Video by Louis Fine/Murphy News Service
By Allison Maass/Murphy News Service
Local submariners gathered earlier this month at the annual Holland Club breakfast to honor those who have been qualified in submarines for 50 years or more.
“It’s a pretty special event,” Steve Dahlstrom said. “We are the farthest way from any ocean you can get, and it’s amazing how many submariners live in the Midwest.”
Dahlstrom was an electronics technician on submarines and some of his jobs included running the radar, sonar and electric counter measures. He has been in the Minneapolis/St. Paul USSVI for more than 20 years.
The Holland Club is a national organization that was named after the USS Holland, which was the Navy’s first modern commissioned submarine. The club meets once a year, and everyone involved in the local base is invited to attend.
At the meeting a typical Navy breakfast was served: chipped beef gravy on toast, hard-boiled eggs, navy baked beans, cornbread muffins with honey butter and fresh fruit.
George St. Martin, base commander for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Base of the United States Submarine Veterans Inc. (USSVI), who was a cook on submarines, made the breakfast.
To become a qualified in submarines a sailor needs to show he understands every system on the submarine, such as hydraulics, air, fuel, sonar and electric systems, St. Martin said. The submariner will also need to pass an oral and written test.
“The idea is if you are in one part of the submarine and there is a problem and something happens, you can take over and do their job,” Bob Bidon said. “You need to know everything.”
Bidon was a torpedoman on submarines and was inducted into the Holland Club last year. Torpedomen are responsible for the torpedoes, missiles and rockets on the submarine and the systems used to launch them. He qualified in submarines in 1964 and did two tours in the Vietnam War.
“Anybody who is qualified and has been through the system, they might not be experts, but they know enough to help the boat survive in case of a catastrophe,” Steve Dahlstrom said.
The local USSVI base also holds bi-monthly meetings for submarine veterans. Submariners from World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War and War on Terror all attend, and the oldest member of the chapter was qualified in submarines was qualified in 1944, St. Martin said.
“The main purpose of the USSVI is to remember those that have gone before us,” Bidon said.
“Ours is a social club, it really is,” Dahlstrom said. “We can get together a couple of times once every other month and tell old sea stories.”
The local base also fundraises and donates to multiple organizations, such as Kaps for Kids and Navy League Sea Cadets, St. Martin said.
While out to sea submariners could be underwater for many months. Dahlstrom and St. Martin were submerged for more than 60 days at one time.
“We submerged outside of Pearl Harbor and 63 days later we surfaced the same place we submerged,” St. Martin said.
When submariners were out to sea there wasn’t a lot to do, so after their jobs they would play a lot of cards and watch a lot of movies, John Uebel, a newly inducted member of the Holland Club said. Like Bidon, Uebel was also a torpedo man.
“You get into a routine,” St. Martin said.
“It was just a close knit group that worked together,” Uebel said. “And that is the whole premise of being qualified in submarines is working together and knowing everything on the boat.
St. Martin asks any submarine veterans who are interested in joining the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Base of the USSVI to call him at 952-448-6249 for more information.
Reporter Allison Maass is studying Journalism at the University of Minnesota.