World War II Database

Contributor: Al Griffis

ww2dbaseIn 1706, Lucas Kramer started the first shipyard in Germany on the Reiherstieg River in Hamburg. In the 1880s, it built SMS Marie, the first warship built in Hamburg, for the German Navy. The shipyard was later renamed the Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik, also known as Reiherstiegwerft. During World War I Reiherstiegwerft built three submarines for the Germany Navy. Many ships launched by Reiherstiegwerft participated in WW2, flying a variety of national flags. The fishing trawler Carl J. Busch, for example, was requisitioned by the Germany Navy in 1939 and was converted into a weather ship. The merchant ship Wahehe flew a German flag until 1940 when she was captured by the British, who then operated her under the name of Empire Citizen under the British Ministry of War Transport. Last but not least, the American troop ship Otsego was originally launched by Reiherstiegwerft as Prinz Eitel Friedrich; she was seized by the United States during WW1, and remained in use during WW2 as a US Army transport. Reiherstiegwerft had a size of about 68,300 square meters, and had 2,000 employees on average.

Reiherstieg-Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik Interactive Map

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