The original company Schichau was founded in 1837 by
Ferdinand Schichau in
Elbing (Elbląg) as
F. Schichau. It started by manufacturing steam engines and heavy equipment, later
locomotives. In 1854 Schichau built a shipyard in Elbing. A new large shipyard in
Danzig was opened in 1890 (later becoming a part of the Polish
Gdańsk Shipyard after 1945). In 1929 the shipyard was bought by the German government. Another shipyard was completed in 1906 near
Bremerhaven. In 1930 the company also bought a small yard in
Königsberg. After 1945 shipyards in Danzig, Königsberg and Elbing were found on the Soviet and Polish territories, and the company restarted business in
Bremerhaven in
West Germany, merging with the
Schiffbaugesellschaft Unterweser in 1972 to become
Schichau Unterweser and with
Seebeckwerft in 1988 to become
Schichau Seebeckwerft. The company was then bought by
Bremer Vulkan and initially closed in 1996. The new
SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard GmbH, founded in 1998, was closed in 2009. With its long history of major shipbuilding, the company is also known as
Schichau-Werft, or
Schichau Seebeck Shipyard (
Werft meaning
shipyard). ==Ships built by Schichau Seebeckwerft (selection)==