EB was the lead yard for several classes of submarines (Perch, Salmon, Sargo, Tambor, Gar, Mackerel and Gato) prior to World War II.

Several other yards (New York Shipbuilding, Ingalls and Fore River Shipyard) as well as Mare Island built submarines in the late 1950s through the early 1970s.

In April 2014, EB was awarded a $17.8 billion contract with Naval Sea Systems Command for ten Block IV Virginia-class attack submarines.

[9] In 2019 EB received a contract with Naval Sea Systems Command to begin procuring materials for the Block V variant of the Virginia-class.

[10] In the early 1980s, structural welding defects had been covered up by falsified inspection records, and this led to significant delays and expenses in the delivery of several submarines being built at Electric Boat's shipyard.

The concept of reimbursing General Dynamics under these conditions was initially considered "preposterous," in the words of Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, but the eventual legal basis of General Dynamics' reimbursement claims to the Navy for the company's poor workmanship included insurance compensation.

[11][12] Veliotis was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury under racketeering and fraud charges in 1983 for demanding $1.3 million in kickbacks from a subcontractor.

General Dynamics Electric Boat built every unique US Navy submarine after 1931, excepting Halibut (SSGN-587) and the purely experimental Albacore (AGSS-569) and Dolphin (AGSS-555).