Hi All!  Can you believe it's already the middle of April?  Do you know what that means?  Well, it means that Spring is upon us, flowers are blooming, birdies are singing, dogs are a-barkin'.  And... it's National Submarine Day!  National Submarine Day commemorates the day that the United States acquired it's first commissioned submarine, the USS Holland. The USS Holland was built in 1897 and, after proving her seaworthiness, was bought by the United States Government for $150,000 on April 11, 1900.

We commonly know submarines, otherwise known as "subs" as an underwater vessel used by the military (or as the tenth, and very trippy, studio album, released by The Beatles in 1969) but subs are also used to conduct marine science, underwater construction, and even underwater archaeology! One can also book a ride on one of the 12 tourist submarines operated by Atlantis Submarine.  They operate underwater tours in places such as Hawaii and Grand Cayman.  

My personal favorite submarine is the Submarine Voyage that closed in 1998 at Disneyland.  She had a good run of nearly 40 years though, opening on June 14 of 1959 in what is now the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland.  Submarine Voyage was 1,365 feet in length and could hold 38 happy riders for an eight minute ride through the arctic, the Graveyard of Lost Ships, the very bottom of the sea, and even the lost city of Atlantis!  I've heard tell that mermaids have even been spotted on this ride.  Wow!  Granted, Submarine Voyage is not a true submarine, as she does not fully submerge, and she moves around on rails.  

National Submarine Day is not celebrated at Disneyland.  As a matter of fact it is mostly celebrated in the submarine community, but I say why not give three cheers for submarines and maybe have a bite or two of it's gustatory namesake, the sub sandwich!  Yum!  Happy Submarine Day!