World War II Database

Contributor: Al Griffis

ww2dbaseIn 1837, the forebearer of what came to be known as the Moller and Helberg iron foundry was established in Stettin, Germany. In 1867, it established the shipbuilding firm Norddeutsche Schiffbau-gesellschaft. In 1872, the company purchased about 8 acres of land in Stettin on the Oder River near Grabow to expand their mechanical engineering and iron foundry business, and purchased about 12 acres of land further upstream to build a boiler factory. In 1889, it purchased the engineering and shipbuilding firm Aron & Gollnow, which was located between the two purchases in 1872. In 1894, it was purchased by the Oderwerke Maschinenfabrik & Schiffsbauwerft AG, which would reorganize the operation under Oderwerke AG in 1930. As a firm dedicated to shipbuilding, it was known for for building small river boats, pleasure boats, tugs, and maritime dredges for use on the Elbe and Oder Rivers. Additionally, it built small vessels for use between Stettin and Ostpreußen (English: East Prussia). There are a total of 10 slips each capable of building a 5,000-ton vessel. The number of floating dry docks varies depending of the year. In 1903 there was one with a 3,000-ton capacity, 2 sections each 40 meters in length and 16 meters wide. In 1930, Oderwerke reached a peak of 3,600 employees and 126,466 square meters of total shipyard area, of which 23,496 were factories and employee housing. During WW2, Oderweke built two Type VII submarines, U-821 and U-822, and numerous minesweepers for the German Navy. After the war, Stettin was transferred to Poland, and the Oderwerke relocated first to Lübeck in 1949 than to Köln (English: Cologne) in 1950. In 1961, it declared bankruptcy.

Ships Constructed at Oderwerke AG

Slip/Drydock Utilization

[Con]: Construction; [FO]: Fitting Out

Oderwerke AG Interactive Map

Photographs

Maps

Oderwerke AG Timeline