Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft

History

HDW was founded 1 October 1838 in Kiel by engineer August Howaldt and entrepreneur under the name Maschinenbauanstalt und Eisengießerei Schweffel & Howaldt (Machine Factory and Iron Foundry Schweffel & Howaldt), initially building boilers.

The first steam engine for naval purposes was built in 1849 for Von der Tann, a gunboat for the small navy of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1850, the company built an early submarine, Brandtaucher, designed by Wilhelm Bauer. It had been intended to build the boat in Rendsburg but Danish forces advanced too close during the First Schleswig War, so construction was moved to Kiel.

The first ship built under the company's new name Howaldtswerke was a small steamer, named Vorwärts, built in 1865. Business expanded rapidly as Germany became a maritime power and, by the start of the 20th century, around 390 ships had been completed.

In 1892, the company started a subsidiary in Austro-Hungarian Fiume on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. The subsidiary closed ten years later, but the yard remains open under the name 3. Maj.

With Kiel being one of the two main bases of the Kaiserliche Marine, the shipyard also benefited much from navy maintenance, repair and construction contracts. During World War I the company also built a number of U-boats. By 1937, the company had yards in Kiel and in Hamburg, and was taken over by the Kriegsmarine. During World War II, Howaldtswerke built 33 VIIC U-boats in Hamburg and 31 in Kiel.

After the end of World War II, Howaldtswerke was the only major shipyard in Kiel that was not dismantled. The yard flourished during the "economic miracle" of the 1960s, with the construction of freighters and tankers, and again expanded by opening a shipyard in Hamburg. Howaldtswerke merged with Deutsche Werft in Hamburg in 1968, and the company took the new name Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW). In 1982, HDW took out ads in American newspapers offering to sell the U.S. Navy the rights to build a Type 2000 submarine in the U.S. using American labor and materials. Pressure from cheaper competitors in Japan and South Korea caused the closure of the Hamburg yard in 1985.

In March 2002, the American financial investor One Equity Partner (OEP) took over the majority of Babcock AG at HDW. Shortly after that, Babcock AG had to file for insolvency and called for a reserved transaction, but the OEP was able to avoid this.

In January 2005, HDW became a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), which also part-owned Kockums of Malmö, Sweden and 24.9% of Hellenic Shipyards Co. of Skaramangas, Greece. The group employs around 6,600 workers. In 2009, HDW worked with Kockums and Northrop Grumman to offer a derivative in the American Focused Mission Vessel Study, a precursor to the Littoral combat ship program.

In July 2011, TKMS announced that it has confirmed an existing deal to sell the civilian shipbuilding assets of HDW Gaarden to Abu Dhabi MAR.

Ships built by HDW (selection)

Civilian

• (1924)
• (1954), luxury yacht conversion from naval vessel for Aristotle Onassis
• (1968), nuclear powered freighter
• (1975), cruiseferry
• (1976), cruiseferry
• (1981), cruiseferry
• (1981), cruise ship
• (1982), research icebreaker
• (1987), cruise ship
• (2001), fast ropax ferry
• (2001), fast ropax ferry
• (2001), fast ropax ferry
• (2002), fast ropax ferry
• (2002), fast ropax ferry

Naval

Battleships

• (1911)
• (1913)
• (1916)

Frigates

• , a
• , two frigates built for the Royal Malaysian Navy
• , frigates built for the Colombian Navy
• , a

Corvettes

• s

Submarines (U-boats)

• Type VIIC submarines (WWII)
• Type 201 submarines
• Type 205 submarines
• Type 206 submarines
• Type 209 submarines
• Type U 209PN submarines
• Type 212CD submarines
• Type 212 submarines
• Type 214 submarines
• Type 218 submarines
• Type 800 submarines

Gunboats

• (built (only) by Howaldtswerke as Diogenes, a steamer (1881))

Current classes sold and in production

Submarines

Confirmed sales

Likely sales

Planned replacements

Ongoing bids and potential sales in new submarine purchase programmes.

Surface war ships

Current production

Potential sales

Notes

References

1. (May 4, 1982). "U-Bet". The Boston Phoenix.
2. *[[Torsten Oltmanns]], Ralf-Dieter Brunowsky: Re: think CEO 2. Managers in the media trap (abstract; in German), original title: Manager in der Medienfalle, BrunoMedia, Cologne 2009, {{ISBN. 978-3-9811506-7-4, S. 35
3. (July 1, 2011). "Blohm+Voss Sale to Abu Dhabi MAR Falls Through". megayachtnews.com.
4. (July 4, 2011). "Planned Blohm + Voss sale falls through". motorship.com.
5. (July 2, 2011). "Abu Dhabi MAR-German deal 'falls through'". thenational.ae.
6. (July 7, 2011). "German Shipbuilding Restructured: UAE's Firm Buys Blohm+Voss". defenseindustrydaily.com.
7. (May 13, 2013). "ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems showcases its modern submarines at IMDEX Asia 2013".
8. Vavasseur, Xavier. (2022-01-20). "Israel orders 3 new Dakar-class submarines from TKMS".
9. (2009-07-06). ">Turkey signs contract for six Type 214 submarines".
10. Ozberk, Tayfun. (2022-05-24). "Turkey launches second Reis-class Type 214 AIP submarine".
11. "Ceremony for the major submarine contracts between Norway and Germany".
12. "Record order – thyssenkrupp Marine Systems granted order expansion in the 212CD program".
13. (2025-12-09). "Norwegen zieht Option: Sechs statt vier U212CD-U-Boote".
14. "Singapore to buy 2 more submarines and introduce new 'Titan' infantry fighting vehicle".
15. Valpolini, Paolo. (2025-05-10). "thyssenkrupp Marine Systems receives order extension for two additional submarines from Singapore".
16. Bisht, Inder Singh. (2025-01-28). "Thyssenkrupp Wins Indian Navy Deal to Build Six AIP-Equipped Subs".
17. Redacción. (2025-02-08). "Germany would double down on its bid to equip the Argentine Navy with TKMS Type 209NG submarines".
18. "Egypt considers new submarine acquisitions {{!}} Shephard".
19. Africa, Military. (2024-12-23). "Germany rethinks sale of attack submarines to Egypt following Israeli pressure".
20. (2025-03-12). "Greece to Buy Four New Submarines".
21. Luck, Alex. (2023-03-10). "German Navy mulling drone-heavy force structure looking towards 2035 and beyond".
22. (16 April 2025). "Fincantieri {{!}} Fincantieri and thyssenkrupp Marine Systems partner for Philippines submarines project".
23. Romero, Alexis. "Philippines closer to acquiring submarine for maritime security".
24. (11 May 2024). "Deutschland und Norwegen schlagen Kanada maritime Partnerschaft vor".
25. Staff, Naval News. (2024-07-11). "Canada launches process to acquire up to 12 conventionally-powered submarines".
26. (2025-08-26). "Kanada: Deutsche TKMS und koreanische Hanwah als mögliche Lieferanten für U-Boote identifiziert".
27. Lee, Albert. (2025-06-05). "LIMA 2025: Maintenance and Repair Contract Signed For Malaysia's Scorpene-class Submarines".
28. MASAITI, Amira EL. (2025-09-15). "Morocco in talks to acquire first submarines amid regional naval competition".
29. Toutate, Issam. (2025-03-03). "Morocco to Reportedly Boost Navy with Two Military Submarines".
30. Liam, Darek. (2025-02-27). "European shipbuilders compete for Moroccan submarine contract".
31. navaltoday. (2017-09-13). "Germany awards €2.4bln contract for five new K130 corvettes".
32. "Thyssenkrupp, Embraer to build four frigates for Brazil Navy".
33. McNeil, Harry. (2023-12-18). "thyssenkrupp accelerates Egyptian naval power with Al-Qadeer frigate".
34. Domingo, Juster. (2023-12-20). "Egypt Receives Third MEKO A-200 Frigate".
35. Malyasov, Dylan. (2025-09-24). "Germany set to buy eight new F127 frigates".