page_title: Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad
section_title: Shipbuilding and repairs
hierarchical_section_title: Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad / Early 20th century / Shipbuilding and repairs
caption_attribution_description: English: A vintage tram on Snellmaninkatu street in Kruununhaka, Helsinki, Finland. Suomi: Museoraitiovaunu Snellmaninkadulla Kruununhaassa, Helsingissä. Svenska: En museispårvagn på Snellmansgatan i Kronohagen i Helsingfors. Deutsch: Ein Museums-Straßenbahnwagen auf der Snellmaninkatu Straße in Kruununhaka in Helsinki, Finnland.
context_page_description: Aktiebolaget Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad was a Finnish shipbuilding and engineering company that operated in Helsinki in 1895–1938. The company was set up to continue shipbuilding at Hietalahti shipyard, after its predecessor Helsingfors Skeppsdocka, which operated the yard in 1865–1895, had bankrupted.
  The company portfolio consisted building and repairing of ships, production of tram and railway wagons, boilers, steam and combustion engines, winches and other products. Before and during the First World War the main customers were the Imperial Russian Navy and the Finnish State Railways. Following the Finnish Declaration of Independence in 1917, the Finnish Civil War broke out in 1918. The yard was closed until the Red Guards had left the city.
  Due to recession in shipbuilding the company owners decided to sell the shares to another Helsinki engineering company, Kone- ja Siltarakennus in 1926. In 1935 Kone- ja Siltarakennus was taken over by Wärtsilä, which amalgamated Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works into its own organisation. The yard continued operating under name Wärtsilä Hietalahti Shipyard after that.
context_section_description: In year 1900 Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works invested on pneumatic tools. A separate air compressor building was constructed next to the steam boiler building, and the premises were equipped with a comprehensive pressurised air supply network. The new tools increased productivity especially at the dockyard.
  At the early 20th century the company built passenger ships, tug steamers and other vessels to Finnish and Russian customers. In 1904 the company recruited Theodor Höijer as shipbuilding master. Höijer was an experienced engineer who had worked in Sweden and the United States.
  The size of ships visiting in the Finnish harbours had grown by the end of the 19th century, and in order to be able to dock those ships, the dock had to be extended. In 1903 the dock was extended to 96 metres, in 1910 to 100.6 metres and in 1912 to 106.7 metres. After the last enlargement, the company was able to dock the largest ships which visited the Finnish harbours. As the dry dock alone was not enough to meet the demand, the company considered building another similar one or a floating dry dock. The first option was ruled out due to cost reasons, and the second one due to lack of suitable place next to the area. Therefore, the company ended up to replace an 1886-built cradle by a larger one with 1,500 tonnes capacity. The 1907–1908 built new cradle was a significant investment, costing nearly 350,000 marks. Ship repair capabilities were further enhanced by introduction of welding in 1906 and investments on machinery, including two large lathes in 1908.
  Between 1900–1914 the company built at least 60 vessels. Most of the customers were from Russia and other countries around the Baltic Sea. 22 projects were steam launches and passenger steamers, three were coast guard vessels, 20 vessels were tug boats, rescue vessels or icebreakers and 11 were barges. In motor vessels the company used engines produced by Swedish J. & C. G. Bolinders Mekaniska Verkstads AB. About 30 vessels built in 1910–1918 were powered by these engines designed by Erik Rundlöf.
  At the end of 1904 the Russian Admiralty ordered first two, then another two torpedo boats, which were delivered in 1907. The drawings and engines came from Germany. The orders were highly profitable and during the building the company headcount was increased from 700 to 1,000. The project required building an electrogalvanisation facility which operated until 1914. While the order intake of military vessels declined in 1910, the company got significant repair projects: in 1911 three medium-size navy vessels, in 1912 three ships-of-the-line and five smallers vessels, in 1913 one ship of the line and a minelayer. Moreover, in 1914 shortly before the outbreak of the war, nine smaller ships underwent a thorough repair. Also new ships were constructed in the meantime.
caption: Vintage tram in Helsinki with a wagon produced by Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works.
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