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36-661: Both yards became members of the Deschimag in the 1920s. The Stettin shipyard was closed in 1928, opened again in 1939. During World War II it exploited slave workers, and after the war, was taken over by the Polish government, while the Hamburg yard was sold to Howaldtswerke AG in 1930 and the Locomotive Department was sold to Borsig  [ DE ] in Berlin A.G. Vulcan Stettin

72-484: A majority shareholding in both shipyards. While AG Weser concentrated its activities upon building of merchant ships with an increasing amount of warships later, Seebeck built only smaller vessels and concentrated on ship maintenance and repair. Because of diversification and to create new jobs Deschimag also diversified into aircraft construction. In 1933 the Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH – abbreviated Weserflug –

108-473: A manually controlled epicyclic gearbox went into production in England in 1929. In 1928 Vulcan Stettin went bankrupt and sold its Hamburg shipyard in 1930. The AG Vulcan Stettin had been closed. 1939 a new company - also named Vulcan - was founded on the site of the former Stettin-shipyard. All together 34 construction numbers were started in the following years, including 18 type-VII C submarines. But because of

144-487: A member of the new company's board. The new shipyard started shipbuilding with some smaller vessels. The first important order came from the Kaiserliche Marine when several gunboats were built. Besides these warships the construction of ships at A.G. „Weser” was mainly for civil use in the following years. Because of the growing incoming orders and the enlarged dimensions of ships it soon became necessary to enlarge

180-746: A new shipyard was built in Hamburg between 1907 and 1909. From 1911, it was named Vulcan-Werke Hamburg und Stettin Actiengesellschaft. The Hamburg yard was the scene of a week-long strike in 1918 which was only brought to a close through the reading of the War Clauses . Gustav Bauer, director of the marine engine section, supervised the work of Hermann Föttinger on the Fottinger hydraulic transmitter known as Vulcan Coupling and Vulcan Drive or fluid coupling . In 1924, Vulcan's Hermann Rieseler invented one of

216-410: Is still existing today and partly used as a memorial to the many prisoners and forced labourers who worked and died there. The Deschimag was dissolved in 1945 after World War II and the company was renamed to the former Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser". With the exception of Seebeckwerft, the dismantling of confiscated production facilities for USSR happened from 1945 to 1948. Most of the production equipment

252-948: The Imperial German Navy (1871 – 1918) first and the Kriegsmarine in the Third Reich (1933 – 1945). Altogether A.G. „Weser” built 146 units for the Imperial Navy and 196 units for the Kriegsmarine (Source: Pamphlet 125th anniversary of AG Weser, 1986). After WW II A.G. "Weser" only built a single warship for the German Navy, in 1979/81 the Bremen -class F122-type frigate Niedersachsen in collaboration with frigate general contractor Bremer Vulkan . The share of warships from all delivered new constructions came to about 50% in 1909/10 and increased to nearly 100% in 1916 during World War I. After 1936 it

288-470: The carrier Cairo for the company Norddeutscher Lloyd . Shortly after that the situation improved with several new orders received, including an increasing amount of warships. A.G. "Weser" was one of the great German manufacturers of warships, besides Blohm & Voss , the imperial shipyards in Kiel, Danzig and Wilhelmshaven, which later became Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven , and Schichau Shipyard Danzig. This

324-415: The company and the company's name was changed to C. Waltjen & Co. In the same year the first vessel was built. First greater ship was 1847 the 346 GRT paddle-steamer Roland , used as tug- and passenger boat. Almost 50 years this ship was in service on the river Weser. More shipbuilding activities followed including three torpedo-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) in 1871. Because of

360-457: The company built the three largest freight steamers constructed up to that time, the 8,315 GRT Frankenfels , Schwarzenfels and Falkenfels ; these were also the last civilian ships it delivered before World War I. After WW I A.G. "Weser" continued very soon in shipbuilding. In 1926, when shipbuilding became extremely difficult, A.G. "Weser" merged with seven other German shipyards to form Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG (Deschimag), wherein

396-652: The end of war seemed only less than 30%. In March 1944 the building of the bunker Hornisse (Eng. Hornet) was started near the shipyard. Well-protected from air attacks, it was intended to produce U-boat sections in. These prefabricated sections were then shipped to the U-boat pen Valentin about 30 km downstream the river Weser. Together with parts from Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven and under management of Bremer Vulkan beginning end of 1945 monthly 3 U-boats would be completed there. Both bunkers had never been finished and U-boats had never been built there. The bunker Valentin

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432-434: The first automatic transmissions , which had a two-speed planetary gearbox, torque converter , and lockup clutch ; it never entered production. (The less-sophisticated Hydra-Matic , which used a simple fluid coupling, was an available option on Oldsmobiles in 1940.) The original coupling further developed in collaboration with Harold Sinclair of Fluidrive Engineering of Isleworth for Daimler of Coventry and matched with

468-412: The increasing importance of the shipbuilding industry some influential Bremen merchants, bankers and politicians decided in 1872 to establish a new and greater company on shares. The production program of this new company named Actien-Gesellschaft "Weser" was "construction of ships of all kind and marine engineering". The company Waltjen & Co. was bought and the owner Mr. Carsten Waltjen himself became

504-448: The most famous German civilian ships. After delivery of the Bremen more than 5,000 of altogether about 12,000 coworkers of the shipyard were set free because of lack of new orders. After the last ship was delivered 1931, for about three years no ship-newbuilding followed, only some repair of ships and construction of engines and marine equipment was done. The first new launched ship was in 1933

540-491: The now named Deschimag A.G. "Weser" took the leading position. Most of the shipyards joining Deschimag were closed, sold or went bankrupt in the following years. Only A.G. "Weser" and Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, which was taken over in 1928, survived. In 1929 the passenger-liner Bremen was put into service, built for the shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd . It was the most famous liner ever built by A.G. "Weser" and one of

576-454: The period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser in Bremen . The Deschimag was founded in 1926 when influential Bremen merchants and bankers decided to found a cooperation of great German shipbuilding companies under the leadership of the shipyard AG Weser. The intention was to coordinate and concentrate activities of German shipyards for higher efficiency but last not least mainly to support Bremen's shipyard AG „Weser“ in

612-431: The shipyard additional terrain was bought in the following years. Between the founding of the company in 1872 and 1916 about 125 units of the so-called Self-Powered Vessels were constructed on the wharf, including passenger- and merchant ships, tug boats etc. Besides this many small units without propulsion were built as barges, pontoons, floating docks etc. as well as four sailing ships 1875/77. For DDG Hansa of Bremen,

648-454: The slave workers were freed and the shipyard was finally taken over by the Polish government and the new Szczecin Shipyard was started at this site. The Szczecin Shipyard named one of its wharfs "Wulkan" and two slipways "Wulkan 1" and "Wulkan Nowa". Deschimag Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag ) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in

684-405: The total German shipbuilding industry workforce at that time. But in the following years most of these companies were closed, went bankrupt or were sold to other companies (see above). At least only AG Weser and Seebeckwerft survived this process of concentration and reduction of shipbuilding capacities. In 1941 Krupp , then the most important German engineering and armaments conglomerate, acquired

720-465: The upcoming economic and financial crisis of 1930s. While the largest shipbuilding companies in Germany as Blohm & Voss and Bremer Vulkan AG because of their own strong market position at that time were not interested in this cooperation, eight other large German shipyards merged. These were: Deschimag became the greatest shipbuilding company in Germany with about 15,000 workers which was about 28% of

756-434: The war only a few ships could be launched and completed. Among these were two submarines, but only one of them ( U-901 ) was ever in service while the second one ( U-902 ) was destroyed by allied air attacks before. During the war the yard exploited slave workers and had its own prisoner camp, part of the prisoner population engaged in anti-Nazi resistance, successfully sabotaging several constructed ships After World War II

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792-751: The work went into the construction of the UB III . Later three UC III were ordered. but were never finished. During World War I , AG "Weser" launched a total of 96 U-boats. Because of intensive construction of warships, A.G. "Weser" was often the target of Allied air-raids during the Bombing of Bremen in World War II , mainly in 1944 and 1945. But despite many buildings, workshops, magazines, slipways and docks as well as ships and U-boats under construction were damaged, in most cases production could be continued within some weeks. The estimated reduction of construction capacity at

828-412: The yard continuously was enlarged. When the yard went into financial problems, in 1857 the company was taken over by some entrepreneurs and politicians from Stettin and Berlin which founded the new company Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft Vulcan . Ship construction was continued, but the solution of the financial trouble was expected by additionally constructing locomotives. A subsidiary company

864-611: The yard facilities and mainly the slipways. In 1901 the company started to lease some terrain at the entrance to the new Bremen ports some miles downstream the Weser at the Bremen suburb Gröpelingen . Production and personnel then were gradually shifted from the old yard to the new premises. For the first four slipways and one floating dock, workshops, magazines etc. were established at the new terrain, capable to construct ships of all dimensions and categories. But when it soon became necessary to enlarge

900-757: Was again about 66% with an increasing share to about 80% in 1938. Construction of warships started in 1936 with the artillery training ship Brummer for the Kriegsmarine, followed by destroyers and U-boats. The last civilian ships built in 1939 were the merchant ships Neidenfels for the German company D.D.G. Hansa and Java for a shipping company in the Netherlands. The latter was the last civilian ship for many years. After that only warships were constructed, mainly U-boats and some destroyers. The first U-boats constructed were UB I series. Later also UC I , UB II and UC II series were constructed at AG "Weser". By 1917 most of

936-472: Was also carried out. In the 1970s A.G. "Weser" concentrated their activities on the building of tankers. But this one-sided orientation led to problems when the tanker-boom came to end. Many tanker-orders were cancelled and the lack of orders for other types of ships caused severe financial problems. A closer cooperation between the Bremen shipyards A.G. "Weser" and Bremer Vulkan and the Bremerhaven shipyards Seebeckwerft , Lloydwerft and Schichau-Werft, including

972-492: Was completed in 1952, the 2,650 GRT carrier Werratal . A fundamental modernization program was started in 1963. In 1970 the shipyard presented itself in a new modern shape with giant cranes of 500 and 780 tons capacity, which span two slipways for the construction of ships up to 500,000 tons deadweight. Spacious prefabrications workshops with automation equipment and cranes of all sizes were in operation. Ship and engine repairs as well as machinery production and general engineering

1008-479: Was contrary to the second great Bremen shipyard Bremer Vulkan , which with exception of both World Wars, only produced civilian ships and started warship-building except war-times only in the early 1980s. A first important warship-order came from the Kaiserliche Marine , between 1875 and 1884 altogether 29 gunboats were built. By this A.G. "Weser" started its career as an important constructor of war ships for

1044-579: Was dissolved after war but AG Weser and Seebeck AG shipyards again survived and continued in shipbuilding. Due to mismanagement and unsatisfactory and too late responses to market demands AG Weser was declared bankrupt in 1983 and operations were shut down while Seebeck shipyard became part of the Bremer Vulkan Verbund AG. Later in 1988 it merged with Schichau Shipyard to SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard GmbH, which closed in 2009. AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser" (abbreviated A.G. "Weser" )

1080-430: Was founded 1851 as Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik Früchtenicht & Brock by the two young engineers Franz F. D. Früchtenicht and Franz W. Brock in the little village Bredow , which later became suburb of the eastern German city of Stettin . Its first ship was the small iron paddle steamer , named Die Dievenow for the service between the cities of Stettin and Swinemünde . Several small vessels followed, while

1116-435: Was founded as a successor of the 1843 founded Eisengiesserei & Maschinenbau-Anstalt Waltjen und Leonhard. This company with its premises was situated on an area called Stephanikirchenweide at the periphery of the ancient town of Bremen. It was an iron-foundry and machine factory with a wide-ranging production volume of iron-made parts as bridges, cranes, floodgates, steam boiler, steam engines etc. In 1846 Mr. Leonhard left

AG Vulcan Stettin - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-560: Was founded, called Abteilung Locomotivbau in Bredow bei Stettin . In 1859 the first locomotive was delivered; all together the company built about 4,000 units in Stettin until it was sold to the Berlin company Borsig . In the future larger and larger ships were built, the facilities in Stettin could no longer sustain the scale of the operations. The yard built the Kaiser-class ocean liners. Thus

1188-592: Was founded. It started making aircraft components and later complete aircraft at different places in Germany, one of them was the former shipyard Frerichswerft AG. In 1936 the Weserflug separated from the Deschimag and became an independent company. It became the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in Germany in World War II , but only as a licensee of other German aircraft companies, mainly Dornier and Junkers . Deschimag

1224-564: Was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen . Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ships of different types, including many warships. A.G. „Weser" was the leading company in the Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG , a cooperation of eight German shipbuilding companies between 1926 and 1945. Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser" - short A.G. "Weser" -

1260-488: Was performed in well-equipped drydocks and workshops. At this time A.G. "Weser" in Bremen and the affiliated Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven employed about 8,000 workers and office staff. The Bremen shipyard A.G. "Weser" concentrated their manufacturing program on all kinds of ships up to approx. 400,000 dwt., the Bremerhaven shipyard Seebeckwerft up to approx. 20,000 dwt. Besides ship-newbuilding, ship repairs and conversion as well as construction of engines and industrial equipment

1296-519: Was shipped to Russia and together with the damaged facilities from bombing attacks during the war and the following blasting of the slipways the shipyard was more or less useless after that. Only a restricted production-permission was still possible and allowed by the US military government. While Seebeckwerft received the permission to construct ship's newbuilding in 1949, A.G. „Weser” received this permission finally some years later in 1951. The first new built unit

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