Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau

Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG

Industry	Shipbuilding
Fate	Dissolution 1945
Founded	1926
Defunct	1945
Headquarters	Bremen, Germany
Products	Passenger ships Merchant ships U-boats Warships Steam turbines Engines Ship gear boxes Exhaust steam turbines
Subsidiaries	Weser Flugzeugbau

Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft (abbreviated Deschimag) was a cooperation of eight German shipyards in the period 1926 to 1945. The leading company was the shipyard AG Weser, located in Bremen.

History

The Deschimag was founded in 1926 when influential Bremen merchants and bankers decided to found a cooperation of great German shipbuilding companies under the leadership of the shipyard AG Weser. The intention was to coordinate and concentrate activities of German shipyards for higher efficiency but last not least mainly to support Bremen´s shipyard AG „Weser“ in the upcoming economical and financial crisis of 1930th. While the greatest shipbuilding companies in Germany as Blohm & Voß and Bremer Vulkan AG because of their own strong market position at that time were not interested in this cooperation, eight more or less great German shipyards merged. These were:

- Actien-Gesellschaft "Weser", Bremen (finally closed 1983)

- Vulkan-Werke Hamburg A.G., Hamburg (1930 sold to Howaldtswerke Hamburg)

- Joh. C. Tecklenborg A.G., Bremerhaven (closed 1928)

- AG Vulcan Stettin, Stettin (closed 1928)

- G. Seebeck A.G., Bremerhaven (still existing as SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard GmbH)

- Actien-Gesellschaft Neptun, Rostock (bankruptcy 1935, since 1997 part of shipbuilding company Meyer Werft GmbH, Papenburg)

- Nüscke & Co. A.G., Stettin (bankruptcy 1928)

- Frerichswerft A.G., Einswarden (shipbuilding given up 1935, afterwards aircraft production)

Deschimag became the greatest shipbuilding company in Germany with about 15000 co-workers which was a rate of 28% in the total German shipbuilding industry at that time. But in the following years most of these companies were closed, went into bankrupt or were sold to other companies, see above. At least only AG Weser and Seebeckwerft survived this process of concentration and reduction of shipbuilding capacities. In 1941 a majority shareholding of both shipyards was acquired by Krupp, the most important German engineering and armaments conglomerate at that time.

While AG Weser concentrated its activities upon building of merchant ships with increasing amount of warships later, Seebeck built only smaller vessels and cocentrated upon maintenance and repair of ships.

Because of diversification and to create new jobs Deschimag also extended into aircraft construction. In 1933 the Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH - abbriviated Weserflug - was founded. It started production of aircraft components and later complete aircrafts at different places in Germany, one of them was the former shipyard Frerichswerft AG. In 1936 the Weserflug separated from the Deschimag and became an independent company. It became the fourth largest aircraft manufacturer in Germany during World War II, but only as a licensee of other German aircraft companies, mainly Dornier and Junkers.

The Deschimag was dissolved after war but AG Weser and Seebeck AG shipyards again survived and continued in shipbuilding. Because of mismanagement and unsatisfactory and too late responds to the demands of the market AG Weser was declared bankrupt in 1983 and operations were shut down while Seebeck shipyard became part of the Bremer Vulkan Verbund AG. Later in 1988 it merged with Schichau Shipyard to todays SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard GmbH.

Ships of Deschimag (selection and brief history)

• AG Weser, 1929, Passenger ship Bremen for shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd . Won Blue Riband 1929 and 1933 for fastes Atlantic Ocean crossing; The Bremen escaped after beginning of war from New York to Bremerhaven; burnt out 1940 in Bremerhaven, probably by arson

• AG Weser; 1937, Passenger-cargo ship Scharnhorst , 1942 rebuilt to Japanese auxiliary aircraft carrier Shinyo, sunk 1944 by US u-boat

• AG Weser; Passenger-cargo ship Gneisenau

• AG Weser, 1936, Whale factory ship Terje Viken for United Whalers Ltd. London, worldwide greatest factory ship; March 1941 sunk by German u-boats U47 and U99 in North Atlantic Ocean (allied convoy OB 293)

• AG Weser, 1937, German whale factory ship Unitas for Jürgens-Van den Bergh company (whale hunting vessels were built by Bremer Vulkan); as Japanese Nissan Maru II scrapped in Taiwan 1987

• 1937, Merchant ship Kandelfels, in WW II used as auxiliary cruiser Pinguin, 1941 sunk by British cruiser HMS Cornwall

• 1938, Merchant ship Ems for shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, in WW II used as auxiliary cruiser Komet, 1942 sunk by planes and ships of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy

Warships

• AG Weser , 1937-1938; Destroyer class 1934A for Kriegsmarine, 4 units Z5 – Z8

• AG Weser , Destroyer classes 1936/1936A/1936A(m), 18 units

• AG Weser , Destroyer class 1936B, 5 units

• AG Weser , 162 U-boats of classes VII, IX and XXI

• Seebeck AG, 16 U-boats

• AG Weser, 1939, Hipper-class cruiser Seydlitz; 95% completed but never on duty, intended rebuilding to auxiliary aircraft carrier cancelled, 1945 sunk in Königsberg

• AG Weser, 1939, Hipper-class cruiser Lützow; not completed, hull sold to Soviet Union, new name Petropavlovsk, 1958 scrapped

• AG Weser, 1938, H-class super battle ship J (no name); end of 1939 cancelled

• AG Weser, 1939, H-class super battle ship K; construction not started

References

Peter Kuckuk, Hartmut Roder; Von der Dampfbarkasse zum Containerschiff – Werften und Schiffbau in Bremen und der Unterweserregion im 20. Jhd, Hochschule Bremen, Bremen Steintor 1988, ISBN 3-926028-38-6

Reinhold Thiel: Die Geschichte der Actien-Gesellschaft „Weser“ 1843 – 1983, Band II, Verlag H.M. Hauschild GmbH, Bremen 2006, ISBN 3-89757-338-5