Ferdinand Schichau

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Ferdinand Schichau (30 January 1814 – 23 January 1896) was a German mechanical engineer and businessman.

Schichau was born in Elbing (Elbląg), East Prussia. Schichau, whose father was a smith and iron worker in Elbing, studied engineering in Berlin. He visited the Rhineland and England, before starting his own company in Elbing in 1837. The Schichau-Werft became a large industrial complex, which employed several thousand people. Schichau made hydraulic presses, industrial machines and steam engines. For his workers he erected a large living quarter section in Elbing. The Borussia, constructed by him, was the first screw-vessel in Germany.

Schichau gained an associate when his daughter married Carl H. Ziese. The company had so many orders that it became necessary to construct another large shipyard in nearby Danzig (Gdańsk) as well. After Schichau's death in Elbing, Ziese continued to lead the company.