Rudolf Veith

Rudolf Veith (born June 1, 1846 in Bobischau , Habelschwerdt district in Silesia , † March 13, 1917 in Berlin) was a German marine mechanical engineer and naval construction officer .

Life

Veith passed the Abitur at Matthias Gymnasium in Breslau in 1865 . After practical experience as mechanical and metallurgical apprentice he attended some trade school . He completed his military service as a one-year volunteer in the navy in the war year 1870/71 and gained valuable experience in practical ship engine operation. He studied from 1871 to 1874 at the Königliche Gewerbeakademie Berlin , headed by Franz Reuleaux (forerunner of the Technical University of Berlin ), specializing in the subjects of marine machinery, auxiliary machinery and boilers, which Schwarz-Flemming only read from 1874 .

In 1874 he passed the main diploma examination and then worked as an engineer in a machine factory for the construction of ship engines. He then switched to the service of the Imperial Navy , working at the naval shipyards in Wilhelmshaven , Danzig and Kiel . In between he worked as a construction supervisor at the Schichau shipyard in Elbing . In 1895 he was appointed to the Reichsmarineamt , promoted several times and in 1899 Veith took the lead in the technical development of German torpedo boats . An important decision was the introduction of water tube boilers instead of the heavier smoke tube boilers that were mainly used up to now. He opted for the narrow-tube, improved marine water-tube boilers. During the development of the propulsion engines, Veith quickly recognized the advantages of steam turbines for propelling warships and initially used them instead of piston steam engines for German torpedo boats. As a result, he succeeded in bringing the torpedo boats built in Germany to high performance and speed, which gave them a top position in international comparison.

In 1906 he was appointed head of the mechanical engineering department of the construction department to Berlin, where he held the rank of real secret senior building officer when he died . Now he was able to transfer his experiences with torpedo boats to small and large cruisers and ships of the line . Veith introduced oil firing and pushed the development of high-performance gear drives in order to make sustainable use of the advantages of the rapidly rotating turbines with the slowly rotating propellers. He recognized the potential of oil machines, as the diesel engines were called at the time, and set the pace for the use of diesel engines for the Imperial Navy . He particularly promoted the development of light, fast-rotating diesel engines for use in the new types of submarines and airships, but also as dynamos to power the ships. The German shipbuilding and engine industry owes much to Veith, because his foresight and trust in the efficiency of the engineers have been rewarded. Its extremely demanding requirements were met and put the Navy and German companies in leading positions in these fields.

Merits and honors

Veith participated in the founding of the Shipbuilding Society (STG) in 1899 . The Technical University of Darmstadt awarded him an honorary doctorate (as Dr.-Ing. E. h.) In 1910 , the Association of German Engineers made him an honorary member at its 1910 general meeting in Gdansk and awarded him the Grashof Memorial Medal in 1915 . The STG awarded him the gold medal in 1915.

On his 70th birthday, in view of his services from German shipbuilding and marine engineering companies, he received a total of 300,000 marks , which he invested in 5% Reich bonds and, with the approval of the Reich Naval Office, designated a “Veith Foundation”. He handed them over to the STG for administration in order to pay needy students of shipbuilding and ship engineering. This foundation was set up in 1917, exists today as the Veith Berghoff Foundation and continues to support students of ship technology.

literature

• Real secret senior building officer Dr.-Ing. E. h. Rudolf Veith †. In: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung , 37th year 1917, No. 24 (from March 21, 1917), p. 156.
• Shipbuilding Society e. V. (Ed.): Yearbook of the Shipbuilding Society 1918.

Web links

• History of the Shipbuilding Society 1916 & 1917

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schlesisches Geschichtsblatt No. 51 - 2008 Announcements of the Verein für Geschichte Schlesiens eV  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Theodor Peters : History of the Association of German Engineers . Based on papers left by Th. Peters - Published on behalf of the board and completed by 1910. Self-published by the Association of German Engineers, Berlin 1912, p. 146, 150 .