Szczecin was a major shipbuilding center though much of this is now inactive. The shipbuilding cranes and other equipment are amazing to see – huge! Szczecin was part of the U-boat building campaign during the war, and was consequently heavily bombed. What I learned in conversation with someone on the boat is that the U-boat hulls were built in a city in southern German, and then floated down the river to Szczecin, with construction proceeding while being moved along the river. A lot of the interior outfitting was done in Szczecin. From here the crews would be trained in the Baltic and then on to the Battle of the North Atlantic.