[2] This company with its premises was situated on an area called Stephanikirchenweide at the periphery of the ancient town of Bremen.

More shipbuilding activities followed including three torpedo-boats for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) in 1871.

Because of the increasing importance of the shipbuilding industry some influential Bremen merchants, bankers and politicians decided in 1872 to establish a new and greater company on shares.

The production program of this new company named Actien-Gesellschaft "Weser" was "construction of ships of all kind and marine engineering".

Between the founding of the company in 1872 and 1916 about 125 units of the so-called Self-Powered Vessels were constructed on the wharf, including passenger- and merchant ships, tug boats etc.

For DDG Hansa of Bremen, the company built the three largest freight steamers constructed up to that time, the 8,315 GRT Frankenfels, Schwarzenfels and Falkenfels; these were also the last civilian ships it delivered before World War I.

Shortly after that the situation improved with several new orders received, including an increasing amount of warships.

By this A.G. "Weser" started its career as an important constructor of war ships for the Imperial German Navy (1871 – 1918) first and the Kriegsmarine in the Third Reich (1933 – 1945).

Construction of warships started in 1936 with the artillery training ship Brummer for the Kriegsmarine, followed by destroyers and U-boats.

Because of intensive construction of warships, A.G. "Weser" was often the target of Allied air-raids during the Bombing of Bremen in World War II, mainly in 1944 and 1945.

But despite many buildings, workshops, magazines, slipways and docks as well as ships and U-boats under construction were damaged, in most cases production could be continued within some weeks.

These prefabricated sections were then shipped to the U-boat pen Valentin about 30 km downstream the river Weser.

Together with parts from Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven and under management of Bremer Vulkan beginning end of 1945 monthly 3 U-boats would be completed there.

The bunker Valentin is still existing today and partly used as a memorial to the many prisoners and forced labourers who worked and died there.

Most of the production equipment was shipped to Russia and together with the damaged facilities from bombing attacks during the war and the following blasting of the slipways the shipyard was more or less useless after that.

At this time A.G. "Weser" in Bremen and the affiliated Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven employed about 8,000 workers and office staff.

Many tanker-orders were cancelled and the lack of orders for other types of ships caused severe financial problems.