1916, Simon Lake, submarine inventions, Lake Torpedo Stock Certificate, signed

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1916, Simon Lake, submarine inventions, Lake Torpedo Stock Certificate, signed:
$47.33

This is a wonderful, original document dated 1916, a stock certificate for the Lake Torpedo Company, signed at lower right by Simon Lake. Certificate is 8x11, left edge trimmed, another document tipped to back, overall good condition.

Simon Lake(September 4, 1866 – June 23, 1945) was aQuakerAmericanmechanical engineerandnaval architectwho obtained over two hundredpatentsfor advances in naval design and competed withJohn Philip Hollandto build the firstsubmarinesfor theUnited States Navy.

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 36-footArgonaut 1, which he sailed from Norfolk, Virginia for a thousand miles to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, arriving in November, 1898.As a result of lessons learned on that journey, he rebuilt it into the 60-footArgonaut 2.

NeitherArgonautnor Lake\'s following submarine,Protector, built in 1901, were accepted by the Navy.Protectorwas the first submarine to havediving planesmounted forward of theconning towerand a flat keel. Four diving planes allowedProtectorto maintain depth without changingballast tanklevels, and to dive level without a down-angle. Level diving was a feature of several subsequent Lake designs, notably the first three USG-class submarines.Protectoralso had alock-out chamberfor divers to leave the submarine. Lake, lacking Holland\'s financial backing, was unable to continue building submarines in the United States. He soldProtectortoImperial Russiain 1904 as theOsetrand spent the next seven years inEuropedesigning submarines for theAustro-Hungarian Navy,Germany\'sKaiserliche Marine, and theImperial Russian Navy(Osetr- andKaiman-classsubmarines).

He lived inMilford, Connecticutfrom 1907 until his death in 1945. In 1912, he founded theLake Torpedo BoatCompany inBridgeport, Connecticut, which built 26 submarines for the United States Navy during and afterWorld War I. Lake\'s first submarine for the U.S. Navy,USSG-1(SS-19½), set a depth record of 256 feet (78 metres) in November 1912.

Please view the other historical and Civil War related documents I\'ll be listing this week.SEE SCAN.I now accept PAYPAL but PREFER other forms of traditional paper payment. Buyer pays shipping(usually FREE within the US and $12 for International),payment must be received within 5 days.