Argonaut Jr. Replica
Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Marker Inscription
The Argonaut, Jr." Experimental Submarine built by Simon Lake 1894 in Atlantic Highlands launched in harbor 1895 Reconstructed by: Atlantic Highlands Lions Club Head of Project: Lion Carl Swanson Built in 1994
The Story
In the 1890s, self-taught inventor Simon Lake was racing to prove that a boat could travel and work along the ocean floor, not just dive beneath the surface. His first effort, the Argonaut Jr., was a modest hand-cranked craft he built and tested in the waters off Atlantic Highlands, launching it in the harbor in 1895. Crude as it was, it validated Lake's ideas about wheeled, bottom-crawling submersibles and set him on the path to the larger Argonaut and a long career as a rival to fellow submarine pioneer John Holland. The vessel standing here today is a full-size replica, rebuilt in 1994 by the Atlantic Highlands Lions Club to honor that local chapter of American invention.
Why it matters
This unassuming harbor was a proving ground for American undersea technology at the dawn of practical submarine design, a field that would reshape both exploration and naval warfare in the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · Simon Lake
Related events
- · Launch of the Argonaut Jr. in Atlantic Highlands harbor, 1895
Themes & tags
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