Simon Lake, a member of New Jersey's Monmouth Lodge 172, invented the submarine in 1894. He built the first working unit, the
Argonaut, in 1897 and founded the Lake Submarine Company, making a career out of building submarines and consulting to governments wanting to manufacture them. Even before the turn of the century he had a design so sophisticated he developed a unit with locking chambers so divers could enter and exit the craft.
