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General Dynamics Electric Boat
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==History== The company was founded in 1899 by [[Isaac Rice (businessman)|Isaac Rice]] as the '''Electric Boat Company''' to build [[John Philip Holland]]'s submersible ship designs, which were developed at [[Lewis Nixon (naval architect)|Lewis Nixon]]'s [[Crescent Shipyard]] in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]]. ''Holland VI'' was the first submarine that this shipyard built, which became {{USS|Holland|SS-1|6}} when it was commissioned into the United States Navy on April 11, 1900βthe first submarine to be officially commissioned.<ref>{{ship||Turtle|submersible|2}} was used in combat during the American Revolutionary War, but it was never officially commissioned into the Navy.</ref> The success of ''Holland VI'' created a demand for follow-up models (A class or {{sclass|Plunger|submarine|4}}) that began with the prototype submersible ''Fulton'' built at Electric Boat. Some foreign navies were interested in Holland's latest submarine designs, and so purchased the rights to build them under licensing contracts through the company; these included the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Imperial Russian Navy, and the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]].{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}} From 1907 to 1925 Electric Boat designed submarines for the US Navy and subcontracted their construction to the [[Fore River Shipyard]] in [[Quincy, Massachusetts]] and other shipyards. During this era, the company designed submarines of the B, C, D, E, K, L, M, N, AA-1, O, R, and S classes. During the World War I era, the company and its subsidiaries (notably the Electric Launch Company, or [[Electric Launch Company|Elco]]) built 85 submarines via subcontractors and 722 [[submarine chaser]]s for the US Navy, and 580 80-foot motor launches for the British Royal Navy.<ref>Gardiner, p. 101, 132β133</ref> ===Interwar=== After the war, the US Navy did not order another submarine from Electric Boat until {{USS|Cuttlefish|SS-171|2}} in 1931.<ref>[[Henry Trevor Lenton|Lenton, H. T.]] ''American Submarines'' (Doubleday, 1973), p.37; [[Norman Friedman|Friedman, Norman]]. ''U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History'' (United States Naval Institute Press, 2005), pp. 285β304.</ref> ''Cuttlefish'' was the first submarine built at EB's plant in [[Groton, Connecticut]] which has been its primary submarine manufacturing facility ever since. EB was the lead yard for several classes of submarines (''Perch'', ''Salmon'', ''Sargo'', ''Tambor'', ''Gar'', ''Mackerel'' and ''Gato'') prior to World War II. Starting in the early 1930s, EB was one of only two major US submarine manufacturers (the other being the [[Portsmouth Navy Yard]]) until the late 1950s. Three other yards ([[Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company|Manitowoc]], [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard|Mare Island]], and [[Cramp Shipbuilding|Cramp]]) produced submarines only during World War II. Several other yards ([[New York Shipbuilding]], [[Ingalls Shipbuilding|Ingalls]] and [[Fore River Shipyard]]) as well as Mare Island built submarines in the late 1950s through the early 1970s. Since 1974, only Electric Boat and [[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News]] have built submarines for the US Navy. ===World War II=== During World War II, the company built 74 submarines at the Groton plant, while Elco built nearly 400 [[PT boat]]s,<ref>Lenton, pp.5 & 62β102 ''passim''.</ref> and Electric Boat ranked 77th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.<ref>[[Whiz Kids (Department of Defense)|Peck, Merton J.]] & [[Frederic M. Scherer|Scherer, Frederic M.]] ''The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis'' (1962) [[Harvard Business School]] p.619</ref> ===Post war=== [[File:General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, CT.png|thumb|Electric Boat facility in Groton, CT]] In 1952, Electric Boat was reorganized as [[General Dynamics]] Corporation under [[John Jay Hopkins]]. General Dynamics acquired [[Convair]] the following year, and the holding company assumed the "General Dynamics" name while the submarine-building operation reverted to the "Electric Boat" name.<ref name="cent_flt_gd">{{cite web |url=http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/generaldynamics/Aero35.htm |title=General Dynamics Corporation |work=U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission |access-date=31 March 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112045623/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/generaldynamics/Aero35.htm |archive-date=12 November 2008 }}</ref> Electric Boat built the first nuclear submarine, {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|6}}, which was launched in January 1954, and the first [[ballistic missile submarine]], {{USS|George Washington|SSBN-598|6}}, in 1959. Submarines of the {{sclass|Ohio|submarine|5}}, {{sclass|Los Angeles|submarine|5}}, {{sclass|Seawolf|submarine|5}}, and {{sclass|Virginia|submarine|4}}es were also constructed by Electric Boat. In 2002, EB conducted preservation work on ''Nautilus'', preparing her for her berth at the US Navy [[Submarine Force Library and Museum]] in [[Groton, Connecticut]] where she now resides as a museum. From the mid-1970s to the present, EB has been one of only two submarine manufacturers in the United States, with the other being [[Newport News Shipbuilding]] in Virginia. In April 2014, EB was awarded a $17.8 billion contract with Naval Sea Systems Command for ten Block IV ''Virginia''-class attack submarines. It is the largest single shipbuilding contract in the service's history. The company builds the submarine along with Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding. The boats of Block IV ''Virginia''s will cost less than Block III, as Electric Boat reduced the cost of the submarines by increasing efficiency in the construction process. The submarines of this type will build on the improvements to allow them to spend less time in the yard.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Navy Awards 'Largest Shipbuilding Contract' in Service History|date=28 April 2014 |url=https://news.usni.org/2014/04/28/u-s-navy-awards-largest-shipbuilding-contract-service-history|access-date=11 August 2016}}</ref> In 2019 EB received a contract with Naval Sea Systems Command to begin procuring materials for the Block V variant of the ''Virginia''-class. This upgrade brings the ''Virginia'' payload module, which enables Tomahawk missiles to be carried by the submarine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.usni.org/2018/03/13/general-dynamics-awarded-long-lead-contract-for-virginia-class-block-v-submarines|title=Electric Boat Awarded Long-Lead Contract for Virginia-Class Block V Attack Boats|date=2018-03-13|website=USNI News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-23}}</ref> === 1980s structural welding defect cover up === In the early 1980s, structural welding defects had been covered up by falsified inspection records, and this led to significant delays and expenses in the delivery of several submarines being built at Electric Boat's shipyard. In some cases, the repairs resulted in practically dismantling and then rebuilding what had been a nearly completed submarine. The yard tried to pass the vast cost overruns directly on to the Navy, while Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]] demanded from Electric Boat's general manager P. Takis Veliotis that the yard make good on its "shoddy" workmanship.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}} The Navy eventually settled with General Dynamics in 1981, paying out $634 million of $843 million in ''Los Angeles''-class submarines cost-overrun and reconstruction claims. As it happened, the Navy was also the yard's insurer, liable to compensate the company for losses and other mishaps. The concept of reimbursing General Dynamics under these conditions was initially considered "preposterous," in the words of Secretary of the Navy [[John Lehman]], but the eventual legal basis of General Dynamics' reimbursement claims to the Navy for the company's poor workmanship included insurance compensation.<ref name=TimeDec84>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | last = Van Voorst | first = Bruce |author2=Thomas Evans | title = Overrun Silent, Overrun Deep | magazine = Time | access-date = 19 March 2009 | date = 24 December 1984 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951382,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050113073258/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951382,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 13 January 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | last = Alexander | first = Charles P. |author2=Christopher Redman |author3=John E. Yang |author-link3=John Yang (journalist) | title = General Dynamics Under Fire | magazine = Time | access-date = 20 March 2009 | date = 8 April 1985 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965505-4,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423234106/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965505-4,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 23 April 2008 }}</ref> Veliotis was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury under racketeering and fraud charges in 1983 for demanding $1.3 million in [[Kickback (bribery)|kickback]]s from a subcontractor. He escaped into exile and a life of luxury in his native Greece, where he remained a fugitive from justice.<ref>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | title = The Fugitive Accuser | magazine = Time | access-date = 20 March 2009 | date = 8 April 1985 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965528,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423234111/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965528,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 23 April 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Defense Contracts β News β Times Topics β The New York Times β Narrowed by 'VELIOTIS, P TAKIS' | access-date = 20 March 2009 | url = http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/defense_contracts/index.html?query=VELIOTIS,%20P%20TAKIS&field=per&match=exact | first=Wayne | last=Biddle| work = The New York Times }}</ref><!--[http://www.nationarchive.com/Summaries/v239i0020_06.htm] dead link-->
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