The freighter Otto Hahn was the third civilian ship to have a nuclear propulsion system, Photo: Archive HDW

The freighter Otto Hahn was the third civilian ship to be equipped had a nuclear propulsion system, Photo: Archive HDW

The specialists

The Kiel-based shipyard group Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems is celebrating a milestone birthday. Founded 185 years ago as the iron foundry and machine shop "Schweffel und Howaldt", the company can look back on an eventful shipyard history.

On 1 October 1838, the merchant Johann Schweffel and the "mechanic" August Ferdinand Howaldt founded the Schweffel & Howaldt machine factory and iron foundry at the port of Kiel. This was also the beginning of Kiel's industrialisation. The young company expanded rapidly with a wide range of products from ploughs, boilers and iron household items to railway carriages. Schweffel & Howaldt did not actually plan to build ships. But in 1851, during the Schleswig-Holstein uprising, the company built an unusual ship: the Brandtaucher, the ancestor of modern submarines.

25 Sep 2023

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