The
origin of the US Navy Submarine Service Insignia dates back to
1923. On 13 June of that year, Captain Ernest J. King, USN, later to
become Fleet Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II,
and at that time Commander Submarine Division Three, suggested to the
Secretary of the Navy, via the Bureau of Navigation (Now Naval Military
Personnel Command), that a distinguished device for qualified submarines
be adopted.
He
submitted a pen-and-ink sketch of his own, showing a shield mounted on
the beam end of a submarine, with dolphins forward of, and abaft, the
conning tower. The suggestion was strongly endorsed by Commander
Submarine Divisions, Atlantic.
During
the next several months the Bureau of Navigation solicited additional
designs from several sources. Among the designs were a submarine and
shark motif, a submarine and shield, and submarine and dolphins.
A
Philadelphia firm, which had done work for the Navy previously, was
approached with the request that it undertake to design a suitable
badge. Two designs were submitted by the firm, and these were combined
into a single design. It is the design in use today: a bow view of a
submarine, proceeding on the surface, with bow planes rigged for diving,
flanked by dolphins in a horizontal position with their heads resting on
the upper edge of the bow planes.
On 20
March 1924, the Chief of Navigation recommended to the Secretary of the
Navy that the design be adopted. The recommendation was accepted by
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., acting Secretary of the Navy.
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