Euskalduna de Construcción y Reparación de Buques de Bilbao (shortened to Euskalduna) was a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

engineering company specialising in ship construction, firearms, locomotives, and automobiles. The company was based in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

, Spain and operated from 1900 until closure in 1984. The site of the yard is now used for the

Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall or Euskalduna Palace or Euskalduna Hall (''Palacio Euskalduna'' in Spanish language, Spanish, ''Euskalduna Jauregia'' in Basque language, Basque) is located in the city of Bilbao, Basque Country ( ...

, as well as the ''Ria de Bilbao Maritime Museum'' (Bilbao Maritime Museum).

History

The company was founded in 1900, promoted by shipping merchants Ramón de la Sota y Llano and Eduardo Aznar y de la Sota. 10,000 shares were issued to a value of 4 million pesetas; the new company took over the facilities of the ''Sociedad de los Diques Secos de Bilbao'' (Dry Dock company of Bilbao) through the offer of 2,000 shares plus two permanent seats on the Board of Directors. The company expanded through acquisition up to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

acquiring ''Talleres de Troca'' (Workshops of Troca), a forging and casting company. In 1914 the company employed 950 people. In the 1860s, a number of

Chassepot The Chassepot (pronounced ; ), officially known as , was a bolt-action military breechloading rifle. It is famous for having been the arm of the French forces in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. It replaced an assortment of muzzleloading ...

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden stave (wood), staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers ...

s were cast by Euskalduna's Palencia foundries under contract from the

French Government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

, marked "Euscalduna Palencia". Some of these Palencia Chassepots, supplied to the early

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

military, were remodeled into

Murata rifle The was the first indigenously produced Japanese service rifle adopted in 1880 as the ''Meiji Type 13 Murata single-shot rifle''. The ''13'' referred to the adoption date, the year 13 in the Meiji period according to the Japanese calendar. De ...

s in the early 1880s.

Hiram Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim (5 February 1840 – 24 November 1916) was an American-born British inventor best known as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the Maxim gun. Maxim held patents on numerous mechanical devices such as hai ...

described the quality of firearms manufactured by the Palencia arms factory as extremely poor, mostly being

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

Winchester rifle Winchester rifle is a comprehensive term describing a series of lever action repeating rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Developed from the 1860 Henry rifle, Winchester rifles were among the earliest repeaters. Th ...

s using components rejected by other European arsenals'

quality control Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. ISO 9000 defines quality control as "a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements". This approach plac ...

. These Palencia Winchesters were apparently sold primarily to Africans. World War I brought increased demand; the company was able to expand during the period, and eventually had facilities for ships of 12,000 tonnes. Post war demand fell despite increasing protectionism; the company diversified into manufacture of rolling stock - including wagons, steam locomotives, and trams), the company also began to manufacture rolling mill equipment, as well as road vehicles such as buses. By 1920 the company employed over 3700 people. Employment numbers had dropped to around 1500 by 1935; during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

the factories output was militarised, afterwards the company received state backing. in 1956 it acquired ''SA Juliana Constructora Gijonesa'', in 1967 it formed part of the conglomerate ''Astilleros Españoles SA'' (Spanish Shipyards), merging with ''La Naval'' which had itself taken over the ''Astilleros Celaya'' in 1965. Euskalduna contributed 50% of the capital of the new enterprise. The new company was the largest merchant shipping construction company in Spain, and one of the largest in Europe. As a negative result of the effects of the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

the company began to record losses, the company also faced increased competition from East Asia (

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

), as well as the reduction or loss of state aid due to entry to the EU in 1986; state restructuring resulted in the closure of the yard in 1987, to much opposition, and with 1,297 job losses as a result.

Post closure

The

Bilbao Maritime Museum Euskalduna de Construcción y Reparación de Buques de Bilbao (shortened to Euskalduna) was a Basque engineering company specialising in ship construction, firearms, locomotives, and automobiles. The company was based in Bilbao, Spain and operated ...

is located on part of the site of the shipyard, the

is also situated on part of the site.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Basque companies Shipyards of Spain Buildings and structures in Bilbao Rolling stock manufacturers of Spain Shipbuilding companies of Spain Locomotive manufacturers of Spain Firearm manufacturers of Spain Estuary of Bilbao Organisations based in Bilbao

History

Post closure

References

Further reading

See also

External links