tests, the governments of the United States and the Russian Empire bought its manufacturing rights. Lay himself set up a manufacturing plant in Russia where more than 10 large torpedoes were reportedly manufactured. However, it never had successful application. Lay's inventions made him a rich man, but he lost it all in speculation, and he spent his final years in poverty. He died at Bellevue Hospital, New York City, in April 1899. References Further reading 19th-century American inventors Military personnel from Buffalo, New York Union Navy officers 1833 births 1899 deaths