GRANDPA'S NAVY: The History of the USS Delaware (SSN-791): Video

Construction & Launching of the SSN-791 USS Delaware:

The arrival of the SSN-791 in Wilmington:

THE SUBMARINER

"Only the submariner realizes to what extent an entire ship depends on him as an individual. 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 herself 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 men who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to each other. These men are ultimately responsible to themselves and to each 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 his tour as a submariner that he can escape the grasp of responsibility. His privileges in view of obligations are almost ludicrously small, nevertheless, it is the spur which has given the Navy its greatest mariners--the men of the Submarine Service.

It is a duty which richly deserves the proud and time honored title of: SUBMARINER." ~~Blow and Vent