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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Simon Lake (AS-33)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Echo - Kilo
 NUEK
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (4) - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (7)
Bottom Row - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - Armed Forces Service Medal
Simon Lake Class Submarine Tender:
  • Laid down, 7 January 1963, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.
  • Launched, 8 February 1964
  • Commissioned USS Simon Lake (AS-33), 7 November 1964, CAPT. James B. Osborn in command
  • Decommissioned, 31 July 1999
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 April 2006
  • Final Disposition, laid up at NISMF Portsmouth, VA., slated for disposal
    Specifications:
    Displacement 12,686 t.(lt) 20,088 t.(fl)
    Length 644'
    Beam 85'
    Draft 30'
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement 1,420
    Armament four 3"/50 gun mounts
    Propulsion 2 boilers, steam turbine, single shaft
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Simon Lake 807k
    Namesake

    Simon Lake competed with John Holland to build the first submarines for the U.S. Navy. Born in Pleasantville, New Jersey on September 4, 1866, Lake joined his father's foundry business after attending public schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Lake had a strong interest in undersea travel. He built his first submarine, Argonaut, in 1894 in response to an 1893 request from the Navy for a submarine torpedo boat. Neither Argonaut nor Lake's following submarine, the Protector, built in 1901, were accepted by the Navy. Protector was the first submarine to have diving planes mounted forward of the conning tower and a flat keel. Four diving planes allowed Protector to maintain depth without changing ballast levels. Protector also had a lock-out chamber for divers to leave the submarine. Lake, lacking Holland's financial backers, was unable to continue building submarines in the United States. He sold the Protector to the Russian Navy in 1904 and spent the next seven years in Europe designing submarines for the Austrian, German, and Russian navies. When he returned to the United States in 1912, he founded the Lake Torpedo Boat Company, which built 24 submarines for the U.S. Navy during and after World War I. Lake's first submarine for the U.S. Navy, G-1 set a submergence record of 256 feet in November 1912. Financial difficulties forced the Lake Torpedo Boat Company to close in the mid-1920s. Following company closure, Lake continued designing maritime salvage systems, and advised the U.S. Navy on submarine technology and maritime salvage during World War II. By his death on June 23, 1945, Lake had witnessed the submarine's arrival as a front-line weapon in the U.S. Navy.
    Text and photo from Submarine Warfare Division    		 Bill Gonyo
    Simon Lake 57k USS Simon Lake (AS-33) underway, date and location unknown. Robet Hurst
    Simon Lake 124k USS Simon Lake (AS-33) moored, at Rota, Spain, December 1975 with USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) alongside. ©Richard Leonhardt
    Spartanburg County 76k USS Simon Lake (AS-33), with USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642) alongside, and USS Spartanburg County (LST-1192) at Rota, Spain, December 1975 ©Richard Leonhardt
    AFDB-7 103k USS Simon Lake (AS-33) moored in the Holy Loch, Scotland with USS Los Alamos (AFDB-7). Note, Los Alamos has a ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) in her dock, circa 1980s.
    US Navy photo # NH 98381-KN from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Simon Lake 87k USS Simon Lake (AS-33) moored at the Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, GA. while tending four submarines, circa 1979-80. Wendell McLaughlin
    Simon Lake 158k USS Simon Lake (AS-33)'s cranes transferring Trident C-4 missiles to USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657) at Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, GA., 2 October 1981.
    DVIC photo # DN-SC-82-00002 from the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Simon Lake 317k USS Simon Lake (AS-33) secured to her mooring buoys in Holy Loch, Scotland, April 1988 Photo by Carl Musselman MM1/SS 1982-1995

    For more photos and information about USS Simon Lake, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • Commanding Officers
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Simon Lake AS-33 Association
    Submarine Tenders of the United States Navy
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Auxiliaries and Miscellaneous Ship Type Index Back To The Submarine Tender (AS) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 29 May 2009