Battles & Wars › Industrial wars › Submarine
Electric Boat (later General Dynamics)
founded 1899; first Navy submarine 1900; Nautilus 1954· Arms maker, factory or program· Arms makers & war industry
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
American submarine builder founded in 1899, supplier of the US Navy's first modern submarine and its first nuclear one; the core of General Dynamics.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Isaac Rice, a New York lawyer and battery businessman, founded Electric Boat in 1899 to back John Philip Holland's submarine designs. The Navy bought USS Holland in 1900. The company later settled at Groton, Connecticut, built 74 submarines in World War II while its Elco division made nearly 400 PT boats, and launched the nuclear Nautilus in 1954. In 1952 it reorganized as General Dynamics. Groton still builds US nuclear submarines.
Why it matters
For over a century it has been the US Navy's main submarine builder, a thread running from the first modern submarine to today's missile boats.
How we know
US Navy purchase and shipbuilding records, ship histories, company records, congressional hearings, and the preserved Nautilus, now a museum at Groton.
Still debated
Its close Navy ties brought conflict too: in the 1970s Admiral Hyman Rickover publicly accused it of cost overruns and inflated claims.
Connections (4)
▸Electric Boat (later General Dynamics) sold the US Navy its first modern SubmarineWell documented
The connection
Irish-born teacher John Philip Holland spent decades designing submarines in the US. His Holland VI used a gasoline engine on the surface and batteries underwater, with diving planes and a torpedo tube, the basic layout of submarines until nuclear power. Electric Boat sold it to the Navy in 1900 for $150,000 as USS Holland, and sold the design abroad.
When and how
Elizabeth, New Jersey, launched 1897; bought by the US Navy April 11, 1900; Holland and Isaac Rice. Britain, Japan and Russia bought Holland-type boats.
How we know
Navy purchase records, trial reports and ship histories, and the Holland design licensed to Vickers in Britain.
Debates and open questions
Whether Holland or his rival Simon Lake deserves more credit is argued, and Holland left the company in 1904 after disputes.
▸Electric Boat (later General Dynamics) launched the first of the Nuclear and missile submarines (Nautilus, Polaris)Well documented
The connection
Admiral Hyman Rickover's naval reactor program, with Westinghouse building the reactor, chose Electric Boat to build the hull. President Truman laid Nautilus's keel at Groton in 1952. Launched in 1954, it signaled 'Underway on nuclear power' in January 1955. Electric Boat then built George Washington, the first Polaris missile submarine, by inserting a missile section into an attack submarine's hull.
When and how
Groton, Connecticut, 1952–60; Rickover, Westinghouse and Electric Boat; Nautilus launched January 21, 1954, by Mamie Eisenhower.
How we know
Navy and Atomic Energy Commission records, ship histories, and the preserved Nautilus at Groton.
Debates and open questions
How to divide credit among Rickover, Westinghouse and the shipbuilders is debated, and Rickover later fought the company bitterly over costs.
▸Electric Boat (later General Dynamics) became, as General Dynamics, a giant of the Military-industrial complex (Eisenhower's 1961 warning)Well documented
The connection
In 1952 Electric Boat's chief, John Jay Hopkins, made it the core of General Dynamics, adding Canadair and Convair, maker of the B-36 bomber and Atlas missile. GD became one of the largest US defense contractors. In 1962 its disputed win of the F-111 fighter contract over Boeing sparked Senate hearings, an oft-cited example of what Eisenhower had warned about.
When and how
Groton, San Diego and Fort Worth, 1950s–60s; John Jay Hopkins; Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's 1962 TFX (F-111) decision.
How we know
Corporate records, contract data and the 1963 Senate hearings on the TFX award.
Debates and open questions
Whether firms like General Dynamics drove defense policy or simply served it is the central debate about the military-industrial complex.
▸Electric Boat (later General Dynamics) built 74 US submarines for World War IIWell documented
The connection
Electric Boat built 74 submarines at Groton for World War II, mostly of the Gato and Balao classes, while its Elco division in New Jersey built nearly 400 PT boats, including John F. Kennedy's PT-109. US submarines sank more than half of Japan's merchant shipping, strangling its economy, at the cost of 52 boats lost.
When and how
Groton, Connecticut, and Bayonne, New Jersey (Elco), 1941–45; the Pacific war.
How we know
Navy shipbuilding records and the postwar Joint Army–Navy Assessment Committee tallies of Japanese ships sunk.
Debates and open questions
The 74 figure comes mainly from company histories, and postwar tallies cut many wartime sinking claims, so exact totals still differ.