Wilton-Fijenoord was a shipbuilding and repair company in Schiedam in the Netherlands from 1929 to 1999. 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.
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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.
In 1999, Wilton-Fijenoord was integrated into Rotterdam United Shipyards. In 2003, the company was acquired by Damen Shiprepair.
Ships built
Warships
Cruisers
Destroyers
Submarines
Frigates
Minesweepers