Electric Boat

Now owned by General Dynamics, Electric Boat (EB) Corporation was established and incorporated in 1899.  From that time on, its name has become synonymous with the manufacture of submarines.

Electric Boat’s primary shipyard is located in Groton, CT and the company also boasts an automated hull-fabrication and outfitting facility in Quonset Point, RI.  EB currently employs more than 11,000 workers. 

EB’s first responsibility as a shipyard was to bring to completion a submarine developed by John Phillip Holland.  The following year, the U.S. Holland was accepted by the United States Navy, making it the first submarine to be used by American armed forces.

Electric Boat was always quite busy during the wars.  During WWI, it built 85 submarines for the Navy while subsidiaries of the company built submarine chasers and Liberty ships.  In 1934, between wars, workers here built the first welded submarine, the Cuttlefish.  When America became involved in WWII in 1941, EB was ready to build 74 submarines and 398 PT boats to help fight the enemy.

During quiet years, EB employees filled the time with a variety of other endeavors.  The workers built tugboats, ferries, and fishing trawlers as well as printing presses and machines to stamp out bobby pins.  According to the company’s records, they even repaired hair rollers for beauty salons.  

Though things were slow right after the war, EB had honed its fine reputation and, in 1951, it received a contract to build the first nuclear-powered submarine.  Then came the ballistic-missile submarines and several other new classes of underwater vessels, including the Tridents, launched in 1979.

EB was also the producer of the Seawolf class of submarines, known as the fastest, quietest, most heavily-armed submarines in the world. The latest Virginia class of submarines followed.  Currently, Electric Boat remains the number one name in submarine construction and repair.

Through the years, as employees at EB built and repaired submarines and other seafaring vessels, they were often exposed to materials that contained asbestos.  The hazardous material could be found in pipe insulation, gaskets, boilers, floor covering, cement, and many other materials used in the shipbuilding process.  Shipbuilders often worked in a cloud of white dust, caused by airborne asbestos fibers.  Many have since been sickened by a number of lung ailments, including asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Do you have mesothelioma due to employment at Electric Boat?  If so, it’s important to learn more about the disease, its treatments, and your legal options.  Take a moment to order our Mesothelioma Resource Kit for more information.