HMCS Patriot Towing the Hydrofoil HD-4, September 1921In this photograph, the Canadian destroyer HMCS Patriot (centre) tows the Bell-Baldwin HD-4 hydrofoil (far left) across Bras D'Or Lake, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
In 1919, the cigar-like HD-4 had sped over the water at speeds of up to 114 kilometres per hour - a record that stood for a decade. In 1921, Alexander Graham Bell and his colleague Frederick W. "Casey" Baldwin undertook further tests with the HD-4's engines removed. Patriot, as a fast destroyer, could tow the hydrofoil at high speeds. Despite the tests, Bell and Baldwin's offer of their hydrofoil as a towed naval gunnery target was declined.
George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19910109-190
