Wilton-Fijenoord

Wilton-Fijenoord was a shipbuilding and repair company in Schiedam in the Netherlands from 1929 to 1999.^[1] Its roots dated back to 1825, when the Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord had been founded, incorporating the Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij established by Gerhard Mauritz Roentgen in 1823.

Since Dutch shipping companies had insufficient confidence in the indigenous industry and were used to ordering their steamers in Great Britain, to break this deadlock, Fijenoord, which had only experience in the construction of steam engines, had to build a big vessel on speculation. Around 1880, this strategy proved to be successful. During the First World War Fijenoord made high profits, which were used to upgrade their facilities in Schiedam.

In 1929, NV Dok en Werf Maatschappij Wilton-Fijenoord was established by merger of NV Maatschappij voor Scheeps- en Werktuigbouw Fijenoord and NV Dok en Werf Maatschappij of Rotterdam. During the 1930s crisis, the shipyard suffered substantial losses. A notorious problem for the Dutch yards before the Second World War, was the lack of design capabilities. Accordingly, Wilton-Fijenoord had to buy the vessel designs from independent design companies and developed only the detailed structures. By a cartel agreement, four Dutch yards including Wilton-Fijenoord formed a joint design office in 1935. As a contractor, the yard contributed mainly its expertise in organizing the construction of ships.^[2]

In 1999, Wilton-Fijenoord was integrated into Rotterdam United Shipyards. In 2003, the company was acquired by Damen Shiprepair.

Ships built

• Passenger liners:
  • Fairstar launched in 1964 for Sitmar Line
  • Maasdam launched in 1952 for Holland America Line
  • Statendam, launched in 1956 for Holland America Line
• Whaling factory:
  • Willem Barendsz (II),^[3] launched in 1955
• Tankships:
  • J.B. Aug. Kessler launched in 1902 and 29 others built for Shell Royal Dutch^[4]
  • Poitou launched in 1954 for Société Française de Transports Pétroliers
• Cargo/passenger ships:
  • Camphuys launched in 1949 for Koninklijke Java China Paketvaart Lijnen

Warships

Cruisers

• HNLMS De Ruyter a unique cruiser launched in 1935
• HNLMS De Ruyter a De Zeven Provinciën class cruiser launched in 1944

Destroyers

• HNLMS Gelderland a Holland class destroyer
• HNLMS Overijssel a Friesland class destroyer

Submarines

• HNLMS O 19 an O 19 class submarine
• HNLMS O 20 an O 19 class submarine
• HNLMS O 25 an O 21 class submarine
• HNLMS Potvis a Potvis class submarine
• HNLMS Tonijn a Dolfijn class submarine|Potvis class submarine

Frigates

• Kortenaer (F807) and 7 others - Kortenaer class frigates
• KRI Fatahillah (361) a Fatahillah class frigate for the Indonesian Navy
• KRI Malahayati (362) a Fatahillah class frigate for the Indonesian Navy
• KRI Nala (363) a Fatahillah class frigate for the Indonesian Navy
• Elli (ΕΛΛΗ) (F450) and Limnos (ΛΗΜΝΟΣ) (F451) - frigates for the Greek Navy

Minesweepers

• HNLMS Dokkum a Dokkum class minesweeper
• HNLMS Overijssel a Dokkum class minesweeper
• HNLMS Roermond a Dokkum class minesweeper

References