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Private company

NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw

Dutch dummy company funded by the Reichsmarine after World War 1

NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (Dutch: engineer-office for shipbuilding), usually contracted to IvS or Inkavos, was a Dutch dummy company set up in The Hague and funded by the Reichsmarine after World War I in order to maintain and develop German submarine know-how and to circumvent the limitations set by the Treaty of Versailles. The company designed several submarine types for paying countries, including the Soviet S-class submarine, as well as the prototypes for the German Type II submarines and Type VII submarines.2 It ceased to exist in 1933.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Jul 1922Founded1
  • Industryshipbuilding1
  • HeadquartersThe Hague1
  • Founded inThe Hague1
  • Legal formnaamloze vennootschap1

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NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (Dutch: engineer-office for shipbuilding), usually contracted to IvS or Inkavos, was a Dutch dummy company set up in The Hague and funded by the Reichsmarine after World War I in order to maintain and develop German submarine know-how and to circumvent the limitations set by the Treaty of Versailles. The company designed several submarine types for paying countries, including the Soviet S-class submarine, as well as the prototypes for the German Type II submarines and Type VII submarines.2

The story

Background information

At the time of IvS, the Germans were bound by the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919. This treaty, among other terms, demanded that all German U-boats be destroyed or given to other nations. Thus the Reichsmarine was left without a submarine capability, and IvS was created to work around these restrictions. The work of the company was a major factor in the foundation of the Kriegsmarine of World War II.

History

NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw (IvS) was founded on 21 July 1922 and initially was led from the Germaniawerft in Kiel, Germany. During this time the company gradually built up a team of skilled and experienced German and Dutch engineers that were led by technical director Hans Techel, the former director of U-boat design at Germaniawerft. In 1925, after resolving their legal technicalities with the Dutch government, IvS finally opened its office in The Hague and the eleven-man staff that were leading the firm from the office in Kiel moved to the Dutch office. This office at the corner of the Wagenstraat and Gedempte burgwal would be used by IvS till its dissolution in 1945.

At first IvS used the old UB III and UC III boats of the Imperial German Navy as starting point for their new submarine designs.

From Wikipedia’s article on NV Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

  • warship

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1933Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. Jul 1922Founded Founded in The Hague1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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