Connecticut Water Trails Association
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Connecticut Water Trails Association |
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Connecticut Water Trails Program
History Of Connecticut's Water Trails
Connecticut and The Sea
Connecticut
The
Submarine State
During the American Revolution, Connecticut resident David Bushnell, an ancestor of Cornelius Scranton Bushnell, built the first submarine in America, the barrel-shaped Turtle.
Although it attacked the
British several times during the War of Independence, the reality of
operating in open harbor waters proved too much for the technology of
the time. But Connecticut’s place in submarine history would continue
with Electric Boat in Groton.
The first time submarines were actually built here
in New London was in 1924 when the shipyards designated and setup for
the building effort. The
first submarine which was built for the United States was in 1933, in
New London, named The Cuttle Fish. The shipyards went on to build114
diesel submarines. Most of those were delivered during World War II.
Submarines built by Electric Boat played a critical
part in the Allied war effort in World War II. At the peak of World War
Two, Electric Boat employed 12,500 people and was launching a submarine
every two weeks. But when the war ended, Electric Boat struggled to
adapt to peacetime. And it
really wasn’t till the early 50’s that they started building submarines
again post World War II. This was the start of building back up the
workforce for the emergence of nuclear powered submarine industry. The
USS Nautilus , the first nuclear powered submarine was christened by
Mamie Eisenhower and launched into the Thames River in January 1954. It
was a soul-stirring moment for the thousands who came to see her and the
millions who heard or read about the launch.
From her maiden voyage a year later, she shattered
records, running deep, fast and long, powered by the first practical
nuclear power plant. Nautilus’ spectacular success was the beginning of
the nuclear navy so critical to Cold-War strategy, and the birth of the
controversial civilian nuclear electric power plant program
Meanwhile, business would
never be better for Electric Boat. They grew the workforce a total of about 28,000 people in the early
80’s and that was associated just with the high production rate of
submarines. About 3, 4 submarines a year were being delivered out of
this facility. The USS Connecticut, commissioned in 1998, was the 98th
nuclear submarine delivered by Electric Boat to the U.S. Navy.
Since the end of the cold war the demand for submarines has gone
down.
A lot of the technology associated with sonar,
combat systems, and torpedo technology, were developed here. So they
became sort of a cottage industry that supported the production, the
research and engineering activities in this region.
You can easily call it the “submarine capital of the
world.” The fact that the submarines are based here,
that really becomes the key ingredient and the submarine base is
really the heart of the Navy’s submarine training program as well.
And so that core of both technology production
skills and operational skills is as strong today as it’s ever been
The Submarine Base New London was established in 1868 as a coaling station.’ It was built on land donated by the town of New London and the State of Connecticut to the Navy. Through the 19th and 20th Centuries, the base expanded each time there was international tension or conflict. In recent years the number of people stationed at the base has declined, with the end of the cold war.
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