Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft ( often just called Germaniawerft , " Germania shipyard " ) was a German shipbuilding company , located in the harbour at Kiel , and one of the largest and most important builders of U - boat s for the Kaiserliche Marine in World War I and the Kriegsmarine in World War II . History . The company was founded in 1867 by Lloyd Foster , as the Norddeutsche Schiffbau - Gesellschaft , in the town of Gaarden , near Kiel . The idea of the company was to construct war and merchant ships . In 1876 the company built the personal yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II , the . The company went bankrupt in 1879 and had to be sold and became property of the " Märkisch - Schlesischen Maschinenbau und Hütten - Aktiengesellschaft " . They had constructed steam engines in Berlin since 1822 . A few year later this company also got in trouble and in late 1882 a new company was founded , the Schiff und Maschinenbau Germania . A few more warships were constructed and the company also had a very good reputation concerning the construction of torpedo boat s . However the financial problems were never far away and by the end of August 1896 Krupp took over , as they were very interested in building warships themselves . Between 1898 and 1902 the company doubled its surface and new and large slips were constructed . In 1902 the company changed name and became the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft . In 1908 , Germaniawerft built the schooner " Germania " for Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach , based on a design from Max Oertz . It was the first yacht of its size built in Germany . In the period preceding World War I , it also built a number of battleships for the Kaiserliche Marine , including the , , and . During the First World War , the company turned to building U - boats . A total of 84 U - boats were delivered to the Kaiserliche Marine . Afterwards , it returned to its original vocation , including building the steel - hulled barque " Sedov " ( originally the " Magdalene Vinnen II " ) , the largest traditional sailing ship still afloat . During World War II , the Germaniawerft was one of the most important suppliers of the Kriegsmarine , because of its proximity to German naval facilities in Kiel . Over the course of the war , the company completed 131 U - boats ( types II , VII , XB , XIV , XVII , and XXIII ) . The Kriegsmarine had in total ordered 240 U - boats . In 1944 , the shipyard had over 10 , 000 employees , of which roughly 11 % were forced labourers . On April 26 , 1945 , the last U - boat built in the Germaniawerft was launched , the . The war ended before it could enter into service . The most famous U - boats built at the Germaniawerft are probably , which was commanded by Günther Prien during his sinking of the in 1940 , and , which formed the basis of Lothar - Günther Buchheim ' s novel " Das Boot " . After the war , the partially ruined shipyard was one of the first facilities dismantled by the victorious allies . The population of heavily bombed Kiel protested furiously this decision , but to no avail . The site was broken up and not rebuilt . In the late 1960s , the grounds were purchased by Howaldtswerke - Deutsche Werft as a submarine - building shipyard . As of 2006 , submarines are being built at the site .