Claim for overcharge
Introduction
General Dynamics Electric Boat[1] (GDEB) is a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation. It has been the primary builder of submarines for the United States Navy since the turn of the century. Most of the United States' nuclear-powered submarines have been built there. The company's primary facilities are a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, a hull manufacturing and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, and a design and engineering facility in New London, Connecticut.
History
The Electric Boat Company was founded in 1899 by Isaac Rice to build a submarine designed by John Philip Holland. Development of the submarine took place at naval architect Lewis Nixon's Crescent shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The first submarine built at this shipyard was the Holland VI, which went down in history as the USS Holland "USS Holland (SS-1)"). It was the first submarine to enter service on April 11, 1900.[2].
John Holland's submarine design interested the fleets of many other countries. And created a demand for later models (A class or Plunger class) Among the countries that acquired a boat building license from the Electric Boat Company were the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Imperial Russian Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy.
By 1913, Electric Boat was on the brink of bankruptcy, even though the United States Navy ordered 25 submarines. The drama of the Lusitania, a British liner sunk by a German submarine in 1915, reversed the situation. Suddenly, orders were received: 20 submarines for the United Kingdom, 12 for the Russian Empire, 8 for the Kingdom of Italy. The US Navy ordered 88 of them, not to mention overhauling another 30 at the Groton shipyard. During World War I, the company and its subsidiaries (especially Elco) built 85 submarines through subcontractors and 722 submarine chasers for the US Navy, and 580 80-foot motor boats for the British Royal Navy.[3].
From 1907 to 1925 Electric Boat designed submarines for the Navy and subcontracted their construction to the Fore River Shipyard) in Quincy "Quincy (Massachusetts)"), Massachusetts. During this era it built submarines of the B, C, D, E, K, L "L (United States) Class Submarines"), M, R and S classes.