AG Weser

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AG Weser


Fate	Merged with eight other shipyards


Successor	Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG
Founded	1843
Defunct	1926
Location	Bremen, Germany
Industry	Shipbuilding
Products	Passenger ships Merchant ships U-boats Cruisers

Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser (usually just mentioned as AG Weser or A.G. Weser) was a German shipbuilding company, located on the Weser River in Bremen. AG Weser played a significant role in World War I, building U-boats and warships for the Kaiserliche Marine. In 1926 it was merged with eight other shipyards to form the Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG but the name AG Weser was kept for the shipyard in Bremen.

[edit] History

AG Weser was founded on November 8, 1843 as the Eisengiesserei und Maschinenfabrik Waltjen und Leonhard, becoming Waltjen & Co in 1849 this firm only started very slowly in ship building with primarily steamboats. On March 26, 1873 the activities and firm became the AG Weser and the very first important order came from the Kaiserliche Marine. Between 1875 and 1881 eleven gunboats were built.

After this order the construction was again mainly for civil use. Halfway through the eighties a serious dredging was done on the Weser River, again making Bremen an important harbour. Just before the turn of the century the harbour grew very heavily. This was also the moment at which the AG Weser decided to buy new grounds at Gröpelingen where there were constructed five new slips. In 1904 everything was ready at the new location and Bremen was abandoned for further ship construction. New installations followed and between 1905 and 1914 no fewer than 40 passenger and merchant ships were constructed on the new wharf.

In 1912 Raimondo Lorenzo D'Equevilley, who worked before at the Germaniawerft in Kiel, was asked by the AG Weser to construct a new U-boat. As they now had their own engineers they immediately became part of the U-boat program of the Kaiserliche Marine.

The first U-boats constructed were UB I series. Later also UC I, UB II and UC II series were constructed at AG Weser. By 1917 most of the work went into the construction of the UB III. Later three UC III were ordered also but never got finished. During World War I, AG Weser launched a total of 96 U-boats.

After the war AG Weser faced difficult times and in 1926 they merged with 8 other shipyards to form Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG. The facilities at Bremen were kept and many ships and U-boats were produced here before and during World War II typically referenced to be built by AG Weser because of the shipyard even though legally the company name was Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG. The shipyard remained in operation until December 31, 1983, when it succumbed to the delayed effects of the oil crisis and was closed.