SIMON LAKE - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED CHECK 08/09/1929 - HFSID 168628

SIMON LAKE
A $34.20 check signed by the inventor and engineer framed with a black and white photograph of him and his creation. Total size is 12x12¼.
Check Signed: "Simon Lake", 6¼x2¾. Framed to a total size of 12x12¼ with a black and white image of Lake and an early submarine. Milford, Connecticut. Dated August 9, 1929. Check filled out and signed by Lake, drawn on The Milford Trust Company and payable to C.S. Meredith and Co. for $34.20. Inspired by Jules Verne's, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Simon Lake (1866-1945) designed a submarine and submitted plans to the U.S. Navy in 1892. In 1894 he built his first experimental submarine, Argonaut Junior, which was successfully demonstrated at Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Its success led to the formation of the Lake Submarine Company of New Jersey, which built the Argonaut 1 in 1898. It was the first submarine to operate successfully in the open sea. The Argonaut 1 and Argonaut 2 was followed by the Protector, a surprisingly modern torpedo boat design that was adopted by the U.S. Navy during WWI. Lake, who supplied over 100 submarines for the war effort, also helped to design a practical periscope and invented submarine apparatus for recovering sunken vessels and their cargoes. The versatile Lake founded many companies to implement his engineering visions. Industrial Submarine Corporation (1930) was one of these. During WWII, he served as a consultant for the United States Navy on the salvaging of boats and the future of submarines. Bank cancellation perforations affecting "Simon" of signature. Otherwise, fine condition. Matted.