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Welcome to Got Dolphins

Got Dolphins was initially established as a Facebook group with the objective to honor those individuals around the world who have served their respective countries in the submarine service and earned their qualification badge, often referred to as dolphins. Established in May 2008, the group reached over 3000 members after one year, representing ten countries. Facebook, a social networking utility which connects people with friends, family and others who have vocational and avocational relationships, has provided hundreds of submariners, world-wide, with the opportunity to re-establish old relationship and create new ones. Most promising is the reality that old enemies have become new friends, ultimately finding common ground in our humanity, our submarine experience, and a desire for peace in the world. At this moment, Got Dolphins has ten countries represented among its members and there is a continued effort to bring more submariners together through Facebook as well as this site.

The primary purpose of this website is to complement the efforts of the Got Dolphins Facebook group by offering a repository of submarine and naval-related resources which may not be easily accessed on the Facebook group page. Although the group page provides a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with other submariners in a more personal way through personal profile pages and the Wall, it nevertheless has it's weaknesses, specifically in it's ability to easily access information in a simpler way. Information placed on Facebook pages are presented in a chronological way, thereby making it difficult to catalogue and index large volumes of subject matter. That's why we have created this page. We hope to make information more easily accessable and more comprehensive. In doing so, we would appreciate your comments as well. If you have an idea that make this page a better place to visit, please click on the mail button at the bottom of this page.

This site is set up to easily access information about a host of subjects relative to submarine life, history, operations, and current political, military and naval intelligence. It is also easy to hook up with fellow submariners and supporters of the submarine community. If you are a current Got Dolphins member or supporter, please go to the Crew page and sign in. Please submit as much information as you are able, so as to make it easier for friends and fellow submariners to find you. Please take a look at all the menu items which can be located in the upper-right hand side of each page. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Submarine Qualification insignia (usually known as "dolphins") are breast insignia of the submarine warfare community which are issued to those naval personnel after they complete a complex, demanding and extensive program that incorporates learning each system aboard the submarine and completion of certain watchstanding requirements including cross rate watch requirements. This program differs from many of the other "Warfare" programs in that it requires personnel to become proficient in engineering and operational details to such an extent that each person must be able to understand and perform basic operation of each system and equipment aboard the submarine. In addition each person must be able to efficiently perform damage control and emergency control functions in each space on the submarine.

After completing a "qual" card and submitting to a rigorous qualification board, the commanding officer, by recommendation of the board, awards the qualified crew member his dolphins.

Earning one's dolphins is not a symbol of some empty fraternal oath, but is a token of discipline, character, fortitude, and commitment. Wearing the dolphins gives evidence to membership in an elite brotherhood and secures the right to call oneself a submariner.

What's so special about being a submariner?

This is what noted psychologist and columnist Dr. Joyce Brother wrote about the kind of person who becomes a submariner:

The tragic loss of the submarine Thresher and 129 men had a special kind of impact on the nation....a special kind of sadness, mixed with universal admiration for the men who choose this type of work. One could not mention the Thresher without observing, in the same breath how utterly final and alone the end is when a ship dies at the bottom of the sea......and what a remarkable specimen of man it must be who accepts such a risk. Most of us might be moved to conclude, too, that a tragedy of this kind would have a damaging effect on the morale of the other men in the submarine service and tend to discourage future enlistment.

Actually, there is not evidence that this is so. What is it then that lures men to careers in which they spend so much of their time in cramped quarters, under great psychological stress, with danger lurking all about them?

Bond Among Them

Togetherness is an overworked term, but in no other branch of our military service is it given such full meaning as in the so called"silent service." In an undersea craft, each man is totally dependent upon the skill of every other man in the crew, not only for top performance but for actual survival. Each knows that his life depends on the others and because this is so, there is a bond among them that both challenges and comforts them. All of this gives the submariner a special feeling of pride, because he is indeed a member of an elite corps. The risks, then, are an inspiration rather than a deterrent. The challenge of masculinity is another factor which attracts men to serve on submarines. It certainly is a test of a man's prowess and power to know he can qualify for this highly selective service. However, it should be emphasized that this desire to prove masculinity is not pathological, as it might be in certain daredevil pursuits, such as driving a motorcycle through a flaming hoop.

Emotionally Healthy

There is nothing daredevil's about motivations of the man who decides to dedicate his life to the submarine service. He does, indeed, take pride in demonstrating that he is quite a man, but he does not do so to practice a form of foolhardy brinkmanship, to see how close he can get to failure and still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. On the contrary, the aim in the submarine service is to battle danger, to minimize the risk, to take every measure to make certain that safety rather danger, is maintained at all times. Are the men in the submarine service braver than those in other pursuits where the possibility of sudden tragedy is constant? The glib answer would be to say they are. It is more accurate, from a psychological point of view, to say they are not necessarily braver, but that they are men who have a little more insight into themselves and their capabilities. They know themselves a little better than the next man. This has to be so with men who have a healthy reason to volunteer for a risk. They are generally a cut healthier emotionally than others of the similar age and background because of their willingness to push themselves a little bit farther and not settle for an easier kind of existence. We all have tremendous capabilities but are rarely straining at the upper level of what we can do, these men are. The country can be proud and grateful that so many of its sound, young, eager men care enough about their own stature in life and the welfare of their country to pool their skills and match them collectively against the power of the sea.

This site supports efforts to help veterans and active service members and their familiel by promoting those institu- tions and individual who demonstrate that commitment by their deads and giving. We are proud to support the groups shown below: