Kockums - in business for 320 years
Kockums AB is the result of a merger between Kockums in Malmö, Karlskronavarvet in Karlskrona and Marinverkstäderna at Muskö.
The launching of HMS Sjöhunden at Kockums Malmö in 1939
Karlskronavarvet
The late 1600s were troubled times in the Baltic. The Swedish king Karl XI realised that he needed a naval base in the south of Sweden to defend the recently conquered provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. Therefore Karlskrona was founded in 1679 as a naval base and shipyard.
Karlskronavarvet soon became the leading Swedish naval shipyard, a position it still holds today. Over the centuries some 450 ships have left the slipways. The materials have changed from oak and canvas to armoured steel, carbon fibre reinforced plastic and electronics, but the craftsmanship, inherited from generation to generation of shipbuilders, still remains first-class.
Karlskronavarvet is one of Sweden's oldest industrial sites still in full use. At the shipyard you meet many fascinating mixtures of state-of-the-art shipbuilding technology and history. For instance, the original dry docks are still used, as functional today as they were almost 300 years ago. The mast crane, built in 1803, stands as a beautiful monument beside the docks. The need for the crane is long gone but it is still fully operational.
Kockums, Malmö
The other Kockums unit is located some 200 km south-west of Karlskrona, in the city of Malmö. In 1873 Kockums Mekaniska Verkstad (Kockums Mechanical Industry) delivered its first ship, a 700 tonne steamer named Tage Sylwan. Two years later the Royal Swedish Navy orders the steam barge Torpedo. This is the beginning of a long and successful cooperation with the Navy.
In the years that followed Kockums built a wide variety of ships for the Swedish Navy including dreadnoughts, destroyers and torpedo boats.
In 1914 the first submersibles from Kockums - the 252 tonne Svärdfisken and Tumlaren (Swordfish and Porpoise) - were put in commission with the Navy. This rather modest start laid the foundation of what is today one of the world's most successful submarine designers and builders - Kockums.
Kockums was also a very successful builder of merchant ships. For instance, in 1940 Kockums delivered the world's first all-welded merchant vessel, the m/t Braconda.
Marinverkstäderna, Muskö
Kockums´ Muskö facility, comprising the Muskö naval base and underground shipyard, the latter being blasted out of the rock, was inaugurated by HRH King Gustav VI Adolf in September 1969. It took no less than nineteen years to build. In October 2007, the naval engineering workshop at Muskö were acquired by Kockums AB, becoming an integral part of the company.
Since 1986 Kockums has concentrated its activities within the naval sector. In 1998 Kockums and Karlskronavarvet merged into one company as a part of the Celsius Group.
In 2007 Kockums took over Marinverkstäderna at Muskö. So today operations are based in Karlskrona, Malmö and Muskö.
Page updated Monday, November 09, 2009.
