The company was founded by
Bruno V. Nordberg and
Jacob Elias Friend in 1886 in Milwaukee. Nordberg had previously been working at steam engine and sawmill maker
E. P. Allis & Co. Friend became the company's president, and later his son, Robert E. Friend, was president and chief executive officer. In 1917, Bruno Nordberg was contracted by
Quincy Mining Company to design and build the world's largest steam hoist for their copper mine near
Hancock, Michigan. The hoist is a cross compound steam hoist. It was installed in the
Quincy Mine No. 2 Shaft Hoist House, began operations in November 1920, and ran until the mine closed in 1931. It is currently available for guided historical tours. Nordberg produced a number of marine
triple-expansion steam engines for ships built under the
United States Shipping Board program, ca. 1918-1920: Diameters of 19-32-56 and a stroke of 36 inches for wooden steamers (188nhp) • Nielson & Kelez,
Seattle, Washington: , • Meacham & Babcock, Seattle: • Grant Smith-Porter Ship Company,
Portland, Oregon: , , , , • Maryland Shipbuilding Co.,
Sollers Point, Maryland: • J. M. Murdock & Co.,
Jacksonville, Florida: Diameter of 19-32-56 and a stroke of 36 inches (330nhp) • Superior Shipbuilding Company,
Superior, Wisconsin: • Chicago Shipbuilding Company,
Chicago, Illinois: Diameter of 21-35-59 and a stroke of 42 inches (225nhp) • Globe Shipbuilding Company,
Superior, Wisconsin: , , Diameter of 21-35-59 and a stroke of 42 inches (307nhp) •
Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company,
Manitowoc, Wisconsin: , , , (326nhp), (326nhp) By 1926, they were manufacturing
diesel engines,
steam engines (
poppet-
uniflow Corliss),
air compressors, gas compressors,
mine hoists (steam, air, and electric) and
blowing engines. In 1944, they designed and built the largest diesel engine that has ever been built in the United States. It was built for a
Victory ship built for the
United States Maritime Commission. In 1946, they bought the
Busch-Sulzer Diesel Engine Company which was formed in 1911 by
Adolphus Busch of
Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Busch had acquired the first American rights to the diesel engine in 1898. Nordberg was acquired by Rex ChainBelt Inc (formerly
Chain Belt Company) in 1970, and was to become a division of Rex. By that time, Nordberg had been manufacturing mineral and rock crushing equipment, screens, grinding mills, and hoists, heavy duty diesel and gas turbines, railroad maintenance machinery, hydraulic valves presses and other components. Metso closed Nordberg's former Milwaukee factory in 2004. ==List of Ships==