 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Industry | Engineering |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1886; 138 years ago (1886) |
| Defunct | 2001; 23 years ago (2001) |
| Fate | merged with Gio. Ansaldo & C. to form AnsaldoBreda |
| Successor | AnsaldoBreda BredaMenarinibus |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy |
| Products | Transport aircraft Bombers Experimental planes Air force trainers Seaplanes Ships Locomotives |
| Subsidiaries | Breda Meccanica Bresciana IMAM |
Società Italiana Ernesto Breda (lit. 'Ernesto Breda Italian Society'), more usually referred to simply as Breda, was an Italian mechanical manufacturing company founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886.
History
The firm was founded by Ernesto Breda in Milan in 1886. It originally manufactured locomotives and other railway machinery, but later branched out into armaments and aircraft. Occasionally, not continuously, the company also built trolleybuses. In 1935, it acquired the railway division of Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali and, soon afterwards, the aircraft division of the same company.
Breda-designed machine guns such as the Breda Model 30 and Breda Model 37 were standard issue weapons for the Royal Italian Army during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, the Italian Invasion of Albania and World War 2. At the peak of its wartime production, the company had 26,000 employees. By 1954, its workforce had been reduced to around 8,000.
In 1962, Breda was nationalised as part of EFIM, but was liquidated in the 1990s. The train and tram manufacturing division fused with Ansaldo to form AnsaldoBreda, the armaments division became an independent entity as Breda Meccanica Bresciana, as did the research division as Istituto Scientifico Breda.
Products
Aircraft products
- A.2
- A.4
- A.7
- A.8
- A.9
- A.10
- A.14
- Ba.15
- Ba.19
- CC.20
- Ba.25
- Ba.26
- Ba.27
- Ba.28
- Ba.32
- Ba.33
- Ba.39
- Ba.42
- Ba.44
- Ba.46
- Ba.64
- Ba.65
- Ba.75
- Ba.79S
- Ba.82
- Ba.88
- Ba.92
- Ba.201
- Ba.205
- BP.471
- BZ.308
- BZ.309
- Tebaldi-Zari
Rolling stock products
Locomotives
- South African Class 15CA 4-8-2
- SEK class Μα
- E.330
- D.341
- D.345
- D.443
- E.424
- E.428
- E.636
- HŽ series 1061
DMU and EMU
Metro
Tram and light rail
- ATM Class 1500
- ATM Class 4600 and 4700
- LRVs for RTA Rapid Transit (Cleveland)
- MBTA Green Line Type 8 (production continued after merger)
- LRV2 and LRV3 for Muni Metro (San Francisco)
Trolleybuses
The production of trolleybuses was a small part of Breda's output, carried out through its subsidiary Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie (it), and was not under way continuously. Between 1936 and 1940, the company built a total of 28 trolleybuses, most for the Rome system but including six for Genoa. At various times between 1938 and 1956, more trolleybuses were built, but totalling only 16. Production resumed in 1988. Almost all of Breda's customers for trolleybuses were Italian trolleybus systems, but a notable exception was an order of 236 dual-mode buses that Breda built for the Seattle system between 1988 and 1991.
See also
References
- "Small Arms Archives".
- ^ Hoffman, Michael L. (October 8, 1954). "Breda Industries of Italy Revived". The New York Times. Section 1, p. 5. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- "old STEAM LOCOMOTIVES in South Africa". steam-locomotives-south-africa.blogspot.it. July 2009. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
- ^ Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. p. 106. ISBN 0-904235-18-1.
Further reading
- Luigi Giugni, Le imprese a partecipazione statale, Naples, Jovene, 1972
- Pasquale Saraceno, Il sistema delle imprese a partecipazione statale nell'esperienza italiana, Milano, Giuffrè, 1975
- Bruno Amoroso - Ole Jess Olsen, Lo stato imprenditore, Bari, Laterza, 1978
- Nico Perrone, Il dissesto programmato. Le partecipazioni statali nel sistema di consenso democristiano, Bari, Dedalo, 1991
- Nico Perrone, Italian and American Patterns in a Conflictive Development, Roskilde, Roskilde Universitetscenter, 1992
- La Breda produce, mostra fotografica, dal sito dell’Istituto per la Storia dell’Età Contemporanea
- La linea del fuoco
- Gunston, Bill (1993). World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. p. 56.
External links
- Fondazione Isec - Breda (in Italian)
- Mostra fotografica online Fondazione Isec - La Breda produce (in Italian)
- Treccani.it BREDA, Ernesto (in Italian)
| Breda aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Breda | |
| Breda-Pittoni | |
| Breda-Zappata | |
| Tebaldi-Zari | |
- Società Italiana Ernesto Breda
- AnsaldoBreda
- Milan motor companies
- Italian brands
- Manufacturing companies of Italy
- Trolleybus manufacturers
- Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Italy
- Manufacturing companies established in 1886
- Italian companies established in 1886
- Conglomerate companies of Italy
- Bus manufacturers of Italy
- Electric vehicle manufacturers of Italy