Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven (Wilhelmshaven Imperial Shipyard) was a German shipbuilding company in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

, founded in 1871 and closed in 1918. Together with Kaiserliche Werft Danzig and Kaiserliche Werft Kiel it was one of three shipyards which solely produced

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...

s for the Preußische Marine and the following German

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

. With the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

all three imperial shipyards were closed, but the Wilhelmshaven shipyard was reopened in 1919, first as ''Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven'', and after 1935 named

Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven Kriegsmarinewerft (or, prior to 1935, Reichsmarinewerft) Wilhelmshaven was, between 1918 and 1945, a naval shipyard in the German Navys extensive base at Wilhelmshaven, ( west of Hamburg). History The shipyard was founded on the site of the Wilh ...

History

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, a coastal town in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

- North Germany - on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. The predecessor of the Kaiserliche Werft was founded 1853 under an agreement of the

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and Bi ...

and the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

. The object of this agreement was a protection of Oldenburg's merchant fleet by Prussian navy on the one hand, on the other to enlarge the Prussian sphere of influence in the western part of Germany. When the

Jade Treaty The Jade Treaty (german: Jade-Vertrag) of 20 July 1853 between Kingdom of Prussia and Grand Duchy of Oldenburg provided for the handover of 340 hectares of Oldenburg territory at what is now Wilhelmshaven, Germany, on the western shore of the Jade ...

was signed about 3.10 km² of Oldenburgian territory at the Jade Bight was ceded to Prussia. The first years the naval base was only used as an arsenal, depot and repair facility for the developing Prussian fleet. Building up of necessary harbours, slipways, dockyards, workshops, etc. followed some years later. After the Prussian victory over Austria in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

was founded and the shipyard was handed over from Prussia to this new confederation. The shipyard was officially opened 1869 by the Prussian King

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...

. First known as ''Königliche Werft'', the shipyard was now named ''Marinewerft des Norddeutschen Bundes'' (''Naval Shipyard of the North German Confederation''). With the proclamation of the German Empire in 1871 it received the final name ''Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven''. Forced by the needs of the rapidly growing German imperial navy it became necessary to enlarge shipbuilding capacities. Under the reign of Kaiser

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

and his fleet commander Grand Admiral

Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...

the shipyard was immediately extended. It soon became the greatest and most important of the three German imperial shipyards, beginning with about 3000 co-workers in 1880 and at last about 21,000 end of 1918, capable to build the largest and strongest warships of that time. With the end of World War I the shipyard was closed for a short time, after that it was opened again, now named ''Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven'' and at last, some years later

. Ships built by Kaiserliche Werft with laid down/commissioned data (selection): * 1859/1873, Aviso , first ship of the Kaiserliche Werft (Serial No. 1) * 1874/1878, * 1876/1879, Gunboats and * 1883/1886, Steam corvette * 1887/1889, s and * 1890/1894,

pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...

* 1891/1893, * 1893/1895, * 1895/1898, pre-dreadnought battleship * 1896/1900, pre-dreadnought battleship * 1899/1902, pre-dreadnought battleship * 1900/1904, pre-dreadnought battleship * 1904/1907, ''Deutschland''-class pre-dreadnought battleship * 1907/1909, * 1908/1911, * 1910/1912, light cruiser * 1911/1914, * 1913/1917, * 1915/----, Serial No. 35, ''Ersatz A'', construction stopped after launching, broken up 1922 * 1917/----, Conversion of 7 merchant-submarines to cruiser U-boats, including to

Aircraft

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 401 Imperian German Navy seaplanes numbers 401 to 403 were the only three examples of a unique seaplane design produced for the Navy's flying service during the First World War.Nowarra 1966, p.78Gray & Thetford 1962, p.450Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.1 ...

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 461 __NOTOC__ Imperial German Navy seaplanes 461 and 462 were the only two examples of a seaplane design produced for the Navy's flying service during the First World War.Nowarra 1966, p.78Gray & Thetford 1962, p.451Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.145Ta ...

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 945 __NOTOC__ Imperial German Navy seaplane Number 945 was the sole example of a unique seaplane design produced during the First World War.Nowarra 1966, p.78Gray & Thetford 1962, p.450Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.154Taylor 1989, 547 Throughout the wa ...

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 947 __NOTOC__ The Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven 947 was a maritime reconnaissance floatplane built for the Imperial German Navy's () Naval Air Service () during the First World War, the sole example of its type.Nowarra 1966, p.78Gray & Thetford 196 ...

References

* G. Koop, K. Galle, F. Klein, ''Von der Kaiserlichen Werft zum Marinearsenal'', Bernard & Graefe Verlag München, 1982, * H. J. Hansen, ''Die Schiffe der deutschen Flotten 1848 – 1945'', Verlag Gerhard Stalling AG, Oldenburg 1973, {{Authority control Shipbuilding companies of Germany Companies of Prussia Defunct manufacturing companies of Germany Wilhelmshaven Manufacturing companies established in 1853 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1918 1853 establishments in Germany 1918 disestablishments in Germany