Gail and Stephen Rudin collection of Simon Lake submarine materials, 1898-1964.
Collection Number: 6992

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Gail and Stephen Rudin collection of Simon Lake submarine materials, 1898-1964.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
6992
Abstract:
Letters, stock certificates, drawings, photographs, and publications related to Simon Lake's designs for submarines.
Creator:
Rudin, Stephen
Quanitities:
.5 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Letters, stock certificates, drawings, photographs, and publications related to Simon Lake's designs for submarines.

SEPARATED MATERIAL

Books on Simon Lake and the Submarine.
  1. Underwater Torpedo Boats: Their Merits and Their Menace, Lake Torpedo Boat Co. Includes content on "The Protector" sold to Russia. Rudin # SL-43.
  2. Ancient and Modern Ships: Part 1, George C.V. Holmes, 1906. Signed by Lake. Rudin # SL-44.
  3. Ancient and Modern Ships: Part II, George C.V. Holmes, 1906. Rudin # SL-45.
  4. The Storage Battery, Augustus Treadwell Jr., 1902. Rudin # SL-46.
  5. Sixty Years' Recollections of Milford, Nathan Stowe, 1917. Signed by Lake. Rudin # SL-47.
  6. A Genealogy of the Lake Family and Submarine. Rudin # SL-48.
  7. The Autobiography of Simon Lake. Rudin # SL-49.

INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:

Gail and Stephen Rudin collection of Simon Lake submarine materials, #6992. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

SUBJECTS

Names:
Lake, Simon, 1866-1945.
Subjects:
Submarines (Ships).

CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Series I. Letters, Manuscripts, and Documents
Box 2 Folder 1
"A Trip to the Submarine Boat Argonaut"
October 14, 1899
Scope and Contents
Typewritten manuscript. Embellished with ink cutaway drawings of the vessel. Apparently presented to Lake after a visit to the Erie Basin. Rudin # SL-1
Box 2 Folder 2
Draft contract between Lake and battery manufacturer in Russia
July 8, 1905
Scope and Contents
Signed by Lake. Rudin # SL-2
Box 1 Folder 1
Simon Lake Addressee: Boston Sunday Herald Writer's location: New York
October 2, 1939
TLS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
Letter about military submarines and the use of cargo-carrying submarines. Accompanied by a photo of Lake showing what a cargo-carrying submarine might look like. Rudin # SL-3
Box 1 Folder 2
Simon Lake Addressee: son-in-law Writer's location: Philadelphia
May 21, 1942
ALS
Pages: 2
Scope and Contents
States that Lake will be meeting with Mr. (J. Louis) Reynolds on the matter of cargo-carrying submarines. Rudin # SL-4
Box 1 Folder 3
Simon Lake Addressee: son-in-law Cecil Ford Writer's location:
n.d.
TLS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
Instructions for yard and property maintenance while Lake is away on a trip. Rudin # SL-5
Box 1 Folder 4
Simon Lake Addressee: Wife
n.d.
ANS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
"To my wife 'Mocky', with fond recollections of 53 years..." with photo of Lake. Rudin # SL-6
Box 1 Folder 5
Simon Lake Addressee: Daughter Writer's location: New York
1929
ALS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-7
Box 1 Folder 6
Simon Lake
February 11, 1938
ADS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
On Lakeolith letterhead, transferring ownership of household furniture to a daughter at the family's Milford, Connecticut home. Also signed by son and other daughter. Rudin # SL-8
Box 1 Folder 7
Simon Lake Addressee: Elwood Ford, grandson Writer's location: Milford, CT.
November 14, 1940
ALS
Pages: 2
Scope and Contents
In pencil, with envelope bearing signature. Rudin # SL-9
Box 1 Folder 8
Simon Lake Addressee: Elwood Ford, grandson
June 17, 1944
ALS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
To grandson at an Army Air Corps base in Gulfport, on Lake Submarine Co. letterhead. Rudin # SL-10
Box 1 Folder 9
Ford, Elwood Addressee: Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Ford
May 1, 1944
ALS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
Includes photo of Ford. Rudin # SL-11
Box 1 Folder 10
Simon Lake Addressee: Lawrence Dale Coleman
December 20, 1938
TLS
Pages: 1
Scope and Contents
Asks for names of museums in Venezuela in the event a planned submarine excursion finds materials of interest. Rudin # A-137
Box 1 Folder 11
Simon Lake Stock Certificate in Lake Submarine Co.
February 19, 1901
Scope and Contents
Signed twice by Lake. 100 shares. Rudin # SL-12
Box 1 Folder 12
Stock certificate for the Lake Sub-Marine Company.
May 15, 1900
Scope and Contents
Signed by Lake. Cancelled. Rudin # SL-13
Box 1 Folder 13
Capital stock certificate for five shares in the Lake Sub-Marine Company, made out to J.C. Lake and signed by Simon Lake.
January 21, 1901
Scope and Contents
Rudin # A-133
Box 1 Folder 14
Capital stock certificate for five shares in the Lake Sub-Marine Company, made out to E. Bunge and Co.
August 6, 1915
Scope and Contents
Rudin # A-134
Box 1 Folder 15
Stock certificate for the Lake Torpedo and Boat Company. Rudin # SL-14
August 25, 1916
Scope and Contents
Signed by Lake.
Box 1 Folder 16
Invitation to Lake from Theodore Roosevelt for a reception at the White House. Rudin # SL-15
February 18, 1909
Box 1 Folder 17
Original signed drawing of what appears to be a submarine.
June 17
Scope and Contents
Rudin # A-135
Box 1 Folder 18
Original signed drawing of Steam Cylinder for Submarine.
March 7, 1914
Scope and Contents
Rudin # A-136
Box 1 Folder 33
"In Defense of the Submarine" manuscript, by Simon Lake.
May, 1906
Scope and Contents
"In Defense of the Submarine" as well as two other manuscripts, one extolling "unsinkable" ships and the other the virtues of the submarine. Rudin # A-138
Series II: Photographs
Box 1 Folder 19
Photo of Lake
Scope and Contents
Signed on verso "Simon Lake- Age 42" Rudin # SL-16
Box 1 Folder 20
Photo of Lake in his 60's
Scope and Contents
Signed by Lake on verso in pencil "Simon Lake to Ma". Rudin # SL-17
Box 1 Folder 21
Original photo of the Argonaut, Lake's first submarine, after being lengthened and made watertight.
1898
Scope and Contents
Appears in Lake's 1918 book "The Submarine in War and Peace", pages 182-183. Rudin # SL-18
Box 1 Folder 22
Original photo of a model of "The Aluminaut", an aluminum cargo-carrying submarine, with Lake, Reynolds, and staff.
1942
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-22
Box 1 Folder 23
Lake Torpedo and Boat Co. photo of USS S-49 prior to launch at Bridgeport.
Scope and Contents
With Navy history of the submarine. Rudin # SL-23
Box 1 Folder 24
USS S-48
December 8, 1928
Scope and Contents
With Navy history of the USS S-48 submarine. Rudin # SL-24
Box 1 Folder 25
Five Generations Lake reunion.
1935
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-27
Box 3 Folder 1
Four original photos of "The Protector"
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-19
Mapcase Folder 1
Original photo of "The Protector" after being renamed "The Osetr"
Scope and Contents
With entire Russian crew, their names penned on lower mount. Rudin # SL-20
Box 3 Folder 2
USS S-47
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-25
Series III. Magazines, Reprints, and Pamphlets
Box 1 Folder 26
"The Future of the Submarine", printed presentation by Lake to Optimist Club of Philadelphia
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-28
Box 2 Folder 3
The Lake Periscope
March, April 1920
Scope and Contents
Company magazine of Lake Torpedo Boat Co., including visit by Pershing to factory. Rudin # SL-32
Box 2 Folder 4
"Sage Submarine Vessels and the Future of the Art"
1907
Scope and Contents
Pamphlet by Lake, illustrated. Rudin # SL-33
Box 2 Folder 5
"Recovering Natural Products of the Sea"
1920
Scope and Contents
Pamphlet, bears the name of Submarine and Exploration Co. Rudin # SL-34
Box 1 Folder 27
Pamphlet, "Fortunes Under the Sea", by Simon Lake.
n.d.
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-35
Box 1 Folder 28
Pamphlet, "The Argonaut: Her Evolution and History", by Simon Lake
July 1900
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-36
Box 1 Folder 29
Pamphlet, "The Development of the Lake Type Submarine Torpedo Boats". Two copies
n.d.
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-37, A-132
Box 1 Folder 30
Pamphlet, "Captain Simon Lake, Inventor of the Submarine, has Perfected Equipment to Salvage Fortunes Now Under the Sea".
n.d.
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-38
Box 1 Folder 31
Pamphlet, "Commissioning of United States Ship Simon Lake (AS-33)". Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.
November 7, 1964
Scope and Contents
48 pages with photo of ship. Rudin # SL-39
Box 2 Folder 6
"Modern Submarines in War and Peace"
1918
Scope and Contents
Reprint. Rudin # SL-40
Box 1 Folder 32
"The Submarine Versus the Submersible", by Simon Lake.
May, 1906
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-41
Box 3 Folder 3
Three copies of "Scientific American"
1898, 1915
Scope and Contents
Article on the Argonaut, other articles by Lake with illustrations. Rudin # SL-29-31
Box 3 Folder 4
Illustration from "Recovering Natural Products from the Sea"
Scope and Contents
Rudin # SL-34