Last modified: 2008-09-06 by ivan sache
Keywords: hauts-fourneaux forges et acieries de denain et anzin | denain-anzin | letters: da (red) |
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![[Denain et Anzin house flag]](../images/f/fr~hfdnz.gif)
House flag of Denain-Anzin - Image by Ivan Sache, 11 March 2008
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Société Anonyme de Hauts-Fourneaux, Forges et Aciéries de Denain et d'Anzin, once the most powerful steel industry in France, was named after the two towns of Denain and Anzin, located in the north of France near the town of Valenciennes.
In 1839, Jean-François Dumont setup in Denain an iron factory, with a smelting furnace (haut-fourneau), eight puddling ovens, a
sledgehammer and a steam engine. Iron was supplied from the mines of
Avesnois and Boulonnais. A similar factory was built at the same time
in Anzin by Talabot. Paulin Talabot (1799-1865) was also the founder of
the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée (PLM) railways and of the SGTM shipping company.
In 1849, the Denain and Anzin factories were merged to form the
Société des Hauts-Fourneaux de Denain et Anzin, aka Denain-Anzin. A Bessemer steelworks and Martin steelworks were built in Denain in
1875, followed by a Thomas steelworks in 1902. Completely destroyed
during the First World War, subsequently rebuilt and severely damaged
during the Second World War, the Denain factory was revamped and
produced 742,000 tons of steel in 1947.
In 1948, Denain-Anzin, then Société des Forges et Aciéries de Denain-Anzin, was merged with Société des Forges et Aciéries du Nord et de l'Est to form USINOR (Union Sidérurgique du Nord de la France). The production was split into two groups, group A (including Denain), to produce sheet steel and other flat products, and group B(including Anzin), to produce rails, girders and long products. In 1962, the Denain factory was the first in France to produce more than 2 million tons of steel; a 9.5-m diameter smelting furnace was built in 1973 but the economic crisis ended the gilded age of the Northern steelworks.
Restructuring was decided in 1978; the last smelting furnace was
switched off in July 1980 and the Denain factory was eventually closed
in 1988. Emploiement had decreased from 10,000 workers in 1966 to less
than 200 in 1988.
Source: National Archives website, USINOR folder
Ivan Sache, 11 March 2008
The house flag of Denain-Anzin is shown in Lloyd's book of house flags and funnels of the principal steamship lines of the world and the house flags of various lines of sailing vessels, published at Lloyd's Royal Exchange. London. E.C. (1912) [llo12], also available online thanks to the Mystic Seaport Foundation, #1267, p. 97, as white with a red border and the red letters "DA" in the middle. The company had its own fleet, which was based in the port of Dunkirk.
Ivan Sache, 11 March 2008