World War II Database

Contributor: Al Griffis

ww2dbaseThe German firm Brückenbau Flender AG of Benrath am Rhein (now a district of Düsseldorf), Germany established a new steelworks in the city of Lübeck in 1878. After the founder's son, Hermann August Flender, took the helm, it became known for building bridges and steel structures. In 1914, it started building prefabricated floating dry docks that were shipped to customers' shipyards for final assembly. In 1917, expanding shop became known as Flenderwerke. In 1918, the city of Lübeck approved Flenderwerke's request to purchase additional land to build a modern shipyard. By the end of 1921 it would possess five slips (each capable of building a ship up to 15,000 tons and up to 150 meters in length), four small slips (each up to 1,200 tons), a horizontal slip (3,500 tons, 400 meters long, capable of multiple ship constructions at a time), a floating drydock, and various shops and factories; at this time, it employed 2,290 workers. In 1923, it opened its own design office. In 1926, Flenderwerke formally broke off from Brückenbau Flender AG as an independent company known as Lübecker Flenderwerke AG. In 1937, it began building facilities east of the slips for the sole purpose of submarine construction after being informed by the German Navy that they were being considered for the construction of an expanded submarine fleet. The order for four Type VII B submarines was issued on 9 Jun 1938, followed by larger orders for Type VII B and C submarines in 1939 and 1940. In 1943, two smaller freighters were built under the Hansa program. In the summer of 1943, a night shift was introduced to speed up the delivery of submarines for the war effort. During the war, Flenderwerke designers participated in a study of one-man submarines, which ultimately resulted in the Biber-class midget submarines. The Biber prototype was ready in Mar 1944, and the first operation took place in Aug 1944; a total of 324 Biber midget submarines were built by Flenderwerke during the war. After the war, the shipyard remained in operations for building merchant ships. In 1973, it was renamed Flender Werft AG. It closed after becoming bankrupt in 2002.

Ships Constructed at Lübecker Flenderwerke AG

Slip/Drydock Utilization

[Con]: Construction; [FO]: Fitting Out

Lübecker Flenderwerke AG Interactive Map

Photographs

Maps

Lübecker Flenderwerke AG Timeline