Siemens Schuckertwerke GmbH
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| Founded | 1903 |
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Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966.
Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Halske acquired Schuckertwerke. Subsequently, Siemens & Halske specialized in communications engineering and Siemens-Schuckert in power engineering and pneumatic instrumentation. During World War I Siemens-Schuckert also produced aircraft. It took over manufacturing of the renowned Protos vehicles in 1908.
The Siemens Schuckert logo consisted of an S with a smaller S superimposed on the middle with the smaller S rotated left by 45 degrees. The logo was used into the late 1960s, when both companies merged with the Siemens-Reiniger-Werke AG to form the present-day Siemens AG.
Siemens-Schuckert built a number of designs in World War I and inter-war era. They also produced aircraft engines under the Siemens-Halske brand, which evolved into their major product line after the end of World War I. The company reorganized as Brandenburgische Motorenwerke, or simply Bramo, in 1936, and were later purchased in 1939 by BMW to become BMW Flugmotorenbau.
Siemens-Schuckert designed a number of heavy bombers early in World War I, building a run of seven Riesenflugzeug. Intended to be used in the strategic role in long duration flights, the SSW R-series had three 150 h.p Benz Bz.III engines in the cabin driving two propellers connected to a common gear-box through a combination leather-cone and centrifugal-key clutch in SSW R.I to the SSW R.VII models(the SSW R.VIII utilized four engines). In the case of engine failure, which was extremely common at the time, the bomber could continue flying on two engines while the third was repaired by the in-flight mechanic. Two transmission shafts transferred the power from the gear-box to propeller gear-boxes mounted on the wing struts. Although there were some problems with the clutch system, the gear-box proved to be reliable when properly maintained. The SSW R.1 through the SSW R.VII designs were noted for their distinctive forked fuselage. Several of these aircraft (SSW R.V through the SSW R.VII) fought on the Eastern Front. Although interesting in concept, the cost of these and the R-types from other companies was so great that the air force eventually abandoned the concept until more practical designs arrived later in the war.
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