This company was responsible for developing the U.S. Navy's first submarines built at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Shipyard, located in Elizabethport, New Jersey.
John Philip Holland (29 February 1840 –12 August 1914) was an engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the U.S. Navy. Born in Ireland, Holland thought that a submarine would be a useful way that Irish nationalist could attack the British, and toyed with the idea from his youth.
He moved to the United States in 1873 and developed the first submarine to have been formally commissioned by the US Navy. Due to the lengthy and expensive process of introducing the world's first practical submarines, and due to other lesser-known events that occurred at the time, Holland had to part with his company and sell his interest to financier Isaac Leopold Rice, renaming the new firm as the Electric Boat Company on 7 February 1899.
The first submarine that this shipyard built was (originally) named the Holland VI, later to be known as USS Holland [SS-1]. This was the first submarine to be purchased and commissioned into United States naval service on 11 April 1900.
Electric Boat gained a reputation for unscrupulous arms dealing in 1904-05, when it sold submarines to Japan's Imperial Japanese Navy and Russia's Imperial Russian Navy, who were then at war.
By the end of World War I, the company had sold 200 submarines and cargo ships to the navy. By the end of the 1950s, the company’s name had been changed to General Dynamics and it had become a leading aircraft and missile producer, as well as provider of nuclear submarines.
General Dynamics was officially established on April 24, 1952, when the shareholders of Electric Boat Corporation, a company based in Washington and New York States, followed the recommendation of its president and chief executive officer, John Jay Hopkins, and voted to change the company's name. Hopkins felt the name change was necessary because Electric Boat was no longer only a shipbuilder and had diversified its business after World War II.
During the Vietnam War, General Dynamics was involved in building many new aircraft, including the F-III, which was flown for the first time in December 1964. The initial design was too heavy for use on aircraft carriers, but changes were made to the design to create the F-14 Tomcat.
By 1984, General Dynamics had four divisions: Convair in San Diego, General Dynamics-Fort Worth, General Dynamics-Pomona, and General Dynamics-Electronics. In 1985 reorganization created the Space Systems Division from the Convair Space division. In 1985, GD also acquired Cessna.
In late 1987, teamed with McDonnell Douglas, General Dynamics received the contract for the stealth A-12 naval strike aircraft. The A-12 had a fixed $4.8-billion development budget and a strict timetable. The program experienced serious delays and development was canceled in January 1991.
In 2001, General Dynamics Aerospace Division produces the Gulfstream V, V-SP, G200, and G100 and provides aviation services in avionics, airframes, engines, and refurbishments.
In 2008, General dynamics make a deal to buy AxleTech International. AxleTech makes axles, suspensions, brakes and aftermarket parts for military vehicles, trucks and off-highway machines.
The company provides service and support to customers around the world through an extensive network of reliable partners in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Australia. Post acquisition, AxleTech and its 1,000 employees worldwide will become part of Charlotte-based General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products.
General Dynamics in history
