World War II Database

Contributor: Al Griffis

ww2dbaseIn 1867, the Norddeutsche Schiffbaugesellschaft company began shipbuilding operations in Königsburg, Ostpreußen (English: East Prussia; later in the united Germany, and now Kaliningrad, Russia). Through 1878, the company built approximately two ships each year, which was not nearly enough income to keep the company solvent, and thus it filed for bankruptcy in 1879. Failing to find a suitable buyer, most of the employees were laid off by 1881, although it did build two ships between 1879 and 1881. In 1882, the company restructured and renamed itself Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG; under this entity, five ships were constructed within the first year of operations. Between 1883 and 1895, 29 ships were constructed. In 1896, Friedrich Krupp signed a 25-year lease on the property which became Friedrich Krupp Aktiengesellschaft Germaniawerft. After Friedrich Krupp's lease ended, the shipyard was known as the Union-Giesserei. In 1930, the shipyard was purchased by the firm F. Schichau. At this time, the shipyard occupied 175,685 square meter of land. For the German war effort, F. Schichau Königsburg built Hans Albrecht Wedel-class seaplane tenders, M-class minesweepers, and other ships. At the end of the war, F. Schichau abandoned the shipyard as Soviet forces approached, relocating to Bremerhaven, Germany where the F. Schichau name would live on until 2009 when it was acquired by Schichau Seebeckwerft. Meanwhile, at the end of the war, Königsburg was taken over by the Soviet Union and was renamed Kaliningrad. The facilities formerly of F. Schichau Königsburg remained in operation under Russian ownership. During the Cold War era, the shipyard changed name and ownership several times. At the time of this writing in 2022, the shipyard remains active as the Yantar Shipyard, which is managed by the state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation.

Ships Constructed at F. Schichau Königsburg

* Projected dates; not actual

F. Schichau Königsburg Interactive Map

Maps

F. Schichau Königsburg Timeline

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments