Friedrich Bischoff and the industrialist Hermann Friedrich Ulrich. The engineer Victor Nawatzki was appointed to be the first technical director of the firm.

The works were laid out on the bank of the Weser at Vegesack with a frontage in excess of 1,500 metres, and a total area of more than thirty-two hectares. The facilities included all manner of shops, including those for the manufacture of steam engines, boilers, propellers and other ancillary equipment. From 1904 the works were expanded to include shops for the construction of steam turbines of De Laval design, and in 1912, diesel engines of MAN design. By 1909 the yard employed more than three thousand workers and its annual output of ship exceeded forty-thousand gross registered tons. During the Great War the firm constructed a small number of auxiliary warships for the Imperial Navy.

In 1920 control of the yard came into the hands of the industrialist August Thyssen, under whose leadership the firm continued to grow, constructing many merchant vessels for the Handelsmarine. In 1935 employment had risen to more than four thousand. Among the modern designs it has developed are the Typ 4 Schnellfrachter and the Allemania-class combination ships constructed for the HAPAG.

(The Bremer Vulkan yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

Stettiner Maschinenbau Anstalt und Schiffsbauwerft, vormals Möller und Holberg, was founded in 1872 in Berlin, to operate a shipyard and marine engine works in the Prussian city of Stettin. This enterprise entered bankruptcy in 1894, and was reorganized in 1903 under the present corporate style. Initially the firm built small river ships, coastal packets for sea service along the Baltic coast, tugs and dredges. In the years prior to the Great War, it constructed more than one hundred and fifty vessels of various types.

The yard expanded its facilities after the Great War, concentrating on the design and construction of inexpensive utility freighters to replace the extensive losses to the Handelsmarine and foreign merchant fleets. It also has constructed ice breakers for commercial service in the Baltic. It presently employs more than three thousand workers.

(The Stettiner Oderwerke yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This shipyard was established in 1916 as a branch works of the bridge-building and engineering firm Brückenbau Flender AG. It survived the immediate postwar period by construction of dredging equipment and barges, but in the 1920s took the lead in designing small, efficient cargo vessels for series production. In recent years it has participated in the Hansa Bauprogramme and undertaken the construction of many vessels for the Handelsmarine. It presently employs some sixteen-hundred workers in its yard at Lübeck.

(The Lübecker Flender-Werke yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

The shipyard was founded in 1916 by the naval architect of Franz Peuss to undertake shipbuilding and repair, the latter comprising the bulk of the company’s business in its early years. In the 1920s the firm engaged in the construction of trawlers, drifters and seiners for the fishing industry, lighters, motor barges and launches. From 1931 it also undertook development of small river-sea cargo craft, some of which were exported to Belgium and to France. The yard presently employs two hundred workers.

(The Elsflether Werft yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This shipyard was founded in 1793 by the shipowner Friedrich Lemm, and remained in control of his heirs until 1917. The yard constructed wooden sailing craft and fishing boats but in 1895 expanded to construct steel-hulled steam trawlers and coastal cargo ships. In 1917, under the pressures of the Great War, the heirs of Lemm sold control of the shipyard to the banking firm of Carlo Thomsen. In the postwar years is continued to manufacture steam and motor trawlers for the national fishing fleet and for export. The yard has also manufactured lighterage pontoons under contract to the Kriegsmarine. It presently employs more than four hundred workers.

(The Elbewerft yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This enterprise was established in 1930 as a branch of the Howaldtswerke shipbuilding firm of Kiel; it represents the reorganisation of the former Schiffswerfte und Maschinenfabrik AG vormals Janssen und Schmilinsky. The predecessor firm had been founded in 1858 in Steinwerder, the first German shipyard to exclusively construct iron-hulled steamers. It came to specialise in the repair and conversion of merchant vessels, and constructed many river-sea craft. In 1917 the company moved to Tollerort on the Ballinkai opposite the Kaiser-Wilhelm-port, where it remains today. While constructing small cargo vessels under the Hansa Bauprogramme, the yard has also undertaken the conversion of several merchant vessels as auxiliaries for the Kriegsmarine.

(The Howaldtswerke Hamburg yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

This Geestemünd shipyard was established in 1857 when ship-owner and builder Rickmer Clasen Rickmers relocated his small boatyard to larger facilities outside the limits of the city of Bremen. Initially the yard constructed sailing craft for trade to the Far East and South America, but in 1860 the firm built its first steamer and soon was constructing many iron and later steel-hulled vessels for Germany’s expanding foreign trade. Many of the yard’s products were destined for Rickmers’ own account, or for firms in which he had an interest.

In 1886 Peter Rickmers, son of the founder, took leadership of the firm and introduced many innovations that made the firm one of the nation’s most efficient shipyards for that time. Eschewing the growing demand for warships from the Imperial Navy, the firm concentrated on fishing trawlers and freight steamers. This led to the yard’s temporary shut-down during the Great War, but in 1918 it was able to reopen and respond to the national and world demand for ships.

The yard continues to construct merchant vessels, having undergone a complete renovation between 1934 and 1937. It employs more than one thousand workers.

(The Rickmers-Werft yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)

In 1877 the partners Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss established a shipyard and marine engine works on the island of Kuhwärder, a site leased from the city of Hamburg. In its early years the company booked few orders for construction, and survived on the business of ship repair. However, by 1887, matters had improved and the firm was employing more than one thousand workers. Further expansion was enabled in 1891 with the partnership was converted into a joint stock company; the entry of the established ship owners Carl Laeisz and Adolph Woermann as directors assured a market for the yard’s output. The firm also benefited from the expansion of the Imperial Navy in this period, and construction of military vessels quickly became its most profitable endeavour.

Further agreements with the senate of Hamburg in 1905 saw the further extension of the shipyard’s harbour frontage to a length of three kilometers, and an area of nearly six hectares included new shops for the construction of turbine engines, large overhead cranes and graving docks. During the Great War the yard constructed numerous small vessels for the Imperial Navy.

Following the Great War the yard underwent a long period of reconstruction, during which it concentrated on the construction of mercantile tonnage, primarily for the Norddeutscher Lloyd and the HAPAG. During this period the work force at the yard had fallen to but three thousand. Revival of trade in the latter 1920s, and throughout the 1930s, saw a return of profitability and expansion – by 1940 the yard employed more than fourteen thousand workers.

In the middle 1930s the firm also established an aeronautical subsidiary at Hamburg-Steinwärder. Initially it constructed flying boat reconnaissance aircraft for the Kriegsmarine, but has subsequently built the large Bv222 trans-Atlantic transport aircraft and the very popular Bv144 twin-engine passenger liner.

(The Blohm und Voss yard does not have infrastructure for the construction of warships per the rules of the simulation; its output is covered as an element of the civil economy)