Hi Clint
It seems the LWF order were all for HS-1L but the company had a really weird system of supply! For example the first aircraft to be delivered was the one with the last serial, ie A-1398.
They then applied the serial numbers very haphazardly in their alloted range.
When the order came to switch production to the bigger span version LWF sure enough did so, but did not change their designation.
Their alloted inspector Whitefort obviously either didn't know (or care) about it so all LWF records still indicated they delivered HS-1L regardless of what it was and all USN record cards thus state they were HS-1L!
As per Casari, there is no way you can say if an aircraft was an HS-1L or HS-2L unless you have a photo or a specific document stating that s/n so-and-so was one or the other version.
And yes Clint, the number on this photo cannot be anything else than 1171. I have not seen it before, so it certainly is important in my books....
Cheers
Stig