Blohm and Voss
On April 5, 1877, Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss founded the
Blohm & Voss Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik shipbuilding and
engineering works as a general partnership. A shipyard was built on the island of Kuhwerder, near the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, covering 15,000 m²;, with 250 m of water frontage and three building berths, two suitable for ships of up to 100 metres length.
The company has continued to build ships and other large machines
for 125 years. Despite being almost completely demolished after the end of World War II, it now builds warships both for the Deutsche Marine and for export, as well as oil drilling equipment and ships for numerous commercial customers.
From about 1930 to 1945 Blohm & Voss also designed and built aircraft for use by both the German state airline, Lufthansa, and the air-force, Luftwaffe. Particularly noteworthy were the large flying boats the company produced, as well as ingenious approaches to aircraft building that often featured asymmetric designs.
The company's name is often found spelled Blohm & Voß in German (and occasionally English) sources. See ß for an explanation of the use of this letter and changes in German spelling that have taken place over the last century with regard to its use.
Blohm & Voss aircraft included:
- Blohm & Voss BV 40, glider interceptor
- Blohm & Voss Ha 137, prototype dive bomber
- Blohm & Voss BV 138, flying-boat (early versions designated as Ha 138)
- Blohm & Voss Ha 139, long-range seaplane
- Blohm & Voss Ha 140, torpedo bomber flying-boat (prototype)
- Blohm & Voss BV 141, reconnaissance (asymmetric)
- Blohm & Voss BV 142, reconnaissance + transport
- Blohm & Voss BV 143, glide bomb (prototype)
- Blohm & Voss BV 144, transport
- Blohm & Voss BV 155, high-altitude interceptor (formerly Me 155)
- Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking (Viking), transport flying-boat
- Blohm & Voss BV 238, flying-boat (prototype
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