Happy Birthday, Dolphins
One of the toughest badges to earn, the Submarine Warfare Insignia, aka the “dolphins” or “fish,” is also one of the Navy’s oldest warfare devices, having been adopted 100 years ago this week.
As detailed by the NHHC:
In the summer of 1923, while serving as Commander, Submarine Division Three, Captain Ernest J. King [Yes, the future WWII CNO] proposed that the Navy create a warfare insignia device for qualified submariners. The insignia came to be known as “dolphins” or “fish,” and is one of the Navy’s oldest warfare devices. The hard-earned badge distinguishes and identifies the members of the submarine community and has since become a source of pride for the “silent service.”
Not only did King propose the idea for the submarine warfare device, he also submitted the initial design. His drawing, which he submitted to the Bureau of Navigation for consideration, included a shield mounted on the beam ends of a submarine, with dolphins forward and aft of the conning tower. The bureau considered a shark and shield motif as well but ultimately hired a Philadelphia jewelry design firm to create the design.
The final design of the device was approved for wear on 24 March 1924. It displays a bow view of a surfaced O-class submarine with two dolphins resting their heads on the submarine’s bow planes. The dolphins depicted on the insignia are actually dolphinfish, or mahi-mahi, not the marine mammal.
I cannot believe the design was based on the mahimahi – the shape is wrong, the dorsal fin is wrong, the tailfin looks wrong too. Why cannot this be the mammal dolphin? Looks pretty much like what Aldus Manutius chose for his printing device in 1502, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldus_Manutius, and that is definitely a dolphin (as in mammal) with the same tailfin and dorsal fin as in the submarine service dec=vice!
Also makes more sense, using a sea mammal that is highly intelligent and can save people rather than a fish that can give you food poisoning…
Henk