Crichton - Vulcan Crichton - Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku , Finland , that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry . The shipyard is best known for World War II coastal defence ship s and submarine s it produced . Shipbuilding at the yard gradually ended after 1976 , after a new shipyard had been built in Turku . The old yard was taken over by Turku Repair Yard and used for ship repair until 2004 , when they too moved to the nearby city of Naantali . The shipyard by the Aura River in Turku now lies abandoned and is the target of vandalism . However , a zoning process is currently under way to turn the site into an upper - class residential area , and demolition of the old buildings began in June 2011 . History . The first shipyard in Turku was established in 1732 on the eastern bank of the Aura River . The first foundry and metal workshop was established in 1842 . After the Crimean War the workshop was acquired by William Crichton . Crichton built a new shipyard near the mouth of Aura . Soon a joint - stock company , W : m Crichton & C : o Ab was established , merging smaller shipyards . In 1913 W : m Crichton & C : o Ab went bankrupt , and a new company AB Crichton was established in its place . Åbo mekaniska verkstads Ab was founded in 1874 and later merged with another workshop that changed its name to Oy Vulcan Ab in 1899 . In 1924 the manager of Vulcan Allan Staffans organised a merger between the two companies creating Crichton - Vulcan Oy . It again was merged with Wärtsilä between 1936 and 1938 . Wärtsilä bought the neighbouring boat and engine builder Andros in 1939 and joined it to Crichton - Vulcan . In 1966 the name of the shipyard was changed to Oy Wärtsilä Ab Turun telakka . Naval ships . During World War I , the shipyard served the Imperial Russian Navy . After Finnish independence in 1917 , Finland started a program on naval armament . Most of the ships were designed by the Dutch ( German ) company Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw and built by Crichton - Vulcan . The shipyard built two coastal defence ship s for the Finnish Navy . The ( displacement ) " Ilmarinen " and " Väinämöinen " were ordered in 1927 and delivered in 1931 and 1932 , respectively . Submarines . The shipyard also built the prototypes for the World War II German U - boat fleet . Germany was banned under the Treaty of Versailles from building submarines , so work was conducted under foreign dummy companies . Three submarines were ordered in 1927 . The submarines were designed by Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw ; the design was based on the World War I German Type UB III submarine . The design work and the supervision of the construction was done by Germans . The submarines would serve as a step in the design of the German Type VIIA submarines . The " Vetehinen " , the " Vesihiisi " and the " Iku - Turso " were commissioned in 1930 and 1931 . A smaller sub , the " Vesikko " , was launched in 1933 . It too was designed by Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw , and was the direct prototype of the German Type II submarine . Successors . In the mid - 1970s , Wärtsilä built a new , larger shipyard in Perno , from the center of Turku . This new shipyard in now operated by STX Europe and produces the world ' s largest cruise ships , the Freedom class and the Oasis class . After 1983 the old shipyard concentrated solely on ship repair ; the last newbuilding entirely built at the old shipyard was M / S Rosella , launched in 1979 , but until spring 1983 the old shipyard continued to complete ships that were launched at the new yard and then towed to the old yard . In 1986 Wärtsilä ' s shipbuilding branch merged with the shipyards of the state - owned Valmet , taking over the Vuosaari shipyard in Helsinki . In 1989 the new company , " Wärtsilä Marine INC " , went bankrupt . A new company , Masa - Yards ( now STX Europe ) , headed by yard manager Martin Saarikangas , took over the new shipyard in Turku and Wärtsilä ' s Helsinki New Shipyard . Another new company , Turun Korjaustelakka Oy , now " Turku Repair Yard Ltd " , was established to take over the old repair yard . In 2004 the old yard was abandoned and the company moved to a new shipyard outside the city limits on Luonnonmaa island in Naantali . The company now operates one of the largest dry docks in the Baltic Sea area used solely for ship repair . It is owned by BLRT Grupp . Engines . Wärtsilä , the company , is today one of the leading producers of large diesel engines for ships and power plants , producing Wärtsilä - Sulzer and the Wärtsilä - Vasa engines . The engine factory is also located on the Aura riverbank . In 2004 Wärtsilä decided to move production of its diesel engines from Turku to its factory in Italy . Ships . A number of ships produced at the old shipyard are still in service , a few examples :