A 1924 aerial photograph taken by a Manhattan map-making firm purports to document evidence of submarine activity in the Hudson River near Croton Point. According to Ellen NicKenzie Lawson's book Smugglers, Bootleggers and Scofflaws: Prohibition and New York City, the image shows "two submarines below the surface of the Hudson River, each 250 feet long and 600 feet apart."

The photograph emerged during Prohibition's height, when "Rum Row"—a smuggling corridor stretching from Nantucket to New York and New Jersey—was active. Court testimony includes accounts of a submarine appearing on Rum Row with "a German captain and a French crew." The 1924 aerial image was forwarded to the U.S. Navy, which confirmed having no submarines in the area. The photograph was subsequently passed to Coast Guard Intelligence and filed away, leaving its authenticity unresolved.