The Electro-Dynamic Company manufactured electric motors and generators 1880–2000, principally as a subsidiary of the
Electric Boat Division of
General Dynamics and its predecessors.
History
The company was founded by electrical inventor
William Woodnut Griscom in 1880. An important early customer for electric boat motors was the
Electric Launch Company
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts ("Elco"), is an American boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 to 1949 and from 1987 to the present.
History
Elco first made its mark at the World's Col ...
, also known as Elco. Following an 1892 bankruptcy, financier
Isaac Rice
Isaac Leopold Rice (February 22, 1850 – November 2, 1915) was a German-born Jewish American businessman, investor, musicologist, author, and chess patron. bailed out Electro-Dynamic and became a co-owner. Griscom died in a hunting accident in 1897. Electro-Dynamic manufactured the main propulsion motor for , the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's first modern
submarine, launched in 1897. In 1899, Rice founded
Electric Boat and made Electro-Dynamic and Elco subsidiaries of it. Electro-Dynamic relocated from
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
to
Bayonne, New Jersey at some point prior to 1964, with a plant on Avenue A. In 1964 a fire destroyed this plant and the company acquired a facility in
Avenel, New Jersey
Avenel is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Woodbridge Township, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States.[General Dynamics Corporation
General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the U ...]
when that company was formed by a reorganization of Electric Boat in 1952.
The company was dissolved in 2000 and its functions were relocated to Electric Boat's main facility in
Groton, Connecticut
Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London i ...
.
Elco Records, Introduction
/ref>
See also
*Electric Launch Company
The Electric Launch Company, later renamed Elco Motor Yachts ("Elco"), is an American boat building and electric motor company that has operated from 1893 to 1949 and from 1987 to the present.
History
Elco first made its mark at the World's Col ...
sister company
* New London Ship and Engine Company
The New London Ship and Engine Company (NELSECO) was established in Groton, Connecticut as a subsidiary of the Electric Boat Company to manufacture diesel engines.
History
Electric Boat acquired a license to manufacture MAN diesels, probably in 1 ...
sister company to
* Submarine Boat Company sister company
References
*
External links
Article on General Dynamics' website on closure of Electro-Dynamic
American companies established in 1880
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania
Defunct manufacturing companies based in New Jersey
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