Summary

The Electric Boat Company was founded by Isaac Rice in 1899 to build John Philip Holland's submersibles to designs developed at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The Electric Boat Company's first submarine was the Holland VI which was later purchased and commissioned into the United States Navy as the USS Holland (SS-1). Following the success of the Holland VI a number of governments including those of Great Britain, Japan, Russia and the Netherlands purchased the rights to build submarines based on John Holland's designs through and under contract to the Electric Boat Company.

For over 100 years the Electric Boat Company has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy, building 85 submarines for the US Navy during World War I and 74 submarines for the US Navy in World War II. At the end of World War II the company was cash-flush but work-poor and the decision was made to diversify. In 1952, the company changed its name to General Dynamics and through a series of mergers and divestitures has become the world's fourth largest defence contractor.