Lake Torpedo Boat

Founded by Simon Lake in 1912, the company was located at the east end of Seaview Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Most of the submarines completed by Lake Torpedo Boat were completed from 1918 to 1922.

The firm competed with the Electric Boat Company until financial difficulties led to the company's demise in 1924. The Navy ceased awarding contracts to Lake shortly before that time, partly because {{USS|S-2|SS-106}}, the company's entry in the S-class submarine design competition, was not selected for further production. Only nine S-boats were built by Lake.Gardiner and Gray, pp. 130-131 Also, the yard was not physically able to build the large submarine cruisers then envisioned, such as {{USS|Argonaut|SM-1}}.Friedman, pp. 133, 343 The Washington Naval Treaty's limits on submarines were also a major factor. At the time, the Navy wished to concentrate submarine construction at Navy Yards, particularly Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine.{{Cite web |url=http://diodon349.com/Stories/Story_of_Demise_%20of_Laketorp.htm |title=The Demise of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company (from Weir) |access-date=2008-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216003517/http://diodon349.com/Stories/Story_of_Demise_%20of_Laketorp.htm |archive-date=2012-02-16 |url-status=usurped }}

The company completed 26 submarines for the US Navy, designed two US Navy submarines that were built in other yards, and built several other submarines for civilian use or that were not accepted by the Navy. Some of the submarines built by Lake for the Navy included several G-class, L-class, N-class, O-class, and R-class submarines.Gardiner and Gray, pp. 128-130 The company designed the Imperial Russian Navy's Osetr-class submarines, the first of which was Lake's Protector.Gardiner and Gray, pp. 301, 313 The Kaiman-class submarines were also designed for Russia.Gardiner and Gray, p. 314

{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2018}}

File:Uss s-2 ss-106 launch.jpg

Years of service follow names.

• USS G-2 (SS-27) (1915–19) – Completed by New York Navy Yard. Sank after she was decommissioned.
• USS G-3 (SS-31) (1915–21) – Completed by New York Navy Yard.
• USS L-5 (SS-44) (1918–22)
• USS N-4 (SS-56) (1918–22)
• USS N-5 (SS-57) (1918–22)
• USS N-6 (SS-58) (1918–22)
• USS N-7 (SS-59) (1918–22)
• USS O-11 (SS-72) (1918–30)
• USS O-12 (SS-73) (1918–24) – Converted and renamed Nautilus for an expedition to the North Pole.
• USS O-13 (SS-74) (1918–24)
• USS R-21 (SS-98) (1919–24)
• USS R-22 (SS-99) (1919–25)
• USS R-23 (SS-100) (1919–25)
• USS R-24 (SS-101) (1919–25)
• USS R-25 (SS-102) (1919–24)
• USS R-26 (SS-103) (1919–25)
• USS R-27 (SS-104) (1919–25)
• USS S-2 (SS-106) (1920–29)
• USS S-14 (SS-119) (1921–45)
• USS S-15 (SS-120) (1921–46) – Last Lake submarine in service with the US Navy.
• USS S-16 (SS-121) (1920–44) – Sunk as a target in 1945.
• USS S-17 (SS-122) (1921–44) – Sunk as a target in 1945.
• USS S-48 (SS-159) (1922–45)
• USS S-49 (SS-160) (1922–27) – Used as a tourist attraction from 1931 to 1940.
• USS S-50 (SS-161) (1922–27)
• USS S-51 (SS-162) (1922–25) – Lost in collision with a merchant ship.

• USS G-1 (SS-19½) (1912–20) – Built by Newport News Shipbuilding.
• USS L-6 (SS-45) (1917–22) – Built by California Shipbuilding Company.
• USS L-7 (SS-46) (1917–22) – Built by California Shipbuilding Company.
• USS L-8 (SS-48) (1917–22) – Built by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
• USS O-14 (SS-75) (1918–24) – Built by California Shipbuilding Company.
• USS O-15 (SS-76) (1918–24) – Built by California Shipbuilding Company.
• USS O-16 (SS-77) (1918–24) – Built by California Shipbuilding Company.

Note – these submarines were not necessarily built at the Lake Torpedo Boat Company.

• Argonaut Junior (1894)
• Argonaut 1 (1897) – Built in Baltimore.
• Argonaut 2 (1900) – Reconstruction of Argonaut 1.
• Protector (1901) – Built in Bridgeport.
• Defender (1907)
• Explorer (1934) – built by the Forsberg Manufacturing Company in Bridgeport.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book

| last = Friedman

| first = Norman

| author-link = Norman Friedman

| title = U.S. Submarines Through 1945: An Illustrated Design History

| publisher = United States Naval Institute

| year = 1995

| location = Annapolis, Maryland

| pages = 133, 343

| isbn = 1-55750-263-3 }}

• {{cite book | last = Gardiner | first = Robert | author2 = Gray, Randal | title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921 | publisher = Conway Maritime Press | year = 1985 | location = London | isbn = 0-85177-245-5 }}

• [http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/laketorpedo.htm List of ships built]
• [http://www.simonlake.com Simon Lake Website]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120216003517/http://diodon349.com/Stories/Story_of_Demise_%20of_Laketorp.htm The Demise of the Lake Torpedo Boat Company (from Weir)]}}
• [https://bportlibrary.org/hc/neighborhood-east-end/lake-submarine/ Bridgeport History Center (Bridgeport Library): Lake Submarine]

• {{cite book | last = Weir | first = Gary E. | title = Building American Submarines, 1914-1940 | publisher = University Press of the Pacific | year = 2000 | location = Honolulu | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3rqCjyNzB4oC&q=Gary+Weir | isbn = 0-89875-066-0 }}

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Category:Former submarine builders

Category:Shipyards of the United States

Category:Shipyards of Connecticut

Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United States

Category:1912 establishments in Connecticut

Category:1924 disestablishments in Connecticut

Category:Defunct companies based in Connecticut

Category:Companies based in Bridgeport, Connecticut