Simon Lake (September 4, 1866 – June 23, 1945) was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

American

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and

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who obtained over two hundred

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s for advances in naval design and competed with

John Philip Holland John Philip Holland (; February 24, 1841August 12, 1914) was an Irish marine engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, USS Holland (SS-1) and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Holland 1''. Early lif ...

to build the first

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Biography

Born in Pleasantville, New Jersey on September 4, 1866. He studied at the Clinton Liberal Institute in

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. Lake joined his father's foundry business after attending public schools in

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and

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. Lake had a strong interest in undersea travel. He built his first submarine, '' Argonaut Junior'', in 1894 in response to an 1893 request from the US Navy for a submarine torpedo boat. In 1898 he followed up with the ''Argonaut 1'', which he sailed from Norfolk, Virginia for to Sandy Hook, New Jersey (which is actually north of Norfolk), arriving in November 1898. As a result of lessons learned on that journey, he rebuilt it into the ''Argonaut 2''. Neither ''Argonaut'' nor Lake's following submarine, '' Protector'', built in 1901, were accepted by the Navy. ''Protector'' was the first submarine to have

diving plane Diving planes, also known as hydroplanes, are control surfaces found on a submarine which allow the vessel to Pitch (flight), pitch its bow and stern up or down to assist in the process of submerging or surfacing the boat, as well as controlling ...

s mounted forward of the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

and a flat keel. Four diving planes allowed ''Protector'' to maintain depth without changing

ballast tank A ballast tank is a Compartment (ship), compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to co ...

levels, and to dive level without a down-angle. Level diving was a feature of several subsequent Lake designs, notably the first three US G-class submarines. ''Protector'' also had a lock-out chamber for divers to leave the submarine. Lake, lacking Holland's financial backing, was unable to continue building submarines in the United States. He sold ''Protector'' to

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in 1904 as the ''Osetr'' and spent the next seven years in

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designing submarines for the

Austro-Hungarian Navy The Austro-Hungarian Navy or Imperial and Royal War Navy (, in short ''k.u.k. Kriegsmarine'', ) was the navy, naval force of Austria-Hungary. Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy were designated ''SMS'', for ''Seiner Majestät Schiff'' (His Majes ...

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's '' Kaiserliche Marine'', and the

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( ''Osetr''- and ''Kaiman''-class submarines). He lived in

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from 1907 until his death in 1945. In 1912, he founded the Lake Torpedo Boat Company in

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, which built 26 submarines for the United States Navy during and after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Lake's first submarine for the U.S. Navy, , set a depth record of in November 1912. In 1922 the United States and other countries signed treaties limiting the size of their navies. This led to financial difficulties which forced the Lake Torpedo Boat Company to close in the mid-1920s. Following the company's closure, Lake continued designing maritime salvage systems including obtaining permission to partially salvage the

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

off the south Irish coast and then later a failed attempt to salvage gold from , a British frigate that sank in 1780 in

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with his submarine, the ''Explorer''. Lake redesigned the former as the Arctic exploration submarine ''Nautilus'', used by Sir Hubert Wilkins in a 1931 expedition. He also advised the United States Navy on submarine technology and maritime salvage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Lake was a member,

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

of Monmouth Lodge No. 172 in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. He later affiliated with Ansantawae Lodge No. 89 in Milford, Connecticut. He died on June 23, 1945.

Legacy

Simon Lake 1919 invention for ocean salvage

By his death, Lake had witnessed the submarine's arrival as a front-line weapon in the US Navy. The US Navy built a class of two

submarine tender A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of foo ...

s named in his honor, the ''Simon Lake'' class; was in service between 1964 and 1999. In 1989 Simon Lake was inducted into the Toms River (New Jersey) Schools' Hall of Fame. A Milford, Connecticut grammar school named in his honor closed in June 2010. Lake's Bay in West Atlantic City, New Jersey is where he tested prototypes. An Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey street, Simon Lake Drive, at the marina was named in his honor.Atlantic Highlands By Randall Gabrielan

References

Bibliography

* * John J. Poluhowich, ''Argonaut: The Submarine Legacy of Simon Lake''. Texas A&M University Press, November 1999,

External links

"Submarine - The Autobiography of Simon Lake"
pdf file
"Lusitania Treasures To Be Raised"
''Popular Mechanics'', February 1932
"Pumping Cargo From Sunken Ships - Submarine Builder Designs Unique Vessel For Bulk Salvage Work"
''Popular Science'', December 1934
"Baby Submarine On Wheels To Seek Treasure"
''Popular Mechanics'' March 1933
"Hard-Boil for Treasure" ''Popular Mechanics'', November 1930, pp 770-774
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Simon 1866 births 1945 deaths American engineers American inventors People from Pleasantville, New Jersey Submarine pioneers Engineers from New Jersey