World War II Database

Contributor: Al Griffis

ww2dbaseBetween 1905 and 1907, preparatory work for a new shipyard began on the island of Ross, Steinwarder, Hamburg, German, clearing and leveling land; initially the shipyard wasto occupy an area of 226,850 square meters. In 1908, a 6,000-ton floating dry dock was delivered from Flensburg, Germany. 1909 was a busy year as the shipyard moved toward completion. First, dredging in front of the slips deepened the sea floor to 15 feet which allowed the launching of the largest of ships. Then, a steel mill was completed to produce rolling armor plate, which at the time sold for US$25 per ton. A 9,500-ton floating dry dock was delivered from was delivered from AG Vulcan Stettin (now in Szczecin, Poland). Finally, construction began on a 25,000-ton floating dry dock. The shipyard officially began operations on 21 Jun 1909 with three slips in operation. In 1910, after two years of work, a railway spur from main line now connected the shipyard with the rail system. In 1911, the headquarters of Vulcan Shipping Group moved from Stettin to Hamburg and changed the shipyard's name to Vulcan-Werke Hamburg and Stettin Actiengesellschaft. In 1930, the Hamburg shipbuilding operations were sold and renamed Howaldtswerke Hamburg AG after Vulcan's financial troubles. By the WW2-era, the shipyard occupied an area measuring 291,500 square meters, and had an average employee size of 12,000. It built 33 submarines for the German Navy, U-651 through U-683, between 1940 and 1943.

Ships Constructed at Howaldtswerke Hamburg

* Projected dates; not actual

Howaldtswerke Hamburg Interactive Map

Photographs

Maps