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Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft "Vulcan"

The mail steamers of the German nation - namely, those of Hamburg and Bremen - formerly ranked first in point of speed between Europe and the United States of America. In 1891 the "blue ribbon of the North Atlantic" was gained for the first time by Germany, and remained in the possession of the two large German lines, the Hamburg-Amerika and the Nord- deutscher-Lloyd, until recently, when theMaurelania created a new record. With this triumph of German shipbuilding the history and development of the Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft "Vulcan" was closely connected.

It was in a very small way that Messrs. Fruchtcnicht and Brock established a yard for iron shipbuilding in the town of Bredow, near Stettin, covering then scarcely one-tenth of the area of the Stettiner "Vulcan" of the early 20th Century. The first iron ship built in this yard was the Die Dievenow, 1852, for the firm of Braeunlich, Stettin. This was a vessel of 125 ft. in length, 102 tons net register, and 200 I.Hp., and was specially constructed for the traffic between Stettin and Swinemunde, and continued in this run for 45 years. In 1853-55 several orders for iron ships were executed, vessels averaging about 270 tons net register, with 660 I.Hp.

In January, 1857, the Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft "Vulcan" was established, it being the firm of Messrs. Fruchtenicht and Brock turned into a joint stock company, with large additional capital. It is worthy of note that in the same year the Norddeutschcr-Lloyd, of Bremen, a steamship company which has had much to do with bringing the Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft "Vulcan" into prominence, was also established. As orders for iron ships were still insufficient to keep the yard and engine shops regularly employed, the company went in for building locomotives, and in the spring of 1859 finished off the first locomotive built by them, for Prussia. Since that time 2,200 locomotives have been built, which means an average of 100 per annum. When the joint stock company was formed the yard had an area of about five acres ; in 1870 it had risen to about 20 acres ; after 25 years, in 1882, it had been extended to 34 acres, giving employment to 3,600 men ; after 50 years of work, the yard at Bredow covered an area of 71 acres, and employed about 7,500 workmen ; and if the branch in Hamburg were counted the total area occupied by the company would be something like 130 acres.

The beginning of warship building at this yard was in 1860, when several small vessels were built for the Prussian Navy. The Vulcan was the first private shipbuilding yard to be in a position to build armored vessels and to show that far-sighted policy of adapting itself to great undertakings. In 1868 the German naval authorities made the experiment of building an armored corvette, the Hansa, in the State yard at Dantzig. The Vulcan Company received an order to build a sister-ship ; the order hung back, however, for some considerable time, and it was only in 1873 that the Preussen was laid down at the Vulcan yard. The efficiency in the case of the Vulcan Company was all the more commendable, inasmuch as the Admiralty had warned the directors not to lay down an expensive plant for building armored ships, as it was not certain that orders would be given. With the year 1873 came the oft-mentioned order of General Stosch that all warships belonging to Germany, and, as far as possible, all materials, should be constructed in Germany. This undoubtedly acted as a great stimulus to the Vulcan.

After the war with France, 1871, the first large battleship for the Imperial German Navy was built. This was the Prussian, a turret ship, constructed after the plan of the British turret battleships built at that time. She was 300 ft. long and 50 ft. broad, with a displacement of about 6,770 tons, and machinery of 5,400 I.Hp., giving a speed of 14 kts. It is a coincidence that 33 years later (in 1904) another warship was built of the same name at this yard - a modern battleship 380 ft. long, 69 ft beam, with a displacement of 13,200 tons and 17,500 I.Hp., giving a speed of about 17 kts.

In 1881 the building of trans-Atlantic mail steamers began, and the connection between the Hamburg-Amerika Line and this company was started with an order for the steamer Rugía. This ship had a length of 345 ft., a beam of 38 ft., and a net register tonnage of 3,467, engines of 2,400 I.Hp., giving a speed of 12 kts. In 1884 the German Reichstag sanctioned the subsidisation of steamship lines, the outcome of which was an agreement with the Norddeutscher-Lloyd that all steamers were to be built in German shipyards and with German material. The Stettiner "Vulcan" then received three orders from the Norddeutscher-Lloyd for mail steamers to trade to Asia and Australia. They were the Prussian, Sachsen, and Bayern, vessels of 374 ft. length, 41 ft. beam, 4,577 net register tonnage, and 4,000 I.Hp., with a speed of 14 kts. On completing this order three more steamers were placed on the slips, these being slightly smaller, and having a speed of 12 kts.

In 1889 the first twin-screw steamer, Auguste Victoria, was built. This vessel, the property of the Hamburg-Amerika Line, attained a speed of 19 sea miles per hour, and was on the run between Hamburg and New York till 1904, when she was sold to Russia, and used as a transport during the Russo-Japanese war. In 1888-90 further orders were received from the Norddeutscher-Lloyd, and three fast mail steamers, the Hohenzollern, Spree, and Havel, were built, vessels of 6,963 tons net register, with engines of 1 1,500 I.Hp., and a speed of i8'5 sea miles. In the following year was built for the Hamburg-Amerika Line the Fürst Bismarck, of 8,874 tons net register, with engines of 14,000 I.Hp. It attained a speed of I9'5 sea miles per hour, and it was with this vessel the " blue ribbon of the North Atlantic " was for the first time gained by Germany, her time being 6 days 11 hours 44 minutes from the Lizard to New York.

In 1893 a further record was created by the Lucania, her time being 5 days 7 hours 22 minutes. In 1897 t'le Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was launched, which attained an average speed of 22'8i sea miles per hour on the journey from New York to Europe. This vessel was followed in 1899 by the twin - screw steamer Deutschland, built for the Hamburg-Amerika Line. She had a displacement of 23,200 tons and 34,000 I.Hp., and an average speed of 23^51 sea miles per hour. Following the Deutschland came the Krön Prinz Wilhelm for the Norddeutscher-Lloyd, with 32,000 I.Hp., and the Kaiser Wilhelm II., with 45,000 I.Hp., which vessel attained a speed of 23^58 sea miles per hour, averaging that speed on one voyage from New York to Plymouth.

The largest vessel built at this yard was the twin-screw steamer Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, built for the Hamburg-Amerika Line. This vessel was launched on August 29, 1905, and had a displacement of 43,000 tons, 17,500 I.Hp., and a sea speed of 17 kts. This class of vessel, of which the Amerika was a sister-ship, was not built for record breaking. They were able to cross the Atlantic in about seven days, and offer luxury and comfort to ocean travellers such as had never been previously attempted.

With the establishment of a branch in Hamburg a new epoch of development began with the Stettiner "Vulcan." Between 1901 and 1905 the following vessels were constructed : Battleships Mecklenburg, Prussian, and Pommern, collectively 38,150 tons displacement and 51,500 I.Hp.; the small cruisers Hamburg and Lübeck, of 6,450 tons displacement and 25,000 I.Hp. ; the Krön Prinz Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II. for the Norddeutscher-Lloyd ; Kaiserin Auguste Victoria for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, collectively 60,000 tons net register and 99,500 I.Hp. ; the mail steamers Prinz Eitel Frederick, Kaiser, and Prim Ludwig, collectively 20,800 tons net register and 21,500 I.Hp. During the first 50 years this yard had constructed 80 warships, of which 11 were first-class battleships ; for the merchant marine 11 fast large mail steamers, 33 large trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger steamers, 46 intermediate cargo and passenger steamers, 51 smaller cargo and passenger steamers, three petroleum tank steamers, and seven icebreakers.

This company was in a position to build anything in the way of a ship that could be asked for. The yard is replete with all the latest modern machinery and appliances for the manufacture and construction of everything that was required for the ship, and it rightly takes rank as the largest and most up-to-date shipbuilding establishment in Germany.

The Vulcan was in a position to build large warships and vessels for the mercantile marine, yet for years there had been an ever-increasing necessity to establish yards on the North Sea. On the one hand, was the question of locality, and on the other the drafght of water in the Oder. The establishment at Bredow is of the most practical and modern. Round the slips lie the workshops and magazines ; light railways facilitate transport between one part and another of the works. They have their own forges and armor-plate plant - in fact, everything associated with an up-to-date shipyard. There are also engine and boiler works, and it may be mentioned that there were, in addition, locomotive and turbine building works.

The establishment on the Elbe dated from 1906. In that year a beginning was made with the construction of a yard on the island of Ross, within the boundary of the Hamburg Free Harbor. The yard had an area of 226,850 square meters, with a water front of 1,100 metres. The yard abuts on the Kaiser Wilhelm Harbor, and is connected with the State Railway. There were two slips over 200 meters long and two large floating docks, while a third, of over 150 meters long with a lifting capacity of 25,000 tons, is in process of construction.

By dredging in front of the slips, the depth of water has been so much increased that the largest ships may be launched and armed. Every mechanical device is at hand. The Vulcan would be able to compete under far more favorable conditions with other shipbuilders, and it may be anticipated that the yards will pay, notwithstanding the enormous initial outlay.

The completion of the new Vulcan yard at Hamburg, from which the company anticipated an increase in efficiency of from 50 to 75 per cent., took place subsequent to the launch of the Dreadnought, and naturally arrangements were made to comply with the fresh standard. This establishment was decided upon in 1905, and was formally opened in the presence of the Emperor William on June 21, 1909. It contains three slips, respectively, 305, 259, and 207 meters in length, for the construction of liners; while a fourth, which provides accommodation for vessels of up to 41 meters beam, was specially designed for warships of the largest dimensions.

The capital of the Vulcan amounted to M.15,000,000. The members of the staff and workmen were 12,000 in all. From the point of view of the Navy, it was of the utmost importance to possess so efficient a shipyard on the Elbe. In any war in the North Sea the Vulcan yards, and those of Blohm and Voss, would be immensely valuable for docking and repairing disabled vessels. That the company themselves considered this North Sea branch the most important, is shown by the fact that they transferred their central bureau to Hamburg since 01 October 1911.

The production of its yards may be seen from the following statistics: Between 1871 and 1911 they had built 110 warships, among which a large number for the Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Greek Navies, respectively. Apart from torpedo-boats, the Vulcan had received more orders for vessels of war than any other yard, and has, dating from 1900, built a large number of torpedo-boats for the German Navy. The Vulcan had built over 159 screw-steamers, among them over a dozen mail steamers and about forty Atlantic freight and passenger ships. To these may be added fifty paddle -steamers and seven ice-breakers.

On the eve of the Great War the area of the Vulcan yard was 283,400 square meters, of which 91,915 were covered with workshops. There were seven slips, of which two are over 200 meters, three between 150 and 200 meters, and two of 100 to 150 meters. There were two floating docks, one of 100 to 150 meters, and another under 100 meters.

Nevertheless, the yards at Bredow retained much of their present importance, for the demands of shipbuilding were great and continued to increase. The Vulcan was regarded in Germany, and with justice, as having grown up with the development of German shipping and the German naval power, as sharing in all their experiences, and as having always risen to the height of its demands.