A few weeks ago, while having breakfast with two of my more reliable local historical sources and friends, Everest Brustolon and Bill Scarano, we ventured onto the subject of some of the products, besides submarines, which had previously been made by the Electric Boat Company (now called the Electric Boat Corporation).

Both men, now in their 90s, who had worked at the company back in the 1930s and 1940s, before and after World War II, vividly recalled the production of automatic bowling pin-setters and lightweight truck bodies.

Everest recalled there being a small bowling alley at the company where they tried out the company’s new pin setters, and Bill recalled seeing the building of the truck bodies in the main yard of the plant. Both matter-of-factly stated they recalled the company making many other products just to keep it in business.

Between the period of April 1924 through July 1932, Electric Boat built only four submarines, all for the Peruvian navy. During the same period of time, the company built other types of vessels, including four ferry boats, two lighthouse tenders, two tug boats, two steel yachts, one fishing trawler and one steel-welded barge.

The two 85-foot lighthouse tenders, the Althea and her sister ship Poinciana, were built for the United Sites Lighthouse Service and delivered in 1930. Because they were designed to navigate in shallow waters, they were used extensively to install the initial channel markers and beacons in the intercoastal waterways along Florida’s coast from Jacksonville to Miami.

Beginning in 1931 and continuing through 1939, Electric Boat built 17 submarines for the U.S. Navy. It should be noted that the first submarine constructed for the U.S. Navy at the Groton facility was the USS Cuttlefish (SSN-171). With the on-coming prospect of the United States becoming involved in World War II, the government expanded its program to strengthen the country’s defense, and submarine production orders increased dramatically. By August 1940, Electric Boat had increased its production from three to six submarines a year, and the workforce had expanded from approximately 200 to more than 2,300.

In December 1941, after the United States officially became involved in World War II, submarine production at the company increased dramatically. In 1942, the company launched 16 submarines, 10 more than in the previous year. The workforce now had skyrocketed to over 10,000.

In 1943 and 1944, the company was launching, on average, one submarine every two weeks, and employment had peaked at approximately 12,500.

After the war ended in August 1945, and several contracts for submarines were cancelled, it was necessary for the company to drastically reduce the number of its workers. By 1947, employment figures at the company stood at a little over 1,500.

In their effort to keep the company afloat, as well as to provide as much employment in the area as possible, a major effort was made to branch out into producing other governmental and commercial products.

Utilizing its existing docking areas, building ways, foundries, machine shops and other facilities, the company constructed and repaired a variety of government and privately owned ships and boats.

New ship construction included several steel-hulled fishing trawlers/draggers for commercial fishermen from New England and Canada. One of the most extraordinary vessels built by the company was a 145-foot dumping scow. This barge, which had six cargo compartments with hydraulically operated doors and a holding capacity of 1,000 cubic feet, was built for the Charles Pfizer Company to transport and dispose of fermentation byproducts at sea.

Repairs and overhauls were also made to privately owned yachts and government ships, the most memorable being the reconditioning of the U.S. Coast Guard’s bark-rigged cadet training ship Eagle in 1945.

As part of its diversity program, the company built several automated die-stamping machines, including some used as plastic molding presses, bottle-filling and package filling machines and labeling machines. It has also been said that one was also built to produce “bobby-pins.”

Several other products of interest made by the company include lightweight truck bodies made under the trade name Armorlite. The material composition used to make the bodies was aluminum covering laminations of teakwood and cardboard and, as such, enabled the truck to carry 50 percent more cargo.

The company also produced the Willard Offset Printing Press, a 22-inch by 34-inch offset printing press used by lithography companies.

Another and more interesting product built by the company was the “Electric Boat Company Pin-Boy,” an automatic bowling pin setter. It was invented by Kenneth C. Sherman, an Electric Boat research engineer, and approved by the National Duckpin Congress.

In 1948, the company renewed its pursuit of submarine contracts and by mid-1949 had a backlog of nearly $30 million for submarine construction. By the early 1950s and continuing until today, the company’s sole product has been submarines.

I guess this little walk back in time has proven the adage, “If you can build a submarine, you can build anything.”

Jim Streeter is the Groton town historian.