Siemens-Schuckert
Encyclopedia
Siemens-Schuckert was a German
electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin
, Erlangen
and Nuremberg
that was incorporated into the Siemens AG
in 1966.
Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Halske
acquired Schuckertwerke. Subsequently Siemens & Halske specialized in communications engineering and Siemens-Schuckert in power engineering and pneumatic instrumentation. During World War I
Siemens-Schuckert also produced aircraft.
The Siemens Schuckert logo consisted of an S with a smaller S superimposed on the middle with the smaller S rotated left by 45 degrees.Siemens used this as a theme for their logos with absorbed companies: Siemens & Halske's logo was a large S with a small superimposed and rotated H. Others were Siemens-Apparate- und Maschinenbau (A), Siemens-Bauunion (B), Siemens-Planiawerke (P) and Siemens-Reiniger (R) The logo were used into the late 1960s, when both companies merged with the Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG to form the present-day Siemens AG
.
and inter-war era. They also produced aircraft engine
s under the Siemens-Halske brand, which evolved into their major product line after the end of World War I
. The company reorganized as Brandenburgische Motorenwerke, or simply Bramo, in 1936, and were later purchased in 1939 by BMW
to become BMW Motorenwerke.
Siemens-Schuckert designed a number of heavy bombers early in WWI, building a run of seven R-series bombers
. Intended to be used in the strategic role in long duration flights, the SSW R-series had three 150 h.p Benz Bz.III
engines in the cabin driving two propellers connected to a common gear-box through a combination leather-cone and centrifugal-key clutch in SSW R.I to the SSW R.VII models(the SSW R.VIII utilized four engines). In the case of engine failure, which was extremely common at the time, the bomber could continue flying on two engines while the third was repaired by the in-flight mechanic. Two transmission shafts transferred the power from the gear-box to propeller gear-boxes mounted on the wing struts. Although there were some problems with the clutch system, the gear-box proved to be reliable when properly maintained. The SSW R.1 through the SSW R.VII designs were noted for their distinctive forked fuselage. Several of these aircraft (SSW R.V through the SSW R.VII) fought on the Eastern Front. Although interesting in concept, the cost of these and the R-types from other companies was so great that the air force eventually abandoned the concept until more practical designs arrived later in the war.
They also tried their hand at a fighter design based on the French Nieuport 11
in 1915. Like the Nieuport's Le Rhône 9C
, the SSW D.I was to be powered by a rotary engine
of about 100 hp. The Germans had licensed the Le Rhône just before the war and was producing it as the Oberursel UR.II
which they intended to use on the D.I, but demand was so high that Siemens decided to start producing their own version as the Siemens-Halske Sh.I. The engine took so long to get to production quality that by the time it was ready in 1916 the fighter was no longer competitive.
Instead of simply dropping the work, Siemens-Halske decided to re-work the engine into a much more powerful design, resulting in the 160 hp Sh.III
, perhaps one of the most advanced engine designs of the war. When placed in a modified D.I it suddenly became one of the best-climbing aircraft in the world, and found use in home defense units as an interceptor
. Further modifications improved its handling and performance, becoming what is often considered to be the best fighter of the war, the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV
. Several offshoots of the design included triplanes and monoplanes, but none saw production.
With the end of the war production of the D.IV continued, mainly for sales to Switzerland who flew them into the late 1920s. With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
the next year all aircraft production in Germany was shut down. Siemens-Schuckert immediately disappeared, but Siemens-Halske continued sales of the Sh.III and started development of smaller engines for the civilian market. By the mid-1920s their rotary engines were no longer in vogue, but "non-turning" versions of the same basic mechanicals led to a series of 7-cylinder radial engine
s, the Sh.10 through Sh.14A, delivering up to 150 hp in the 14A. The Sh.14A
became a best-seller in the trainer market, and over 15,000 of all the versions were eventually built.
Siemens-Halske no longer had any competitive engines for the larger end of the market, and to address this they negotiated a license in 1929 to produce the 9-cylinder Bristol Jupiter IV
. Minor changes for the German market led to the Sh.20 and Sh.21. Following the evolution of their smaller Sh.14's, the engine was then bored out to produce the 900 hp design, the Sh.22. In 1933 new engine naming was introduced by the RLM
, and this design became the Sh.322, when Siemens was given the 300-block of numbers. The Sh.322 design had reliability problems and never became popular.
The company reorganized as Bramo in 1936, and continued development of what was now their own large engine. Modifying the Sh.322 with the addition of fuel injection
and a new supercharger
led to the Bramo 323
Fafnir, which entered production in 1937. Although rather outdated in terms of design, by this time the engine had matured into a highly reliable powerplant, and 5,500 were produced until the lines shut down in 1944.
In design terms the 323 was basically a dead-end with little growth potential. By the start of the war its 1,000 hp was already at the low end of the performance scale, and use was limited to transports and bombers. In order to build a 1,500 hp-class engine Bramo started development of a two-row version of the engine as the Bramo 329, mirroring similar developments at BMW
who were trying to scale up their Pratt & Whitney Hornet into the two-row BMW 139. Design of both engines was well advanced in 1939 when BMW bought Bramo, and cancelled work on the 329 to concentrate on what would become the excellent BMW 801
.
Realizing the two-row radial development was a risky proposition; Bramo engineers had also started developing axial-flow jet engine
s in 1938. They were awarded a development contract to continue work on two designs, which would later become the 109-002 and 109-003 when the RLM officially started supporting jet development. The -002 used an advanced contra-rotating
compressor for added efficiency, while the -003 used a simpler compressor/stator system that remains in use in modern designs today. The -002 proved to be too complex and work on it soon ended, but the -003 showed definite promise and eventually became the BMW 003.
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...
electrical engineering company headquartered 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...
, Erlangen
Erlangen
Erlangen is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located at the confluence of the river Regnitz and its large tributary, the Untere Schwabach.Erlangen has more than 100,000 inhabitants....
and Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
that was incorporated into the Siemens AG
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
in 1966.
Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Halske
Siemens & Halske
Siemens & Halske AG was a German electrical engineering company that later became part of Siemens AG.It was founded on 12 October 1847 as Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske by Ernst Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske...
acquired Schuckertwerke. Subsequently Siemens & Halske specialized in communications engineering and Siemens-Schuckert in power engineering and pneumatic instrumentation. 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...
Siemens-Schuckert also produced aircraft.
The Siemens Schuckert logo consisted of an S with a smaller S superimposed on the middle with the smaller S rotated left by 45 degrees.Siemens used this as a theme for their logos with absorbed companies: Siemens & Halske's logo was a large S with a small superimposed and rotated H. Others were Siemens-Apparate- und Maschinenbau (A), Siemens-Bauunion (B), Siemens-Planiawerke (P) and Siemens-Reiniger (R) The logo were used into the late 1960s, when both companies merged with the Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG to form the present-day Siemens AG
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
.
Aircraft
Siemens-Schuckert built a number of designs in World War IWorld 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...
and inter-war era. They also produced aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
s under the Siemens-Halske brand, which evolved into their major product line after the end of 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 reorganized as Brandenburgische Motorenwerke, or simply Bramo, in 1936, and were later purchased in 1939 by BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
to become BMW Motorenwerke.
Siemens-Schuckert designed a number of heavy bombers early in WWI, building a run of seven R-series bombers
R-planes
R-planes were large German Army bombers in World War I. The R classification was short for Riesenflugzeug . In designations, the manufacturer's name preceded the letter R followed by a Roman numeral, e.g. Dornier Rs.III or Staaken R.XIV.The R-planes were the largest aircraft of World War I...
. Intended to be used in the strategic role in long duration flights, the SSW R-series had three 150 h.p Benz Bz.III
Benz Bz.III
The Benz Bz.III was a six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed in Germany for use in aircraft in 1914. Developing 112 kW at 1,400 rpm from 875 cuin , it powered many German military aircraft during World War I...
engines in the cabin driving two propellers connected to a common gear-box through a combination leather-cone and centrifugal-key clutch in SSW R.I to the SSW R.VII models(the SSW R.VIII utilized four engines). In the case of engine failure, which was extremely common at the time, the bomber could continue flying on two engines while the third was repaired by the in-flight mechanic. Two transmission shafts transferred the power from the gear-box to propeller gear-boxes mounted on the wing struts. Although there were some problems with the clutch system, the gear-box proved to be reliable when properly maintained. The SSW R.1 through the SSW R.VII designs were noted for their distinctive forked fuselage. Several of these aircraft (SSW R.V through the SSW R.VII) fought on the Eastern Front. Although interesting in concept, the cost of these and the R-types from other companies was so great that the air force eventually abandoned the concept until more practical designs arrived later in the war.
They also tried their hand at a fighter design based on the French Nieuport 11
Nieuport 11
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Angelucci, Enzio, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. New York: The Military Press, 1983. ISBN 0-517-41021-4....
in 1915. Like the Nieuport's Le Rhône 9C
Le Rhône 9C
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Lumsden, Alec. British Piston Engines and their Aircraft. Marlborough, Wiltshire: Airlife Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-85310-294-6....
, the SSW D.I was to be powered by a rotary engine
Rotary engine
The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
of about 100 hp. The Germans had licensed the Le Rhône just before the war and was producing it as the Oberursel UR.II
Motorenfabrik Oberursel
Motorenfabrik Oberursel A.G. was a German manufacturer of automobile, locomotive and aircraft engines situated in Oberursel , near Frankfurt , Germany. During World War I it supplied a major 100 hp-class rotary engine that was used in a number of early-war fighter aircraft designs...
which they intended to use on the D.I, but demand was so high that Siemens decided to start producing their own version as the Siemens-Halske Sh.I. The engine took so long to get to production quality that by the time it was ready in 1916 the fighter was no longer competitive.
Instead of simply dropping the work, Siemens-Halske decided to re-work the engine into a much more powerful design, resulting in the 160 hp Sh.III
Siemens-Halske Sh.III
Siemens-Halske's Sh.III was an 11-cylinder, air-cooled rotary engine developed in Germany during World War I, similar to the Sh.I.-Design:It shared with its predecessor the unusual design feature of having its internal workings rotating in a clockwise direction as seen from "nose-on", within the...
, perhaps one of the most advanced engine designs of the war. When placed in a modified D.I it suddenly became one of the best-climbing aircraft in the world, and found use in home defense units as an interceptor
Interceptor aircraft
An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...
. Further modifications improved its handling and performance, becoming what is often considered to be the best fighter of the war, the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV
Siemens-Schuckert D.IV
The Siemens-Schuckert D.IV was a late-World War I fighter aircraft from Siemens-Schuckert . Considered by many to be the best fighter to see action during the war, it reached service too late and was produced in too few numbers to have any effect on the war effort.-Earlier designs:Siemens-Schuckert...
. Several offshoots of the design included triplanes and monoplanes, but none saw production.
With the end of the war production of the D.IV continued, mainly for sales to Switzerland who flew them into the late 1920s. With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
the next year all aircraft production in Germany was shut down. Siemens-Schuckert immediately disappeared, but Siemens-Halske continued sales of the Sh.III and started development of smaller engines for the civilian market. By the mid-1920s their rotary engines were no longer in vogue, but "non-turning" versions of the same basic mechanicals led to a series of 7-cylinder radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
s, the Sh.10 through Sh.14A, delivering up to 150 hp in the 14A. The Sh.14A
Siemens-Halske Sh 14
-References:* Becker, E. Siemens Jahrbuch 1928: Flugzeugmotoren der Siemens & Halske AG, reproduced on * http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Duxford/germaer1.htm...
became a best-seller in the trainer market, and over 15,000 of all the versions were eventually built.
Siemens-Halske no longer had any competitive engines for the larger end of the market, and to address this they negotiated a license in 1929 to produce the 9-cylinder Bristol Jupiter IV
Bristol Jupiter
The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments turned it into one of the finest engines of its era.The...
. Minor changes for the German market led to the Sh.20 and Sh.21. Following the evolution of their smaller Sh.14's, the engine was then bored out to produce the 900 hp design, the Sh.22. In 1933 new engine naming was introduced by the RLM
Reich Air Ministry
thumb|300px|The Ministry of Aviation, December 1938The Ministry of Aviation was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany...
, and this design became the Sh.322, when Siemens was given the 300-block of numbers. The Sh.322 design had reliability problems and never became popular.
The company reorganized as Bramo in 1936, and continued development of what was now their own large engine. Modifying the Sh.322 with the addition of fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
and a new supercharger
Supercharger
A supercharger is an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine.The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen to support combustion than would be available in a naturally aspirated engine, which allows more fuel to be burned and more work to be done per cycle,...
led to the Bramo 323
Bramo 323
-References:NotesBibliography* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9* Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
Fafnir, which entered production in 1937. Although rather outdated in terms of design, by this time the engine had matured into a highly reliable powerplant, and 5,500 were produced until the lines shut down in 1944.
In design terms the 323 was basically a dead-end with little growth potential. By the start of the war its 1,000 hp was already at the low end of the performance scale, and use was limited to transports and bombers. In order to build a 1,500 hp-class engine Bramo started development of a two-row version of the engine as the Bramo 329, mirroring similar developments at BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
who were trying to scale up their Pratt & Whitney Hornet into the two-row BMW 139. Design of both engines was well advanced in 1939 when BMW bought Bramo, and cancelled work on the 329 to concentrate on what would become the excellent BMW 801
BMW 801
The BMW 801 was a powerful German air-cooled radial aircraft engine built by BMW and used in a number of German military aircraft of World War II. The engine's cylinders were in two rows of seven cylinders each, the bore and stroke were both 156 mm , giving a total capacity of 41.8 litres...
.
Realizing the two-row radial development was a risky proposition; Bramo engineers had also started developing axial-flow jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s in 1938. They were awarded a development contract to continue work on two designs, which would later become the 109-002 and 109-003 when the RLM officially started supporting jet development. The -002 used an advanced contra-rotating
Contra-rotating
Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, resulting in the maximum power of a single piston or...
compressor for added efficiency, while the -003 used a simpler compressor/stator system that remains in use in modern designs today. The -002 proved to be too complex and work on it soon ended, but the -003 showed definite promise and eventually became the BMW 003.
Aircraft
- Siemens-Schuckert D.ISiemens-Schuckert D.IThe Siemens-Schuckert D.I was a German single-seat fighter built by Siemens-Schukert Werke.A number of captured Nieuport 17 fighters were given to German aircraft manufacturers to study, the Siemens-Schukert Werke produced the D.I based on the captured fighter. The D.I was a biplane powered by...
- Siemens-Schuckert D.II
- Siemens-Schuckert D.IIISiemens-Schuckert D.III-Bibliography:* Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1.* Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. London: Salamander Books, 1994. ISBN 0-83173-939-8....
- Siemens-Schuckert D.IVSiemens-Schuckert D.IVThe Siemens-Schuckert D.IV was a late-World War I fighter aircraft from Siemens-Schuckert . Considered by many to be the best fighter to see action during the war, it reached service too late and was produced in too few numbers to have any effect on the war effort.-Earlier designs:Siemens-Schuckert...
- Siemens-Schuckert Dr.II
- Siemens-Schuckert DDr.I
- Siemens-Schuckert E.ISiemens-Schuckert E.I-References:* Peter Gray and Owen Thetford German Aircraft of the First World War London: Putnam, 1962-External links:*. Aircraft photo. Accessed March 23, 2009....
- Siemens-Schuckert R.I
- Siemens-Schuckert R.II
- Siemens-Schuckert R.III
- Siemens-Schuckert R.IV
- Siemens-Schuckert R.V
- Siemens-Schuckert R.VI
- Siemens-Schuckert R.VII
- Siemens-Schuckert R.VIIISiemens-Schuckert R.VIII-References:* Haddow, G.W. & Grosz, Peter M. The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919. London. Putnam. 1963.* Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen. “German Aircraft of the First World War”. London, Putnam. ISBN 0 370 00103 6...
Engines
- Siemens-Halske Sh.I
- Siemens-Halske Sh.II
- Siemens-Halske Sh.IIISiemens-Halske Sh.IIISiemens-Halske's Sh.III was an 11-cylinder, air-cooled rotary engine developed in Germany during World War I, similar to the Sh.I.-Design:It shared with its predecessor the unusual design feature of having its internal workings rotating in a clockwise direction as seen from "nose-on", within the...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 4Siemens-Halske Sh 4The Siemens-Halske Sh 4 was a five-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1921, it was rated at 40 kW .-References:* *...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 5Siemens-Halske Sh 5The Siemens-Halske Sh 5 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1921, it was rated at 60 kW .-References:*...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 6
- Siemens-Halske Sh 11Siemens-Halske Sh 11The Siemens-Halske Sh 11 was a seven-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1925, it was rated at 75 kW .-References:*...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 12Siemens-Halske Sh 12The Siemens-Halske Sh 12 was a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine for aircraft built in Germany in the 1920s. First run in 1925, it was rated at 80 kW .-Applications:* Albatros L 68* Albatros L 79* Arado S I* Arado W 2* BFW M.21...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 13Siemens-Halske Sh 13The Siemens-Halske Sh 13 was a five-cylinder air-cooled radial engine for aircraft produced in Germany in the 1920s and 30s. First run in 1928, it was rated at 60 kW .-References:*...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 14Siemens-Halske Sh 14-References:* Becker, E. Siemens Jahrbuch 1928: Flugzeugmotoren der Siemens & Halske AG, reproduced on * http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel/Duxford/germaer1.htm...
- Siemens-Halske Sh 15
- Siemens-Bramo Sh 20
- Siemens-Bramo Sh 21
- Siemens Bramo SAM 22B
- Siemens Bramo 314
- Siemens Bramo 322
- Siemens Bramo 323 Fafnir
- Siemens Bramo 109-003