Only the submariner realizes to what great extent an entire ship depends on them as individuals. To a landsman this is not understandable, and sometimes it is even difficult for us to comprehend, but it is so!

A submarine at sea is a different world in itself, and in consideration of the protracted and distant operations of submarines, the Navy must place responsibility and trust in the hands of those who take such ships to sea.

In each submarine there are those who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to each other. These individuals are ultimately responsible to themselves and each to the other for all aspects of operation of their submarine. They are the crew. They are the ship.

This is perhaps the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during their tour as a submariner that they can escape the grasp of responsibility. These privileges in view of their obligations are almost ludicrously small, nevertheless, it is the spur which has given the Navy its greatest mariners: the men and women of the Submarine Service.

It is a duty, which most richly deserves the proud and time-honored title of…

“SUBMARINER”