Lürssen Information

Coordinates: 53°10′N 8°35′E / 53.17°N 8.59°E / 53.17; 8.59

Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard based in Bremen-Vegesack.

Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Trading as Lürssen Yachts, it is one of the leading builders of custom superyachts such as Paul Allens Octopus, David Geffens Rising Sun, and Azzam, the largest private yacht in the world at 180 m in length.

On June 27, 1875, the 24 year-old Friedrich Lürssen set up a boatbuilding workshop in Aumund, a suburb of Bremen, Germany. His first vessel demonstrates his trademark: originality and high-quality. Friedrich Lürssens shipyard grows and thrives, and at one point he even begins placing orders with his father.

11 years later, in 1886, Lürssen builds the worlds first motorboat. The 6-meter REMS is commissioned by the inventor and engine manufacturer Gottlieb Daimler, who needs a boat to put his new engine through its paces. Friedrich Lürssen, always open to new ideas, designs and builds it without delay. The Daimler engine that powers it has a cylinder capacity of 0.462 liters, weighs 60 kilograms, and has an output 1.5 hp at 700 rpm. In 1907, Friedrich Lürssens only son, Otto, joins the firm as a partner.

Four years later the Lürssen-Daimler speedboat with its 102 hp engine becomes the sensation of the racing season. In the Mediterranean off Monaco, it wins the unofficial world championship, the Championship of the Sea. The speedboat goes on to win the Prix de la Cote d´Azur and the Grand Prix des Nations later in the same year.

1916: The company that is his lifes work has grown into a leading German shipyard, when Friedrich Lürssen dies at the age of 65. He could not have wished for the firm he had founded 41 years earlier to develop more successfully. A year after Friedrich Lürssens death, the German navy started using remote-controlled boats to enter occupied ports or attacking heavily armored ships. These boats were co-developed and built by Lürssen.

1925 is a special year for Lürssen. They launched their 10,000th vessel, a 14-meter wooden motoryacht, a sister ship of the Onkel Fidi, and in addition, the company celebrates its 50th anniversary. Two years later they set another standard. With Oheka II, equipped with three Maybach engines that propel her to a top speed of 34 knots, Lürssen builds the worlds fastest commuter yacht. Later the same year, the company also builds the worlds longest and heaviest motoryacht: the 36-meter AAR IV weighs 130 metric tons.

1932: The abrupt death of 52 year-old Otto Lürssen. His wife, Frieda Lürssen, the daughter of a captain of a large cruise ship, takes over the Lürssen yard.

Six years later, the third generation takes on more and more responsibility at Lürssen: Gert Lürssen comes on board - bringing along the passion of motorboats he inherited from his father. In 1939, he sets a world speed record on the lower reaches of the Weser River in a Lürssen diesel-powered speedboat. It achieves a speed of exactly 68.2 km/h.The same year, torpedo boats are delivered to Bulgaria The 35-meter vessels carry the forward-mounted torpedo tubes better and no longer have the tendency to dive in heavy seas, as was the case with previous models.

Business is difficult in the wake of the war. Everyone has to start from scratch and the Lürssen shipyard is no exception. During this time of change, the brothers Gert and Fritz-Otto Lürssen agree on the division of shares in the company, which they hold from then on jointly with their mother Frieda Lürssen. In the postwar period Lürssen sets a new standard for fast patrol boats. They launched the Jaguar in 1959, especially developed for the German Navy. At 42 meters, the ships are larger than those built during WWII. They serve as a model for future fast patrol boat designs.

In 1962 Frieda Lürssen, who has led the company with greater perseverance and technical expertise, decides to hand over the responsibility of the firm to her sons Gert and Fritz-Otto. That same year, the 55-meter yacht Pegasus II is delivered, like her predecessor, to a London shipowner.

1971: Its exterior design sets new worldwide standards: the yacht Carinthia VI is designed by Jon Bannenberg - his first major yacht project. To this day, the 71-meter vessel remains contemporary in styling, and she can be seen as the precursor of todays Lürssen yachts.

At the age of only 63 years Fritz-Otto Lürssen dies unexpectedly, abruptly ending the successful collaboration between the brothers Gert and Fritz-Otto Lürssen. A quote from one of the eulogies at his funeral reflects his popularity: "For us employees, he was an entrepreneur and a boss, someone you could talk to and negotiate with, a friend and advisor". A couple of years later his brother, Gert Lürssen, decides to withdraw from active company leadership. He hands over the management responsibilities to his son, Friedrich.In that same year, 1977, Lürssen delivers the first vessel in the series to the Turkish navy. Three other ships are built at a partner shipyard in Turkey using material packages. A total of ten 57-meter Dogan-type ships are built.

In 1987 Peter Lürssen joins the company - after studying shipbuilding and industrial engineering in Germany and business administration in the United States as well as gathering considerable professional experience. In previous positions, he spent a year as a building inspector at different Japanese shipyards, and already familiarized himself with various Lürssen departments.

In 1988 Lürssen decides to add a new division. Currently the shipyards are operating at 90% capacity with navy contracts but the company decides to split the production between the naval ships and the luxury yachts. From now on, the company devotes half of its production capacity to the building of large yachts. In 1991 the yacht Be Mine is completed, one of the first yachts to be designed and built entirely under the direction of the newly established independent Lürssen yachtbuilding division. She goes on to win the prestigious International Superyacht Society Design Award as well as the Superyacht of the Year Award.At this time the corvette Victory is delivered to the Singaporean Navy as the leading ship in a class of six corvettes. Due to its stealth design, the ship is difficult for enemy vessels to detect. It is also characterized by low underwater noise emissions.

After playing a defining role in the companys progress for half a century, senior partner Gert Lürssen dies on January 2 at the age of 77. This comes at a time when Germany is cutting back its defence spending in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The new yachtbuilding division becomes more important for the company.

In 1990, the United Arab Emirates receive two complex naval vessels from the Murray JIB class equipped with helicopter landing pads and with an extensive array of weapon systems and sensor technology, not usual for ships of this size.

Eight years later, the Kiliç, with a total length of 62 meters is delivered to the Turkish Navy. This corvette has modern weapons and fire control systems integrated. The seafaring qualities of the new enlarged ship have been considerably improved. Also the Indonesian customs authorities have ordered five patrol boats with a top speed of 40 knots and ten with a top speed of 50 knots.

2000: One-and-a-quarter centuries after its founding by Friedrich Lürssen, the company celebrates an important anniversary. The small boatbuilding company on the Weser River has grown into a large shipyard that builds military vessels as well as modern megayachts.Lürssen delivered the Berlin, one of the key task force vessels, to the German Navy. This highly important vessel type ensures the ability of the entire fleet to perform in action.

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