![]() ![]() Archaeological findĬatherine Labadia, staff archaeologist in the State Historic Preservation Office, called Simon’s discovery “a major find.” An elementary school in Milford was named after him it closed in 2010. ![]() Navy had a submarine tender, the USS Simon Lake, in service from 1964 to 1999. ![]() But he still never found a buyer.ĭefender was docked in New London and once was beached in Old Saybrook. Simon pointed out that Lake adapted Defender to do underwater rescues, Arctic expeditions and salvaging gold from wrecked ships. It had a Victorian salon with wood, button-leather upholstery. Lake built his first real sub in 1897 and built Defender in 1907. Jeffries said his great-great uncle built his first sub out of wood when he was a teenager. “He was an entrepreneur but he was not necessarily a great businessman,” Jeffries said. While Electric Boat thrived, Lake Torpedo floundered, dissolving in 1924. He competed with John Holland, whose sub designs were manufactured at Electric Boat in Groton. Lake also founded Lake Torpedo Boat company in Bridgeport in 1912 to build subs. He designed subs and held more than 200 sub design patents. He moved to Connecticut in 1907 and lived in Milford the rest of his life. Simon Lake (1866-1945) grew up in New Jersey. Submarine design pioneer Simon Lake, who created the Defender sub. The longer they’re down there, the longer it takes to get the salt out of it,” he said. Previous attempts to bring up and preserve subs proved problematic and expensive, Jeffries said. He agrees that the craft should stay underwater. Lake’s great-grand nephew Jay Jeffries tried to find Defender himself. “Nothing would make me happier than to have a kid walk through it and think of Jules Verne and ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,’ but in reality my best hope is to inspire the next generation of explorers.” Simon said he will not bring the sub up to the surface. Rick Simon (center) with divers Steve Abbate (left) and Joe Mazraani shortly after their dive to find Defender.(Jennifer Sellitti / Use granted by Jennifer Sellitti) Sub to stay in water “Once the research documentation is finished, we will publicize the exact location,” he said. Simon was not specific about the location of Defender. He was proven right in his Sunday mission, which was postponed from Friday due to weather conditions. I was confident last month that I had found the right spot.” I found a couple of targets that weren’t it. On the way down and back I would spend an extra couple hours looking,” said Simon. “I had a job that had me going up and down every day from Noank to Branford. He intensified his search about two months ago when he thought he was close to finding it. “I found a shipwreck labeled as something else that had never been looked at.” “I started with finding out where it wasn’t and narrowed it down to where it is,” he said. Simon had looked for Defender for years, using data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that charts underwater wrecks and obstructions. ![]()
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