Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft
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The Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft was a German shipyard and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for the Kriegsmarine in the World War II-era.
The shipyard was founded in 1867, as the Norddeutsche Schiffbaugesellschaft ("North German Ship-building Company"), in the town of Gaarden, near Kiel. This firm built the S.M.Y. Hohenzollern--the personal yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II--in 1876. In 1879, the company was bought out and its name changed to Germaniawerft, which was in turn purchased by Krupp in 1896.
In 1908, Germaniawerft built the schooner Germania for Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, based on a design from Max Oertz. It was the first yacht of its size built in Germany. In the period preceding the First World War, it also built a number of ships of the line for the Kaiserliche Marine (German Imperial Navy), including the SMS Posen, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and SMS Sachsen. During the First World War, the shipyard turned to building U-boats. Afterwards, it returned to its original vocation, including building the steel-hulled galleon Sedov (originally the Magdalene Vinnen II) - the largest traditional sailing ship still afloat.
In World War II, the Germaniawerft was one of the most important suppliers of the Kriegsmarine, because of its proximity to German naval facilities in Kiel. Over the course of the war, the firm completed 131 U-boats (types II, VII, XB, XIV, XVII, and XXIII). The German Navy had in total ordered 240 U-boats. In 1944, the shipyard had over 10,000 employees, of which roughly 11% were forced labourers.
On 26 April 1945, the last U-boat built in the Germaniawerft - U-4714 - was launched. The war ended before it could enter into service.
The most famous U-boats built at the Germaniawerft are U-96 and U-47.
After the war, the partially ruined shipyard was one of the first facilities dismantled by the victorious allies. The population of heavily bombed Kiel protested furiously this decision, but to no avail. The site was broken up and not rebuilt. In the late 1960s, the grounds were purchased by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG as a submarine-building yard. As of 2006, Howaldtswerke is still building submarines at the site.
