Simon Lake

Simon Lake (born Sept. 4, 1866, Pleasantville, N.J., U.S.—died June 23, 1945, Bridgeport, Conn.) was a U.S. inventor who built the “Argonaut,” the first submarine to operate extensively in the open sea.

Lake’s first experimental submarine, the “Argonaut, Jr.,” built in 1894, had a wooden hull and was about 14 feet (4 metres) long. It travelled the sea bottom on wheels turned by hand. The “Argonaut,” built in 1897, was 36 feet (11 metres) long and was powered by a 30-horsepower gasoline engine. Air for the engine and crew was drawn down from the surface through a floating hose, later through rigid tubes. The “Argonaut” also had wheels for movement along the bottom. In 1898 it voyaged about 300 miles (500 kilometres) from Norfolk, Va., to New York City.

Lake’s “Protector” (1906), about 60 feet (18 metres) long, was rejected by the Congress for purchase for the U.S. Navy. Lake sold it to Russia, and it was shipped to Vladivostok. Lake went there for several years to supervise its reassembly and the training of crews. He built more submarines for the Russian government and, during World War I, more than 100 for other nations, including 55 for the U.S. He also helped develop the submarine periscope and invented other underwater gear.