Karl Wilhelm Hagelin

Karl Wilhelm Hagelin (born September 28, 1860 in Saint Petersburg , † May 4, 1955 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish engineer who spent most of his working life in Russia.

Before his studies he completed an apprenticeship as a ship designer . He worked for a shipping company and then from 1879 as a mechanic for the Branobel oil company in Baku . As a technician and engineer, he was responsible for many technical improvements at Branobel, including the first Russian oil pipeline , the oil power station to generate electricity for lighting and to drive the oil pumps.

In 1900 he became CEO of the company and took care of the distribution of the oil by rail and ship. Initially, the tankers were transported from Baku to Astrakhan and further over the Volga and canals to the Baltic Sea with steam ships. Hagelin advocated diesel engine propulsion and was largely responsible for the construction of the Vandal (1902/03), which, with its 180 hp propulsion power, is considered the first ship with diesel propulsion. A year later, the sister ship Sarmat with diesel propulsion was delivered to Branobel.

From 1895 Karl Wilhelm Hagelin was the Swedish consul in Baku and from 1906 in St. Petersburg. He was made an honorary member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering in Sweden in 1923 .

He returned to Sweden in 1917 and died there in 1955.

Web links

• CV and pictures of Hagelin and family
• [1]