Howaldtswerke
Encyclopedia
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...
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
company, headquartered in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. In 2009 it was the largest shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
in Germany and has more than 2,400 employees. It has been part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Germany is a group and holding company of providers of naval vessels, surface ships and submarines...
owned by ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp
ThyssenKrupp AG is a German multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Duisburg Essen, Germany. The corporation consists of 670 companies worldwide. While ThyssenKrupp is one of the world's largest steel producers, the company also provides components and systems for the automotive...
, since 2005. The name comes from the 1968 merger with Hamburg-based
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft was a German shipbuilding company, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 on initiative by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte , Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft and Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft as investors.During World War II...
.
History
HDW was founded October 1, 1838 in KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
at the Bay of Kiel
Bay of Kiel
The Bay of Kiel is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, and the Great Belt in the North....
of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
by the engineer August Howaldt
August Howaldt
August Ferdinand Howaldt was a German engineer and ship builder.-Biography:Born in Braunschweig, the son of the silversmith David Ferdinand Howaldt, with whom he got his first practice working in metal, Howaldt made an apprenticeship in Hamburg and became a practical mechanicus.In 1838 he moved to...
and the Kiel entrepreneur Johann Schweffel under the name Maschinenbauanstalt und Eisengießerei Schweffel & Howaldt, initially building boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s.
The first steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
for naval purposes was built in 1849 for the Von der Tann
Von der Tann (gunboat)
Von der Tann was a steam-powered 120 ton gunboat built in 1849 at Conradi shipyards in Kiel for the small navy of Schleswig-Holstein, the first propeller-driven gunboat in the world...
, a gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
for the small navy of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
.
In 1850, the company built an early submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, Brandtaucher
Brandtaucher
Brandtaucher was a submersible designed by the German inventor and engineer Wilhelm Bauer and built by Schweffel & Howaldt in Kiel for Schleswig-Holstein's Flotilla in 1850....
, designed by Wilhelm Bauer
Wilhelm Bauer
Wilhelm Bauer was the German inventor and engineer, who built several hand-powered submarines.-Biography:...
. This was somewhat of an accident: during the First Schleswig War, Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
forces had advanced too close to Rendsburg
Rendsburg
Rendsburg is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the northeastern part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the Kreis of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. As of 2006, it had a population of 28,476.-History:...
where construction of the boat had been intended, and so the task was shifted to Kiel.
The first ship built under the company's new name Howaldtswerke was a small steamer, named Vorwärts, built in 1865. Business expanded rapidly as Germany rose to a maritime power, and by the turn of the century some 390 ships had been completed.
In 1892 the company started a subsidiary in Austrian-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
Fiume on the coast of the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
. The activity was closed down by the company in 1902. The shipyard still existed in 2009 under the firm 3. Maj
3. Maj
3. Maj is a shipyard in Croatia, located in the city of Rijeka. It builds mainly oil tankers, bulk cargo ships, and container ships. It also sometimes builds smaller passenger ferries or yachts...
.
With Kiel being one of the two main bases of the Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
, the shipyard also benefited much from navy maintenance, repair and construction contracts. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the company also built a number of U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s.
In 1937 the company, by then having yards in Kiel and in Hamburg, was taken over by the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
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...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Howaldtswerke in Hamburg built 33 VIIC
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...
U-boats and Howaldtswerke in Kiel 31 VIIC U-boats.
After the end of World War II, Howaldtswerke was the only major shipyard in Kiel that was not dismantled. The yard flourished during the post-war "economic miracle" of the 1960s, with the construction of freighters and tankers, and again expanded by opening a shipyard in Hamburg.
In 1968 Howaldtswerke merged with Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft
Deutsche Werft was a German shipbuilding company, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 on initiative by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte , Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft and Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft as investors.During World War II...
in Hamburg, and the company took the new name Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, or HDW for short. After falling on hard times under the pressure of cheaper competition from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, the Hamburg operations were closed down in 1985.
In March 2002 the american financial investor One Equity Partner (OEP) took the majority of the Babcock AG at HDW. Shortly after that the Babcock AG had to file for insolvency and called for a reserved transaction, but the OEP was able to avoid that requestion.
In 2009 HDW is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Germany is a group and holding company of providers of naval vessels, surface ships and submarines...
, a group of European yards, including Kockums
Kockums
Kockums AB is a shipyard in Malmö, Sweden owned by the German shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. HDW itself is a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems....
of Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
and Hellenic Shipyards Co.
Hellenic Shipyards Co.
Hellenic Shipyards is a large Shipyard in Skaramangas near Athens, Greece.Its origins are connected with a shipyard created in 1937 in order to build warships...
of Skaramangas, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. The group employs about 6,600 staff in Germany, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
.
In 2009 HDW has worked with Kockums
Kockums
Kockums AB is a shipyard in Malmö, Sweden owned by the German shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. HDW itself is a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems....
and Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
to offer a Visby class corvette
Visby class corvette
The Visby is the latest class of corvette to be adopted by the Royal Swedish Navy after the Göteborg and the Stockholm class corvettes. The ship's design heavily emphasizes "low visibility" or stealth technology. The first ship in the class is named after Visby, the main city on the island of Gotland...
derivative in the American Focused Mission Vessel Study, a precursor to the Littoral combat ship
Littoral combat ship
A Littoral Combat Ship is a type of relatively small surface vessel intended for operations in the littoral zone . It is "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals." Two ship classes are the first...
program.
Civilian ships
- BungsbergBungsberg (ship)Bungsberg is a shipwreck of a vessel built in 1924 at Howaldtswerke in Hamburg for China Reederei AG, now laying at a depth of 38 meters near Tallinn, Estonia. Sunk on 24 March 1943 by an impact of a mine laid by a Russian airplane. Factory body number 646. The last owner of Bungsberg was Aug...
(1924) - Otto HahnOtto Hahn (ship)Otto Hahn was one of only four nuclear-powered cargo vessels so far built. Planning of a German-built trade and research vessel to test the feasibility of nuclear power in civil service began in 1960, and Otto Hahns keel was laid down in 1963 by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG of Kiel...
(1968), nuclear powered freighter - Tor Britannia (1975), cruiseferryCruiseferryA cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
- Tor Scandinavia (1976), cruiseferry
- Astor (1981), cruise shipCruise shipA cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
- PFS PolarsternPFS PolarsternRV Polarstern is a German research icebreaker of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. The Polarstern was commissioned in 1982 and is mainly used for research in the Arctic and Antarctica....
(1982), research icebreakerIcebreakerAn icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller vessels .For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most...
(1987), cruise ship - Superfast VIIMS Superfast VIIMS Stena Superfast VII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink and chartered to Stena Line operated on their service between Belfast and Cairnryan...
(2001), fast ropax ferryFerryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services... - Superfast VIIIMS Superfast VIIIMS Superfast VIII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink servicing the route Tallinn – Helsinki – Rostock...
(2001), fast ropax ferry - Superfast IXMS Superfast IXMV Atlantic Vision is a fast ro-pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink, under charter to the Canada-based Marine Atlantic. As of 2009 she is operated on Marine Atlantic's service between Port aux Basques and/or Argentia, Newfoundland and North Sydney, Nova Scotia.The ship was built...
(2002), fast ropax ferry - Superfast X (2002), fast ropax ferry
Frigates
- Hamburg (F220), a Sachsen class frigateSachsen class frigateThe F124 Sachsen class is Germany's latest class of highly advanced air-defense frigates. The design of the Sachsen class frigate is based on that of the F123 Brandenburg class but with enhanced stealth features intended to deceive any opponent's radar and acoustic sensors and incorporate also the...
- SAS Isandlwana (F146)SAS Isandlwana (F146)SAS Isandlwana is the second of four Valour class frigates for the South African Navy.-Construction:They were manufactured by the European South African Corvette Consortium , consisting of the German Frigate Consortium , African Defence Systems and a number of...
- SAS Mendi (F148)SAS Mendi (F148)SAS Mendi is the last of four Valour class frigates built for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium and entered service in March 2007.-Construction:...
- Schleswig-Holstein (F216), a Brandenburg class frigateBrandenburg class frigateThe F123 Brandenburg class is a class of German frigate. They were ordered by the German Navy in June 1989, and then completed and commissioned between 1994 and 1996 to replace the Hamburg class destroyers...
Submarines (U-boats)
- Type 800 Dolphin class submarineDolphin class submarineThe Type 800 Dolphin class is a diesel-electric submarine developed and constructed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG , Germany for the Israeli Navy. It is based on the export-only German 209 class submarines, but modified and reduced and is thus not seen as a member of the 209 family...
s - Type 205 submarineType 205 submarineThe Type 205 was a class of diesel-electric German hunter-killer U-boat submarines. They were single-hull vessels optimized for the use in the shallow Baltic Sea. The Type 205 is a direct evolution of the Type 201 class with lengthened hull, new machinery and sensors...
s - Type 206 submarineType 206 submarineThe Type 206 is a class of diesel-electric submarines developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft . Its design is based on the preceding Type 205 submarine class. These small and agile submarines were built during the Cold War to operate in the shallow Baltic Sea and attack Warsaw Pact shipping if...
s - Type 209 submarineType 209 submarineThe Type 209 is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed exclusively for export in the late 1960s by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Germany...
s - Type 212 submarineType 212 submarineThe German Type 212 class, also Italian Todaro class, is a highly advanced design of non-nuclear submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG and Fincantieri S.p.a. for the German and Italian Navy. It features diesel propulsion and an additional air-independent propulsion system using...
s - Type 214 submarineType 214 submarineThe Type 214 is a diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH . It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane hydrogen fuel cells...
s