German shipbuilding and engineering company
Blohm+Voss
(
B+V
), also written historically as
Blohm & Voss
,
Blohm und Voß
etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in
Hamburg
in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the
World War II
battleship
Bismarck
. In the 1930s, its owners established the
Hamburger Flugzeugbau
aircraft manufacturer which, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, adopted the name of its parent company. Following a difficult period after the war, B+V was revived, changing ownership among several owners, as
Thyssen Group
and Star Capital. In 2016, it became a subsidiary of
Lurssen
and continues to supply both the military and civilian markets. It serves two areas ? new construction of
warships
as NVL B.V. & Co. KG, and new construction and refitting of
megayachts
.
[1]
The company has been in operation, building ships and other large machinery, almost continuously for 147 years.
History
[
edit
]
Early years
[
edit
]
Blohm & Voss was founded on 5 April 1877 by
Hermann Blohm
and
Ernst Voss
(or Voß) as a general partnership, to build steel-hulled ships. It established a shipyard on the island of
Kuhwerder
, near the Free and
Hanseatic
City of
Hamburg
, covering 15,000 m
2
(160,000 sq ft) with 250 m (820 ft) of water frontage and three building berths, two suitable for ships of up to 100 m (330 ft) length. The company name was shown with the
ampersand
, as B&V, until 1955.
Shipbuilding was at that time dominated by the British, with even German customers preferring to buy from them. Initial business was confined to ship repairs, although B&V managed to build and later sell the three-masted barque
National
. Eventually the first new-build order arrived for the small cargo paddle-steamer
Burg
, and the business took off. By 1882, the company had gained a reputation for quality and punctuality and was prospering.
[5]
Initially, their products were steel-hulled sailing ships designed for long sea voyages. At that time steamships had a relatively short range, while many of the advantages of steel construction still applied to sailing ships as much as to steam. The company built its first steamship in 1900, while still continuing to build sailing ships until the late 1930s.
[6]
The Nazi era, 1933?1945
[
edit
]
When Hermann Blohm died, his two sons
Rudolf Blohm
[
de
]
and
Walther Blohm
[
de
]
took over. Ernst Voss left soon afterwards. By this time the company was in financial crisis, so the Blohm brothers diversified into aircraft, setting up the
Hamburger Flugzeugbau
(see below) in the summer of 1933.
[7]
With the rise of the
Nazi Party
to power in 1933, Germany began to rearm and both companies became increasingly involved in the programme. The shipyard built both civilian craft and warships for the government, including the battleship
Bismarck
, before manufacturing
U-boats
in quantity.
In 1944 a subcamp of
Neuengamme concentration camp
was set up at the company's shipyard in
Hamburg-Steinwerder
.
[8]
It supplied labour to the company from July 1944 to April 1945. A report dated 29 August states:
500 foreign female concentration camp prisoners, political, and criminal. Adjacent barracks camp, 11 guards, 17,000 m barbed wire, 380 Volts, tripwire. . . . The German foremen should be replaced by prisoners because the inmate overseers take a tougher line. Work performance is highly satisfactory. Productivity is higher than with the same number of German workers because work hours are longer and absenteeism is lower. . . . The gentlemen are of the opinion that the conditions sound harsher than they actually are.
[9]
Rudolf Blohm was present during this visit.
[9]
A memorial stands on the site of the camp and the company continues to pay an undisclosed amount to the
Fund for Compensation of Forced Laborers
.
[10]
Steinwerder was badly damaged during the
bombing of Hamburg
in World War II and at the end of it, shipbuilding was forbidden.
[11]
Hamburger Flugzeugbau
[
edit
]
In 1933 Blohm & Voss was suffering a financial crisis from lack of work. Its owners, brothers
Rudolf
and
Walther
Blohm, decided to diversify into aircraft manufacture, believing that there would soon be a market for all-metal, long-range
flying boats
, especially with the German state airline
Deutsche Luft Hansa
. They also felt that their experience with all-metal marine construction would prove an advantage. They formed the Hamburger Flugzeugbau that summer.
[12]
[7]
Most of the aircraft built by HFB/B&V would in fact be other companies' designs and major subassemblies, contracted under license, including tens of thousands of aircraft each for
Dornier
,
Heinkel
,
Junkers
and
Messerschmitt
.
[7]
Alongside its volume manufacturing the company also maintained its own design office and workshops which continued to develop and build new types throughout the company's life. The first planes it produced were designated with the
official RLM company code
"Ha".
The aircraft produced by Hamburger Flugzeugbau were still commonly associated with Blohm & Voss and this was causing confusion, so in September 1937 Hamburger Flugzeugbau was renamed
Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss
and the RLM changed its company code to "BV".
[13]
Its most significant designs were
flying boats
, mainly used by the Luftwaffe for maritime patrol and reconnaissance. Most numerous was the
BV 138
Seedrache
(initiated as the Ha 138), a
twin-boom
trimotor
, while the
BV 222
Wiking
was much larger. Largest of all was the
BV 238
prototype, the largest aircraft built by any of the
Axis forces
. Other notable types include the asymmetric
BV 141
, which was built in moderate numbers but did not enter production.
At the end of the war, aircraft production was shut down.
Hamburger Flugzeugbau
GmBH (HFB) re-emerged in 1956, still under the ownership of Walther Blohm but no longer connected to B+V. It reopened the
former B+V aircraft factory at Finkenwerder
and subsequently underwent various further changes of ownership and company name,
[14]
eventually becoming part of
Airbus
.
Postwar
[
edit
]
After the Second World War, the British continued to demolish the shipyards of Steinwerder. B&V, unable to restart shipbuilding work, all but ceased to exist for several years.
In 1950, B&V created a new subsidiary company, Steinwerder Industrie AG, to manufacture machinery and boilers on the site. Its shipyard fortunes began to revive in 1952 when the new company was allowed to restart ship repair work and the City of Hamburg subsequently guaranteed it credit. By 1953 some 900 workers were back in employment.
[11]
The building of new ships would later also be allowed again; the first ship built was the
Wappen von Hamburg
in 1955. During this period of resurrection the level of investment required meant that B&V moved out of private hands and became a publicly quoted company, 50% owned by Phoenix-Rheinrohr AG, itself soon to be consolidated into the
Thyssen Group
.
[15]
Even so, B&V would never regain its former size. In 1966 it took over neighbouring shipbuilder
H. C. Stulcken Sohn
.
[16]
During the postwar years, B+V built
oil rigs
and developed a market for other offshore products such as support ships and pipelines.
[17]
[18]
[19]
The company has also built ships for numerous commercial customers, including luxury yachts.
Eclipse
, built for Russian billionaire
Roman Abramovich
, is 162 metres (531 ft 6 in) in length making it the second longest private yacht in the world. B+V still administers the
Elbe 17
dry dock at Hamburg. The semi-submersible drilling rig "Chris Chenery" was constructed in 1974 for The Offshore Co. of Houston, USA. When
Thyssen AG
and
Krupp
merged in 1999, B+V became a subsidiary of
ThyssenKrupp
Marine Systems.
In December 2001, Blohm+Voss,
Nordseewerke
and
Friedrich Lurssen Werft
were awarded the contract to build the first five K130 fregatte
MEKO
. The first of them,
Braunschweig
, was built at Blohm+Voss, launched in April 2006 and commissioned in April 2008.
[20]
Several problems with the equipment fit delayed commissioning, and the last was commissioned in 2013.
[21]
[22]
In 2011 ThyssenKrupp agreed the sale of the Blohm+Voss civil shipbuilding division to British investment company STAR Capital Partners.
[23]
[24]
The military division remained with ThyssenKrupp.
[25]
In October 2016, regulatory approval was given for
Lurssen
to acquire Blohm+Voss from STAR Capital Partners.
[26]
[27]
In April 2017 the company dismissed 300 employees from which were 1000.
[28]
In September 2017, the German Navy commissioned the construction of five K130 corvettes by a consortium of North German shipyards including ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, Blohm+Voss, and the German Naval Yards in
Kiel
. The
Lurssen
Group, which would be the main contractor in the production of the vessels, distributed its work between the two sites at
Wolgast
and B+V
Hamburg
to build only two, the F265 in 2021 and F266 in 2022. The contract was worth around 2 billion euros.
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
[38]
On 25 July 2019, Peter Lurßen invested €20 million in Yard. The Dock 10 was covered with a 200-m-long and 50-m-high roof by a cost of €13 million.
[39]
The mount of Steel Pillar above Dock's Walls started in October 2020. On 29 April 2021 the Yacht construction hull Project Opera, also called Coral Ocean, was transferred from Dock 17 to Dock 10 and both were tug to
Berne, Germany
to stay at least 2 years. The previous 146-m Project Sassi, which burned, remained only the engine section block, was part of the new Yacht Project Opera. Lurßen Dock 3 was transferred to Wilhelmshaven at Jade Yard. In Berne a Hall was extended. Mein Schiff 3 dock then in Dock 17, following by Aidacara and Aidamar, lasts cruise ships visiting the dock.
[40]
[41]
Since October 2021
[
edit
]
According to Hamburger Morgen Post Newspaper Interview and Meeting on 30 September 2021 and repeated at Hamburger Abendblatt,
[42]
Peter Lurßen (61) personally presented himself to the workforce with news, saying Lurssen wouldn't make refit to cruise ships, except the
Hapag-Lloyd
and P&O ones, an also company of Hamburg, and merchant ships like
tankers
and
container ships
in Hamburg anymore. The new building department was dissolved. All six floating docks were in review. The repair division was not a success. Despite the around 20 million euros invested in modern shipyard technology, the subletting of many halls and the shrinkage to only around a third of the used shipyard area, the costs were still too high and is not yet fit for the future. The location is too expensive compared to other shipyards, so structural measures and cost adjustments were necessary. The Business were split in two, construction of naval ships like Corvette in one called NVL and mega-yachts as Lurßen itself.
Ships built
[
edit
]
Blohm & Voss was established in the days of sail and, although it built ships with steel hulls from the first, it did not produce a significant steamship until 1900. Of the many hundreds of ships built by B+V, notable examples include:
Tall ships
[
edit
]
Ocean liners and other passenger ships
[
edit
]
- Prinzessin Victoria Luise
(1900)
, a
Hamburg America Line
ship, the first ship built exclusively for cruising
- RMS
Majestic
(1914)
, a
White Star Line
liner and the largest ship in the world until the completion of
Normandie
in 1935
- SS
Leviathan
(1914), a
United States Lines
liner and sister ship to RMS
Majestic
. Scrapped in 1938
- SS
Cap Arcona
(1927)
, a
Hamburg Sud
liner sunk with great loss of life near the end of the
Second World War
- SS
Monte Cervantes
(1927)
, a
Hamburg Sud
liner lost near
Tierra del Fuego
in 1930
- SS
Europa
(1928)
, a
Norddeutscher Lloyd
liner and
Blue Riband
winner
- MV
Monte Rosa
(1930)
, a passenger liner and cruise ship that would become better known as the troopship
Empire Windrush
- MV
Monte Pascoal
(1930)
, a passenger liner and cruise ship. Sister ship of
Monte Rosa
and
Monte Cervantes
- SS
Potsdam
(1935)
, a Norddeutscher Lloyd
turbo-electric
liner that served as an Allied troopship and then the Pakistani pilgrim ship
Safina-E-Hujjaj
- TS
Pretoria
(1936)
and
TS
Windhuk
(1936)
,
Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie
passenger
cargo liners
- MV
Wilhelm Gustloff
(1937)
, a
Kraft durch Freude
("Strength Through Joy") cruise ship whose sinking was history's worst maritime disaster by lives lost
- SS Jagiełło (1939)
, a Polish passenger liner built as
Dogu
, and later
Pyotr Velikiy
- MV
Aurora
(1955)
as
Wappen Von Hamburg
. It was the first luxury liner to be built after World War II
- MV
Explorer
(2001)
, used by the
Semester at Sea
university
study abroad
program
Private yachts
[
edit
]
Warships
[
edit
]
Pre-dreadnought warships
[
edit
]
Warships of World War I
[
edit
]
Warships of World War II
[
edit
]
Modern warships
[
edit
]
Ships built using the MEKO system are listed at
MEKO
.
Other modern warships designed and built by B&V include:
References
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Meyer, Kristian,
"Erste Bilanz nach Ubernahme Alles neu bei Traditionswerft Blohm+Voss"
,
Hamburger Morgenpost
, 27 April 2018.
- ^
"Legal notice ? NVL"
.
- ^
"Blohm+Voss: 133 Arbeitsplatze fallen weg"
.
- ^
"Jobverlust droht bei Traditionswerft Blohm+Voss in Hamburg - hamburg.de"
. Archived from
the original
on 2021-10-04
. Retrieved
2021-10-04
.
- ^
"End of an era for Germany's most famous shipyard"
.
The Motorship
. 2011-08-31
. Retrieved
2018-05-01
.
- ^
"Blohm+Voss ? More Than Just A Shipyard"
.
Innovations Of The World
. 2019-10-03
. Retrieved
2020-02-28
.
- ^
a
b
c
Pohlmann (1979).
- ^
The camp Blohm & Voss is listed as No. 550 Hamburg in the
official German list
Archived
April 23, 2009, at the
Wayback Machine
(List in German)
- ^
a
b
Buggeln, Marc (2015).
Slave Labor in Nazi Concentration Camps
. Oxford University Press. p. 1.
ISBN
978-0-19-870797-4
.
- ^
Herbert Diercks,
Der Hamburger Hafen im Nationalsozialismus
, 2008
- ^
a
b
Henry Burke Wend;
Recovery and Restoration: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Politics of Reconstruction of West Germany's Shipbuilding Industry
, Praeger, 2001, pp.196?198.
- ^
Amtmann (1998)
- ^
"Kapitel 2.2.: B + V Geschichte v. 1933 ? 1938"
.
www.nadir.org
.
- ^
Pohlmann (1979), 1982 edition, Page 242.
- ^
Hamburg Journal, Part 2.
- ^
Mauerblumchen ist jetzt die Regierung
("Wallflower is Now the Boss"),
Der Spiegel
, 21 February 1966, pp.25?26.
- ^
Cape Town shipyard busy with Scarabeo 3 upgrades
, MarineLog (retrieved 26 April 2017)
- ^
Semi submersible drill rig Chris Chenery
Archived
2017-04-27 at the
Wayback Machine
, Oil Rig Photos (retrieved 26 April 2017)
- ^
Offshore Units
Archived
2017-04-27 at the
Wayback Machine
, Blohm+Voss (retrieved 26 April 2017)
- ^
"K130 Braunschweig Class Corvette"
.
Naval Technology
. Retrieved
30 April
2018
.
- ^
"K130 Braunschweig class"
. Navy Recognition
. Retrieved
1 May
2018
.
- ^
"Milliardenprojekt Korvette 130: Pannenserie reißt nicht ab ? Marineinspekteur fordert scharfere Kontrolle"
.
Norddeutcher Rundfunk via PressPortal
(in German). 20 June 2011
. Retrieved
14 May
2015
.
- ^
Bryant, Chris (12 December 2011).
"ThyssenKrupp sells 'mega-yacht' division"
.
FT.com
. Financial Times Limited.
Archived
from the original on 10 December 2022
. Retrieved
12 December
2011
.
- ^
"STAR Capital Partners buys Blohm & Voss' civil business"
.
SuperYachtTimes.com
. SuperYachtTimes.com. Archived from
the original
on 24 September 2015
. Retrieved
12 December
2011
.
- ^
Conrad Waters (Ed.);
Seaforth World Naval Review 2013
, Seaforth, 2012, p.134.
- ^
"Breaking news: Lurssen acquires Blohm + Voss"
. superyachttimes.com. 28 September 2016
. Retrieved
28 September
2016
.
- ^
German Fair Trade Commission approves Blohm+Voss Acquisition
Archived
2015-02-17 at the
Wayback Machine
, B+V web site, 31 October 2016. (Retrieved 17 April 2017).
- ^
"Dramatic year for German shipbuilding"
.
The Motorship
. 20 April 2017.
- ^
"Germany awards € 2.4 bln contract for five new K130 corvettes"
.
Naval Today
.
- ^
"Riesenauftrag von Bundeswehr: Blohm+Voss auf Jahre gerettet"
(in German). Abendblatt
. Retrieved
14 September
2017
.
- ^
"Four Shipyards Agree to Build New German Corvettes"
.
www.defense-aerospace.com
. April 9, 2018.
- ^
"Wie Blohm+Voss vom Bau neuer Korvetten profitiert"
.
Hamburger Abendblatt
(in German). 6 April 2018.
- ^
"Thyssenkrupp konnte seine Werften verkaufen"
.
Handelsblatt
(in German). 8 June 2018. Archived from
the original
on 29 July 2021
. Retrieved
8 June
2018
.
- ^
"ThyssenKrupp blocked from warship tender"
.
Handelsblatt Global Edition
. 2 March 2018.
- ^
Behling, Frank (1 March 2018).
"TKMS und Lurssen sind bei MKS180 raus"
.
Kieler Nachrichten
(in German).
- ^
"Germany: the MKS-180 decision, an earthquake in naval yards!"
.
DefenceChronicles
(in French). 5 March 2018.
- ^
"Germany returns lead F125 frigate to builder, report"
.
Naval Today
. 22 December 2017.
- ^
Sprenger, Sebastian (23 March 2018).
"Emerging German-Dutch naval tie-up has industry abuzz"
.
Defense News
.
- ^
"Dock 10 erhalt spektakulares Riesen-Dach"
.
Abendblatt
(in German). 25 July 2019.
- ^
"Schwimmdock kommt fur zwei Jahre an die Weser"
.
Weser Kurier
(in German). 10 October 2019.
- ^
"PROJECT OPERA"
.
www.boatinternational.com
.
- ^
"Hamburger Hafen: Blohm+Voss droht massiver Stellenabbau"
. 30 September 2021.
- ^
"Lady Moura"
.
superyachtfan.com
. Retrieved
3 December
2018
.
- ^
Groner, Erich (1990).
German warships, 1815?1945
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 15.
ISBN
978-0-87021-790-6
.
- ^
Hildebrand, Hans H; Rohr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993).
Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe
. Vol. 5. Ratingen, Germany: Mundus Verlag. p. 39.
- ^
Brassey, Earl Thomas Allnutt (1947).
Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-book
. Vol. 58. Praeger Publishers. p. 259.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Amtmann, Hans;
The Vanishing Paperclips
, Monogram, 1988.
- Meyhoff, Andreas.
Blohm & Voss im ≫Dritten Reich≪, Eine Hamburger Großwerft zwischen Geschaft und Politik (Hamburger Beitrage zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, Band 38)
(in German). Hamburg, Germany: Forschungsstelle fur Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg, 2001.
ISBN
3-89244-916-3
.
- Pohlmann, Hermann. '
Chronik Eines Flugzeugwerkes 1932?1945. B&V ? Blohm & Voss Hamburg ? HFB Hamburger Flugzeugbau
(in German). Motor Buch Verlag, 1979
ISBN
3-87943-624-X
.
- Prager, Hans Georg and Bishop, Frederick A.(Transl.).
Blohm + Voss: Ships and Machinery for the World
. London: Brassey's Publishers Limited, 1977.
ISBN
0-904609-14-6
.
- Witthoft, Hans J.
Tradition und Fortschritt ? 125 Jahre Blohm + Voss
(in German). Koehlers Verlag, 2002.
ISBN
3-7822-0847-1
.
- "Geschichte der Hamburger Werft Blohm + Voss",
Hamburg Journal
, NDR.de.
Part 1
Part 2
(In German)
- Eiber, Ludwig (1996). "Das KZ-Außenlager Blohm & Voss im Hamburger Hafen".
Konzentrationslager und deutsche Wirtschaft 1939?1945
(in German). VS Verlag fur Sozialwissenschaften. pp. 227?238.
ISBN
978-3-322-97342-9
.
- Wixey, Ken (July?August 1999). "Flugboots from Hamburg: An Outline History of Blohm und Voss Flying-boats".
Air Enthusiast
(82): 42?48.
ISSN
0143-5450
.
External links
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]
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Warships of World War I
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Warships of World War II
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Tall ships
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Ocean liners and
other passenger ships
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Private yachts
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Modern ships
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Related
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International
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National
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Other
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