World War II Database

ww2dbaseAl Griffis was a veteran of the United States Navy, serving on a ship patrolling the Vietnamese coast during the Vietnam War. He worked on the history of German shipyards for most of his life, having collected and organized statistics, photographs, and drawings over the course of over 30 years. He joined the WW2DB team in May 2019 and immediately shared all of his research material with the team. He passed away in early 2020 and he is sorely missed by the WW2DB team. His research material will continue to be published on the website for many more months to come.

Photographs/Maps Contributions

See all 149 photographs of Al Griffis

Timeline Contributions

Al Griffis has also contributed 52 entries in the WW2 Timeline. A small sample of his timeline contributions is shown below.

» 5 Apr 1877: Blohm und Voss was founded by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss in Hamburg, Germany as a shipyard and machinery factory. The shipyard was established on the island of Kuhwarder. Most of this land was swamp and cow pastures and would need months of work to build a firm foundation under the shipyard. The area measured 15,000 square meters with 250 meters of water frontage. There would be four slips initially with the ability to handle ships of 300 feet and they would launch into the North Elbe.

» 3 Jul 1836: Heloglander Rickmer Classen Rickmers laid down the keel of its first vessel, a 23-ton barge, in Bremerhaven, Germany.

» 16 Jul 1841: Franz Tecklenborg, Johann Simon Abegg, and Peter Ulrichs established the new shipyard company Abegg & Co in Bremerhaven, Germany.

» 1 Feb 1937: The construction work for slip III at Deutsche Werke Kiel AG in Germany began.

» 30 Oct 1911: The Bremen, Germany-based firm Norddeutschen Maschinen- und Armaturenfabrik GmbH was transformed into the shipbuilder Atlas Werke AG.

» 27 Nov 1886: Rickmer Clasen Rickmers, the founder of Heloglander Rickmer Classen Rickmers, passed away. His 79-year-old son Andreas Rickmers took control of the company.

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