Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss GmbH
Private, GmbH
Industry Shipbuilding
Founded 1877
Founder Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss
Headquarters Hamburg, Germany
Owner ThyssenKrupp
Parent ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems
Website blohmvoss.com

Blohm + Voss (also shown historically as Blohm & Voss and Blohm und Voss), is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. ThyssenKrupp announced in December 2011 that it had agreed the sale of Blohm + Voss' civil shipbuilding division to British investment company STAR Capital Partners, pending regulatory approval.[1][2] The company also oversees maintenance and repair of large cruise ships such as RMS Queen Mary 2 and the MS Queen Victoria.[3]

The company built aircraft before and during World War II, initially through its Hamburger Flugzeugbau subsidiary, and then under its own corporate name shortly after the war's outbreak.

History

Blohm & Voss in 1877

It was founded on 5 April 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a general partnership. A shipyard was built on the island of Kuhwerder, near the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, covering 15,000 m² with 250 m of water frontage and three building berths, two suitable for ships of up to 100 metres length. The company's logo is a simple dark blue rectangle with rounded corners bearing the white letters "Blohm+Voss". Until 1955 the company name was shown with the ampersand.

The company has continued to build ships and other large machines for 125 years. Despite being almost completely demolished after the end of World War II, it now builds warships both for the German Navy and for export (see MEKO), as well as oil drilling equipment and ships for numerous commercial customers.

The company is, along with Howaldtswerke at Kiel and Nordseewerke at Emden, a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems.

History during the Nazi era

With the rise of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, Germany's rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty had begun. This began a sudden change in fortune for the company, run then by brothers Rudolf and Walther Blohm, which was taken out of a deep crisis. Until then specialising in shipbuilding, the company began to design and build aircraft for the German state airline, pre-war Deutsche Luft Hansa and the Luftwaffe. The aeronautical section of the company was named Hamburger Flugzeugbau, therefore the first planes it produced had the code "Ha", but in September 1937 the aviation subsidiary was renamed Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss, later replaced by "BV".[4] Particularly noteworthy were the large flying boats the company produced, especially the largest aircraft designed, built and flown by any of the Axis forces, the Bv 238, and its ingenious approaches to aircraft building that even featured asymmetric designs.

From July 1944 to April 1945 the company used inmates of its own concentration subcamp at its shipyard in Hamburg-Steinwerder, a subcamp of Neuengamme concentration camp.[5] A memorial stands on the site of the camp and the company continues to pay an undisclosed amount to the Fund for Compensation of Forced Laborers.[6]

Ships and submarines

Notable ships built by the company include:

Tall ships

Ocean liners and other passenger ships

Private yachts

Lady Moura in Monaco

Warships of World War I

SMS Scharnhorst

Warships of World War II

Modern warships

Blohm + Voss Shipbuilding
Blohm + Voss shipyard entrance
Blohm + Voss shipyard entrance 
Blohm + Voss Dock 10 in Hamburg
Blohm + Voss Dock 10 in Hamburg 
Cruise ship Freedom of the Seas, with drydock Elbe 17 on the background
Cruise ship MS Freedom of the Seas, with drydock Elbe 17 in the background 
The Cosco Brisbane at Blohm & Voss Shipyard, April 2005
The Cosco Brisbane at Blohm & Voss Shipyard, April 2005 

Aircraft

From 1933 to 1945, the company operated the Hamburger Flugzeugbau aircraft company. Although initially given the factory code Ha (for the factory's official name), the link with Blohm & Voss shipyards proved too strong and therefore the early aircraft designs were called "Blohm & Voss, type Ha..." followed by the design number. To end this confusion, in 1938 the Reichsluftfahrtministerium changed the company code to BV.

Aircraft and projects designed under the Ha and BV designations can be found at

List of Blohm + Voss Aircraft and projects

List of Major Internal Projects of the WW2 Era under the RLM:

Although Hamburger Flugzeugbau re-emerged after the war and, under different names and ownerships, continues to build aircraft, it has no ties with Blohm & Voss.

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Bryant, Chris. "ThyssenKrupp sells ‘mega-yacht’ division". FT.com. Financial Times Limited. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "STAR Capital Partners buys Blohm & Voss’ civil business". SuperYachtTimes.com. SuperYachtTimes.com. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "»Queen Victoria« once again at Blohm+Voss". Bohm + Voss. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  4. ↑ B+V Geschichte v. 1933-1938 -Die Rüstungskonjunktur ab 1933
  5. ↑ The camp Blohm & Voss is listed as No. 550 Hamburg in the official German list (List in German)
  6. ↑ Herbert Diercks, Der Hamburger Hafen im Nationalsozialismus, 2008
  7. 1 2 3 "Blohm + Voss". Wehrmacht history. Retrieved 2011-01-28.

Bibliography

  • Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, Second edition, 2005. ISBN 0-7509-3981-8.
  • Meyhoff, Andreas. Blohm & Voss im »Dritten Reich«, Eine Hamburger Großwerft zwischen Geschäft und Politik (Hamburger Beiträge zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, Band 38) (in German). Hamburg, Germany: Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg, 2001. ISBN 3-89244-916-3.
  • Pohlmann, Herrmann. 'Chronik Eines Flugzeugwerkes 1932-1945. B&V - Blohm & Voss Hamburg - HFB Hamburger Flugzeugbau (in German). Motor Buch Verlag, 1979 ISBN 3-87943-624-X.
  • Prager, Hans Georg and Bishop, Frederick A.(Transl.). Blohm + Voss: Ships and Machinery for the World. London: Brassey's Publishers Limited, 1977. ISBN 0-904609-14-6.
  • Witthöft, Hans J. Tradition und Fortschritt - 125 Jahre Blohm + Voss (in German). Koehlers Verlag, 2002. ISBN 3-7822-0847-1.
  • Wixey, Ken. Flugboots from Hamburg: An outline history of Blohm und Voss flying-boats Air Enthusiast No.82 July/August 1999 pp42–48
  • Aviso Grille - Hitler's War Yacht - Revel Barker

External links

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