Kaiserliche Werft Danzig was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1852 as ''Königliche Werft Danzig'' and renamed ''Kaiserliche Werft'' after the proclamation of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1871. Together with Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and

Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven (Wilhelmshaven Imperial Shipyard) was a German shipbuilding company in Wilhelmshaven, founded in 1871 and closed in 1918. Together with Kaiserliche Werft Danzig and Kaiserliche Werft Kiel it was one of three ...

it was one of three shipyards responsible for maintenance, repair and construction of

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s for the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy) was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for ...

. ''Kaiserliche Werft Danzig'' closed in 1918 after the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but soon opened when Danziger Werft was founded on its site in 1919.

History

The history of the Danzig shipyard started 1844 when some area on both sides of the river Tote Weichsel at Danzig became property of the Royal Prussian Government. Named ''Marinedepot'' (1849–54) it was first only used as a depot and anchoring space for the few Prussian warships at the time. At the end of 1853 it became ''Königliche Werft Danzig'' (1854 – 1871), and was subsequently named ''Kaiserliche Werft Danzig'' (1871 – 1918) with the proclamation of the

in 1871. In 1848 when Prussia started to enlarge its navy, own development and construction of warships got higher priority which required greater

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

s for these means. In 1850 additional new grounds were bought, further constructions followed and in the late 1870s once more there was a large extension of the facilities. However, the disadvantage of the KWD was the narrow channel of the river ( Weichsel) as well as some restrictions imposed by the Danzig municipality. This limited, of course, both the quantity and the dimensions of the built. The delivered tonnage of the KWD was only about 60% of that of Imperial Kiel Shipyard ( Kaiserliche Werft Kiel) and only 40% of that of the Imperial Wilhelmshaven Shipyard (

) in the period 1898 to 1904. The construction of larger warships ended consequently 1909 with the commissioning of the light cruiser . After that time the KWD concentrated the activities on the construction of auxiliary ships and later on submarines/u boats as well as maintenance and repair of warships. Beginning in 1908 parts of the yard were enlarged and more buildings rose on these grounds for

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

construction. The KWD was the only of the three imperial shipyards which built U-boats for the ''Kaiserliche Marine''. Beginning with in 1906–1908 altogether 62 boats were built, but only 44 between 1914 and 1918, which was about 12% of total German submarine production, few compared to privately owned German shipyards at that time. With end of World War I the shipyard was closed but soon after opened again under different names and with different owners. Merged with the former Schichau-Werft Danzig, it belongs to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

today, named ''Stocznia Gdańsk Spółka Akcyjna'' resp. in German ''Werft Danzig AG'' (since 1990).

Ships built by Kaiserliche Werft Danzig (selection)

*1871, Gun boat *1872, Corvette *1875, Armoured corvette *1877, Corvette *1896, Armoured ship , first , total two units *1890, Unprotected cruiser , first of six equal type ships *1899, Protected cruisers und *1906, Light cruiser *1908, Light cruiser *1908 – 1918, total 46 U-boats of different types completed, additional 27 planned but not completed ** Type U-2: ** Type U-3: , ** Type U-9: , , , ** Type U-13: , , ** Type U-17: , ** Type U-19: , , , ** Type U 27: , , , ** Type U 43: , , , , , , , ** Type UE 1: , ** Type U 87: , , , , , ** Type U-127: , , , ** Type UC II: , , , , , ** Type UC III: UC 80 - UC 86, UC 139- UC 152 (never completed) ** Type Mittel U: U 213-218 (never completed)

Aircraft

* Kaiserliche Werft Danzig 404 * Kaiserliche Werft Danzig 467 * Kaiserliche Werft Danzig 1105 * Kaiserliche Werft Danzig 1650

References

* * *

External links

Summary of Kaiserliche Werft Danzig's U-boats
{{Authority control Shipbuilding companies of Germany German companies established in 1852 Defunct companies of Germany History of Gdańsk Companies based in Gdańsk Companies of Prussia 1852 establishments in Prussia