Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven (, , known 1918–35 as 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 Wilhelmshaven Imperial Shipyard which had been closed down after World War I.
In 1935, the name was changed to Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven when the German navy (Reichsmarine) was renamed Kriegsmarine by the Nazi Third Reich.
During World War II, the yard's main activities were in building warships, U-boats and repairing damaged warships. On 18 December 1939, 12 out of 22 RAF's Wellington bombers were shot down in an air battle over the naval base.Denis Richards RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War (1995) chap. 3 Personnel were often assigned to organizing naval facilities in occupied countries, e.g., in the ports of Lorient, Brest and St. Nazaire. At the war's end there were about 17,000 workers.
Polish and British troops reached Wilhelmshaven in May 1945. For a time, the yard refurbished ships to be sent to the Allies as war reparations but, from 1946, most buildings and equipment were either dismantled or blown up.
Since 1957, part of the site has housed an arsenal for the modern German Navy (Deutsche Bundesmarine).
Selection of ships built 1920-1922: 28 fishing vessels 1922: four cargo ships 1925: Light cruiser 1926-1928: six torpedo-boats 1929: K-class light cruiser 1930: K-class light cruiser 1931: Gunnery training ship 1934: Panzerschiff (armoured ship, later classified as heavy cruiser) 1936: Deutschland-class Panzerschiff 1939: 1941: 1941-1944: 27 Type VII submarines ( to and to )
References
G. Koop, K. Galle, F. Klein, Von der Kaiserlichen Werft zum Marinearsenal, Bernard & Graefe Verlag München, 1982,