Submarine Trivia

Occasionally, we are asked the question, "How much did it cost to build submarines back in World War II?"

The answer - $4,674,000 (in 1940 dollars), or about $674 MILLION in today's dollar (as a relative share of GDP).

As a comparison, the Virginia class submarines being built today cost approximately $2 Billion each, but are nuclear powered, and have MANY times the combat power that Razorback had.

Source - Forged in War - The Naval-Industrial Complex and American Submarine Construction, 1940-1961 by Dr. Gary E. Weir, Naval Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, DC, page 23

Official U.S. Navy photograph from the AIMM Archives.