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64-480: Wilton-Fijenoord had two predecessors. Wilton's Dok- en Werf Maatschappij was the biggest predecessor of Wilton-Fijenoord, the other was the Shipyard Fijenoord . By the mid 1920s these shipyards had become rather similar. Wilton still had an advantage in ship repair, and Fijenoord was still ahead in ship construction, especially for the navy. The idea for a merger dated as far back as at least 1927. The rationale

128-461: A 9,100 ton tanker. On 18 January 1936 Eulota of 9,100 tons was launched. On 25 April 1936 Elusa was launched. On 7 November 1936 the third 9,100-ton capacity ship Eulima was launched. In early November 1936 Wilton-Fijenoord got a new order for one tanker of 12,000 tons and one tanker of 9,000 tons. The Nederlandsche Pacific Petroleum Maatschappij was active in the Dutch East Indies. It was

192-559: A joint design office in 1935. As a contractor, the yard contributed mainly its expertise in organizing the construction of ships. Another cooperation in design was that between Fijenoord and the IVS or NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw . The IVS was deeply involved in the design of De Ruyter , and so the similarity in appearance between the Deutschland -class cruisers and De Ruyter is explained. During World War II Wilton-Fijenoord completed

256-568: A license to produce Diesel engines for ships. In September 1911 a second floating dock built by Swan Hunter arrived. Measuring 365 by 81 feet, it was somewhat smaller and lifted 4,200 tons. The Wilhelminadok was a floating dock with a lift capacity of 13,000-14,000t. It was launched in 1915 by the NSM from a special slipway in Schellingwoude just outside the Oranje Locks , because it was too broad for

320-409: A limited company with a capital of 300,000 guilders. Bartel Sr. got 296 shares and Bartel Jr. just three. For these they brought in their ownership of the company. Henry Wilton just one share, that he paid in cash. The new company got the name: 'Machinefabriek voorheen onder de firma B. Wilton'. The statute of a limited company helped to keep profits in the company and to raise capital. On March 4, 1895,

384-452: A merger with Fijenoord led to a new company known as Wilton-Fijenoord . Bartel Wilton Sr. (1828-1898) had left Rotterdam to work on a shipyard in London. While there, his old father was living in humble circumstances near the country house of the merchant and regent Abram van Rijckevorsel (1790-1864). Van Rijckevorsel and his friend the shipping magnate Willem Ruys (1837-1901) got an idea to help

448-468: A new united company: Dok- en Werf-Maatschappij Wilton-Fijenoord. The ratio between worth of Wilton and Fijenoord was 15.5 : 3. A new board of directors was formed by combining the board of directors of Wilton with that of Fijenoord. It had seven members, of which three from the Wilton family. The merger had taken place by creating a new public company that got all the shares of the existing companies. This

512-402: A second youth when the foundry was modernized and a new model office was started. In Schiedam a testbed was realized just in time to test the first Doxford engines in 1949. On 11 April 1950 the 46,000 tons drydock had been repaired and was taken into use again. In 1952 the tonnage of ships repaired matched that of 1938. The construction of Rijndam (1951) and Maasdam (1952) probably signaled

576-628: A small harbor was constructed with a bank slope, so that ships could be repaired there. Soon the center of gravity of the company shifted to the Westzeedijk. Wilton was one of several companies that started to construct steam engines and boilers in the 1870s: On 16 September 1876 shipyard van der Kuijl in Slikkerveer launched the iron screw tugboat Hendrika Wilhelmina for A. Bos in Alblasserdam. The machines were to be made by Wilton. On 20 December 1877

640-553: A subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of California, later ( Chevron Corporation ). In May 1936 it ordered a 12,000-ton tanker at Wilton-Fijenoord. In June 1936 the Nederlandsche Pacific Petroleum Maatschappij then signed a contract for oil exploration in a big area of southern Sumatra. On 6 March 1937 the tanker called Nederland was launched. The order for two K XIV -class submarines , laid down in June 1931

704-457: A very bad moment for Wilton-Fijenoord. Economic activity came to an almost complete standstill with regard to orders for new ships. Massive lay-offs reduced the number of employees at the company from 7,790 at the end of 1929 to 3,849 at the end of 1930, a decrease of 50%. In this crisis Wilton-Fijenoord faced a difficult decision. Should it radically concentrate all activity in Schiedam, and hope that

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768-512: The North Sea Canal . It was built in three sections that could be joined, the outside sections having a pointy end. It had three main pumps of 90 hp, and three others of 35 hp. The framework (Dutch: Spantwerk) had been made by Werkspoor . On 9 September four tugboats began to transport the dock over the Zuiderzee and North Sea to Rotterdam. Flags had been painted on the sides to advert

832-650: The 250 ihp machines for the Betsy , the first Dutch steam trawler . In 1896 a Wilton company built the engine and boilers for the fishing sloop Koningin Wilhelmina . On 18 July 1882 Wilton launched its first ship. Cf below for more ships built by Wilton. In 1893 the terrain next to the slipway was heightened by 25,000 cubic meters of soil dug out for the harbor of Katendrecht. On 24 September 1889 Bartel Wilton and Bartel Wilton Jr. (1863-1938, also known as 'Bart') came to an agreement for joint ownership of and authority over

896-453: The Blauwe Ster had 6 tugboats and 18 'kraakschepen' that could also serve as lighters . One of the lighters was called Helena. In early January 1887 the tugboat Paul broke through the ice blocking the inland waterways Amstel , Hollandse IJssel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. The Henri followed with six lighters. The tugboats Jacob and IJsploeg of the Blauwe Ster also participated in keeping

960-536: The HAL at Harland and Wolff in 1919. In 1922 construction had been stopped, and the uncompleted hull had been launched in 1924. The HAL then decided to have her finished in Schiedam, where she arrived in 1927. The act of finishing the Statendam kind of completed the transformation of the company, that began to look very much like her competitor Fijenoord. Nevertheless, Wilton still had an advantage in ship repair, and Fijenoord

1024-619: The Meuse, and is now clearly a part of Rotterdam. At the time the factory was often referred to as lying at 'Schoonderloo', a small village just east of Delfshaven. At the Land registration the terrain at the Westzeedijk was known as Delfshaven sectie B No 4507. All in all a recipe for stating that the factory at the Westzeedijk was in Schoonderloo, or even Delfshaven, while it is now in Rotterdam. In this area

1088-704: The Volharding 7 for the Leidsche Stoombootmaatschappij Volharding, also with machines by Wilton. On 9 May 1881 shipyard Gebroeders Pot in Bolnes laid down an Icebreaker with machinery and boilers by Wilton. In 1893 Wilton got orders for a 180 hp engine for the William Egan & Co III built by M. van der Kuil in Slikkerveer. It would also built the machinery for the following William Egan & Co's that would number up to 18. In 1895 Wilton built

1152-463: The biggest ocean liners. The latter was supported by the Holland America Line , which foresaw that it would employ very big ships in the near future, and was looking for a docking facility. In 1916 a terrain of 56 ha was bought in Schiedam. In 1917 construction of a harbor on the terrain started, but the company did not move to the new grounds till after the war. In 1919 the corporate strategy

1216-411: The board then proposed to postpone the repayment of part of open bonds by one year. The department of defense intervened by giving advance payments on submarine mine layers. In the end a government guarantee of a private loan of 1,500,000 guilders saved the company. A financial reorganization followed in 1936. The nominal capital of 25,000,000 guilders, which had been reduced to 15,500,000 guilders earlier,

1280-425: The company by converting a loan into shares. The 1918-1929 period was in general profitable for the company, except for a small downturn in 1921 and 1922. From 1920-1928 the number ships in the drydocks grew from 331 to 486 while the tonnage grew from 1,346,896 to 2,506,609 R.T.B. The board of the company had the ambition to bring the ship and engine construction activities of the company to the same height as that of

1344-460: The company had grown to a few hundred employees, the smithy on the Baan nr 156 continued to exist. In 1893 Wilton got permission to expand it to the plots Lerengang 12 and 13. In 1894 another permit to expand it was requested to the city council. In 1876 Wilton got a thirty year lease on a piece of land behind the parade ground of the militia on the Westzeedijk. It measured 70 by 110 meter, was located on

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1408-473: The company. This did not pertain to acts like lending money or offering security. For these Bartel Sr. remained the only authority. In the 1890s it became clear that Wilton's lease on the terrain at the Westzeedijk would not be continued by the city council. The terrain would be used to expand the city and to dig out the Parkhaven. Therefore Wilton had acquired a new terrain near Delfshaven in 1894. This terrain

1472-516: The competition by having the best technical equipment on the most economical place (the Westkousdijk). Bart would prove right in his assessment. On 3 September 1898, a few weeks before he died, the Bartel Wilton Sr. laid the first stone for a big new factory to build boilers. In 1902 an electrical power plant was built. The new complex also included a bank slope and an iron foundry . By 1904

1536-433: The crisis grew ever darker. Dividend payments were stopped, reserves were shrinking, and even the payment of interest became doubtful. The costs of the move to Schiedam also proved higher than estimated. Of course cost cutting was somewhat effective, but it was not enough. In 1932 the order for the cruiser HNLMS  De Ruyter gave some air to the company. A few repair orders were also profitable. The shipyard also took over

1600-550: The drydocks, double the amount of the previous year. Meanwhile, the shipyard had to catch up with the advanced welding techniques that had revolutionized British and American shipbuilding. On the Westkousdijk a gun factory had been created before the war. In cooperation with Bofors it now started the construction of armored double 15 cm turrets for the two De Zeven Provinciën -class cruisers, as well as armored 12 cm turrets for destroyers. The former Fijenoord terrain started

1664-574: The end of 1934 the work on Rapana was the only work on new merchant ships still ongoing. In early 1935 the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij , another subsidiary of Shell, ordered six tankers for 6,000,000 guilders. The NSM would build the two largest of 12,100 tons. Wilton-Fijenoord would build two of the four ships of 9,250-ton capacity each. The order came in on 5 February 1935 and would permit Wilton to keep her slipways reasonably filled. In late 1935 Wilton-Fijenoord got another order for

1728-554: The foolish investments by war profiteers. Indeed in 1924 Wilton had received a first significant order from the navy department for HNLMS  Soemba , and in 1925 four ships had been laid down for the KPM, but this was way below the capacity of the location. In 1926 the 233 m long SS Paris of 34,570t docked at Schiedam. In 1927 another big ocean liner arrived in Schiedam. It was the SS Statendam (1898) of 28,291 brt. She had been ordered by

1792-432: The full recovery of the company. The Korean War would give rise to an increased demand for ships, especially tankers. In the summer of 1952 the construction of the big fixed building dock started. It was to be 211 m long and 31.5 m wide. The machine factory was expanded, and so were the facilities on the Westkousdijk. The company became the chief contractor for 32 minesweepers, of which it would build three. The 1954 jubilee

1856-461: The high cost for the move would be earned back by cost-savings? Or, should it evade the cost of the move by continuing at multiple locations? In 1932 the board decided to close down the Fijenoord location, and to move the activities on the Westkousdijk (Delfshaven) to Schiedam as much as possible. In the end this ambition to centralize everything in Schiedam would not be realized (cf. below). Meanwhile,

1920-482: The machinery of bankrupt HIH Siderius artillery firm in 1934 and in the second half of the 1930s built 120-mm and 150-mm guns for the Dutch Navy jointly with Bofors , also producing several Wilton-Fijenoord Pantserwagen armoured cars in the mid-1930s. In 1935 the three floating dock were towed to Schiedam. Nevertheless, in 1935 the repair orders hit an absolute low, with 301 ships for 1,622,960 rtb. On 29 January 1936

1984-580: The merged Royal Dutch Shell Group along with its UK analogue the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company . The two were merged in 2005 creating a single holding structure for Shell. After the Japanese occupation of Indonesia , Shell's original well at Pangkalan Brandan was taken over by the Indonesian army. In 1957, Pangkalan Brandan became the main asset of the newly formed Indonesian oil company, Permina,

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2048-587: The nationality to submarines. Later that month the SS Insulinde was the first ship that used the dock. World War 1 started with some good years for Dutch shipping. Wilton also profited from an increased demand for ship repair caused by mines and torpedoes. In January 1916 the company was hit by a measure of the German government. It forbade the export of multiple kinds of iron, annulling existing contracts. New contracts could be made only at much steeper prices. During

2112-410: The old Wilton, who could no longer support himself. They gave Bartel Wilton a loan, so he would return to Rotterdam, and could take over a stove smithy to support himself and his father. On 7 January 1854 Bartel Wilton started his business as a house and stove smith at the south side of the Baan in Rotterdam. Bartel had seen modern capitalism in London. He visited ships to get smithy work, and invested

2176-519: The picture. For Bartel Jr. the expansion into ship construction went too far, and in 1920 he resigned from his executive position. The ambition to have a huge floating drydock was realized by buying the floating dock that Blohm + Voss had started to construct for the Austro-Hungarian Navy . It was bought in 1919, but it was July 1920 when it arrived in Schiedam. It was 211.8 m long, 51.2 m wide and 16 m high. During transport one of its 6 parts

2240-399: The profits in new staff and equipment. After his marriage his wife took care of finance and payments. In 1856 Bartel advertised his abilities in electrogalvanization , especially for ship parts. In 1865 Wilton's smithy started to use to steam power. Wilton's smithy was especially successful in boiler repair. In 1875 the company had 35 employees and hired J. Rijsdijk as administrator. When

2304-603: The reduced cost of launching a ship. The huge warehouse (Scheepsloods) on the new terrain was made of reinforced concrete. At 165 m by 130 m it was supposed to be the largest of its kind in Europe with regard to total surface as well as surface spanned by its concrete arcs. In 1921 there was also a financial reorganization. A new public company called Wilton's Dok- en Werf Maatschappij N.V. was founded. It acquired all shares of Wilton's Machinefabriek en Scheepswerf, and in turn emitted shares for 25,000,000 guilders. The HAL got involved in

2368-401: The ship repair activities, but this was not so simple. In ship repair the excellent location, facilities, reputation and skill of her employees put the company ahead of foreign competition and led to good margins. In ship construction the competition was much fiercer. In October 1925 a newspaper wrote that in a practical sense the yard at Schiedam was not yet in use, and called it a monument for

2432-466: The shipyard Wed. C. Boele en Zonen launched the screw tugboat Vooruitgang for Johan van der Graaf at Kralingen, the machine was made by Wilton. On 26 January 1878 M. van der Kuyl in Slikkerveer laid down an iron passenger screw steam boat for Wijnands & Co in Groningen. Wilton would build the machines. The Burgemeester van Uithuizen was launched on 24 May 1878. Van der Kuyl then immediately laid down

2496-511: The sons Bart and John Henry Wilton took over their father's part in the business. Bart was a businessman, and John Henry a technician who had been trained as a shipbuilder in Delft. Bartel Jr. opted for an expansion strategy to profit from the huge growth of the Rotterdam port following the completion of the Nieuwe Waterweg and the economic expansion of Germany. In his vision one should stay ahead of

2560-540: The submarine O 25 . She would serve in the German Kriegsmarine as UD-3 and actually sink an Allied ship. During the war Fijenoord would also launch the cruiser later named De Ruyter , but known at that moment as KH 1 (Kreuzer Holland 1). The dry docks of the company were severely bombarded by the allies, and were almost broken up by the Germans. Next the machinery of the factory was plundered, especially late in

2624-461: The war the company considered the options for the post war period. The company could make a strategic choice for shipbuilding, advocated by younger brother Ir. Henry Wilton. An alternative strategy was to continue the focus on ship repair. The latter option probably necessitating investments to dock ships of up to 20,000 tons. Bartel Jr opted for the ship repair strategy. It led to the move to Schiedam . The move included an ambition to be able to repair

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2688-445: The war. After the war the company faced many issues. The board of directors was accused of collaboration, and the yard itself was a ruin. The company was lucky that the old bank slope of predecessor Wilton at the Westkousdijk, and the iron foundry of predecessor Fijenoord at Feijenoord were still usable, instead of having been closed down as intended in the operation to concentrate the company at Schiedam. In spite of these challenges

2752-488: The war. In 1946 new ships were ordered. One by the Rotterdamsche Lloyd, and two by KPM. Repair orders also increased in 1946. In March 1946 a license agreement was signed with William Doxford & Sons to produce Doxford Diesel engines. After some activity had returned in 1946, the shipyard was still not at a normal level of activity. The 20,000 tons dock was fixed in 1947, and in that year 166 ships were repaired in

2816-414: The waterways open. They all used a removable bow to break the ice. It was a bit unclear how the line would redeem the cost of such operations. In February 1891 the line waited till a group of companies came up with enough money to pay for her ice-breaking services. In May 1893 the Blauwe Ster decided to end her activities. In March 1894 the public company Rotterdamsche Sleepdienst (Rotterdam Tug services)

2880-464: The whole company was concentrated in Delfshaven. The jewel in the crown was a new floating dry dock launched in 1907 by Swan Hunter and Wighan Richardson . It had a lift capacity of 7,500 tons, and was 424 feet long. It had three separate independent compartments, that could be uncoupled when the drydock herself had to dock. Its pumps were powered by electricity from shore. The effect of the dry dock

2944-423: The yard started on its first repair order already on 19 June 1945. For this it could only use the fixed building dock, because both drydocks were broken. In October 1945 Annenkerk , ordered before the war, was laid down. Westerdam , which had been laid down before the war was also finished. The cruiser De Ruyter would also be finished, but her plan had to be changed drastically because of the experience gained in

3008-660: Was Pangkalan Brandan ( North Sumatra ), which is considered as the origin of the Royal Dutch Shell . More than 95% of Indonesia's crude oil was commercially produced by BPM in the 1920s. The dual-listed nature of the Royal Dutch Shell meant that BPM was 60 percent owned by the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company , and 40% by the Shell Transport and Trading Company ; it acted as a Dutch holding company for

3072-414: Was 15.5 : 3. It was a clear indication of how Wilton had outgrown the old Fijenoord. The Blauwe Ster (Blue Star) line was a shipping line and tug service between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In April 1875 it employed the ship Marie of skipper J.H. van Vliet. By 1876 it had 8 kraakschepen, with two more under construction. By 1879 there seems to have been a daily service between the cities. In March 1884

3136-474: Was a fast way to merge, but it also meant that the organisations themselves continued to exist from a legal as well as an organizational perspective. These had a rather different culture. Many Wilton employees thought the Fijenoord men to be too precise and arrogant. Fijenoord employees tended to look at the Wilton men as disorganized, improvising and rude. The Great Depression that started in November 1929 came at

3200-424: Was also finished in 1921. Such a construction drydock was a novelty. It was not as deep as a regular fixed drydock, because new ships had a shallower draft. Two advantages for the shipyard originated from constructing on a horizontal surface. It made vertical placement of scantlings etc. much easier, and it led to a significant reduction in the cost of moving men and building materials vertically. A third advantage were

3264-497: Was carried as cargo. From July till April 1921 Wilton worked on completing this floating drydock, spending another 400,000 guilders. In April 1921 the dock was taken into use when it received the SS Rotterdam (1908) of 36,870t displacement, the biggest Dutch ship. Several government ministers and other dignitaries visited Wilton for the occasion. It was one of the decisive moments in Wilton's history. The fixed construction drydock

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3328-419: Was celebrated with confidence. In 1999, Wilton-Fijenoord was integrated into Rotterdam United Shipyards. In 2003, the company was acquired by Damen Group . Cruisers Destroyers Submarines Frigates Minesweepers Wilton%27s Dok- en Werf Maatschappij Wilton's Dok- en Werf Maatschappij was a Dutch shipbuilding company active as an independent company from 1854 till 1929. At first it

3392-542: Was enormous. The total wages paid by Wilton in 1904 amounted to 594,237 guilders. In 1913 this was 1,819,795 guilders, three times as much in under 10 years. The tonnage of the ships that Wilton repaired showed an even more extreme expansion. On the slipway it grew slowly, but in drydock it exploded to more than ten times the amount on the slipway. In 1911 an agreement with the Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en spoorwegmaterieel, later named Werkspoor , resulted in

3456-600: Was founded. The founders were Bartel Wilton Sr, his sons Bartel Wilton jr and John Henry Wilton, and Wilton Engineering and Slipway Company, known as 'Firma B. Wilton' at the time. The family members each deposited 1,000 guilders for one share. The company took 42 shares, and paid for them by bringing in six tugboats; the Paul, Henry, Hugo, Max, James III and Willem. Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (colloquially known as BPM ), Dutch for Batavian Oil Company ,

3520-545: Was further expanded. The idea was to be able repair and construct the biggest ships afloat. The company would build a double fixed drydock for building very big ships, the first of its kind in the Netherlands. Its size would permit the simultaneous construction of two ships of 200 m, or 8 ships of 100m each. If this new method of construction would prove effective another fixed drydock would be built for constructing ships of 300 m. A huge floating drydock of 40,000 tons would complete

3584-401: Was further reduced to 4,650,000 guilders. Two old loans were repaid. It allowed the company to raise new capital of 3,900,000 in 1938. By 1938 the ship repair business had recovered. In 1928 the number of ships using the dry docks was 486 for a tonnage 2,506,609 R.T.B. In 1938 it were 463 ships with 2,590,696 R.T.B. In 1938 and 1939 the shipyard paid dividend again. The construction of tankers

3648-581: Was laid down in September 1939, too late to be launched before the Netherlands were occupied in 1940. A notorious problem for the Dutch yards before the Second World War, was the lack of design capabilities. Accordingly, Wilton-Fijenoord had to buy the vessel designs from independent design companies and developed only the detailed structures. By a cartel agreement, four Dutch yards including Wilton-Fijenoord formed

3712-422: Was simply known as 'Wilton'. In 1921 the final Dutch name became: 'Wilton's Dok- en Werf Maatschappij NV', the equivalent of 'Wilton Engineering and Slipway Company'. Wilton started as a traditional smithy and expanded in machinery. It specialized in ship repairs, but also became a shipyard. At first only for fresh water ships. In spite of multiple name changes the company was commonly referred to as 'Wilton'. In 1929

3776-406: Was still ahead in ship construction, especially for the navy. The idea for a merger to combine these strengths started as far back as 1927. In 1929 talks led to an agreement for a financial merger between the companies. Shares in Wilton and shares in Fijenoord were exchanged for shares in a new united company: Dok- en Werf-Maatschappij Wilton-Fijenoord. The ratio between worth of Wilton and Fijenoord

3840-411: Was that the still profitable Wilton company had a major overcapacity and was spread over two locations. The activities of Fijenoord could just as well be done in Schiedam. A concentration of the combined activities in Schiedam would lead to major cost savings. In 1929 talks led to an agreement for a financial merger between the companies. Shares in Wilton and shares in Fijenoord were exchanged for shares in

3904-513: Was the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907. The BPM was established in 1907. It was Shell's main oil producing entity in Indonesia (at that time, Dutch East Indies ) and dominated the Indonesian oil industry during the colonial era, making it one of the largest companies in the colonial economy. The main oil well of BPM

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3968-466: Was the Ruigeplaat, a shoal in front of Delshaven, that had been dug through to directly connect Delfshaven to the Meuse again. The company acquired the Ruigeplaat for 375,000 guilders. On the western part of this shoal a new plot for the company was made. It got the address Westkousdijk. The move to Delfshaven would be combined with bigger plans. On 14 February 1895 the private company was transformed into

4032-473: Was the only kind of civilian construction that kept the large Dutch shipyards afloat. In November 1933 the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum company (part of Royal Dutch Shell ) placed an order for three tankers of 12,000 tons capacity. One at NSM, one at RDM and one at Wilton-Fijenoord. The tanker at Wilton got the name Rapana . In the whole year 1934, Wilton-Fijenoord did not receive any order for a new ship. At

4096-422: Was very welcome, but could not save the company. As stated above the order for the light cruiser De Ruyter was a more substantial 'aid'. The two mine-laying O 19 -class submarines were laid down in June 1936. At that moment the worst of the crisis was over, but the liquidity was saved by the above-mentioned advance payments on these ships. The De Zeven Provinciën -class cruiser that was later named De Ruyter

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