USS VIRGINIA BASE HOLLAND CLUB MEMBERS
The HOLLAND CLUB is named after John Philip Holland, engineer and designer of the first U.S. Navy submarine. The United States submarine force came into existence October 12, 1900, with the commissioning of USS Holland (SS-1), although the birthday is celebrated April 11, the date the U.S. Navy acquired USS Holland.
There are no ex-submariners. Submarine qualification passes a man into a mystic brotherhood of undersea warriors, and it marks him forever as one of a special breed. Although they no longer sail beneath the seas, they still wear their ‘dolphins’ with honor and pride. These Holland Club shipmates and those who have gone before served our Nation extremely well. They have justly earned the honor and respect we show them when they are inducted into the Holland Club. We, indeed, are honored by their presence, and all submariners should look forward with anticipation to the day when they too may qualify for membership in this special group. Our web page "The Submariner" is also applicable in this regard.
The 2017 USSVI Policies and Procedures Manual, Section 7: Holland Club - includes this information:"USSVI Constitution Article VII Membership Section 4 states:a. “Any member who has been designated “Qualified in Submarines” for fifty (50) years or more is eligible to become a member of the Holland Club within the organizationb. Holland Club members are subject to National and Base dues to the same extent as other Regular members of the organization. Holland Club members inducted prior to September 4, 2010 are “grandfathered” and will continue to be designated as National Life Members, but they may be required to pay Base dues as per Base By-laws “The national membership voted on and adopted this change in 2010. With the adoption of this change, new Holland Club members (i.e., those members who are inducted after September 4, 2010), will continue to pay their annual national dues, unless they are also National Life Members.
Beginning with BC Kenn McDermott's administration, USS Virginia Base members who qualify for induction into the Holland Club now receive gifts - not only from USSVI, but also from USS Virginia Base, at a formal induction ceremony to honor their significant achievement and service.
This web page is dedicated to our USS Virginia Base Holland Club members and lists each current member and their Qual Boat and Qual Date, along with any photos that may be available from their induction ceremonies, in the table below. NOTE: If a members name is highlighted with a link, then clicking on their name will take you to photos taken at the member's Holland Club induction. Those members whose names are not linked may contribute photos to Kenn from their induction ceremony if they are available. Also please note that finding these photos and posting them here is a 'work in progress' which may take some time.
USS VIRGINIA BASE HOLLAND CLUB MEMBERS
| Clicking on a link takes you to that members Holland Club Induction slide show photos (if available). Click on the side arrows to step through the photos, and after you click (or swipe) move your cursor away from the photos and you'll see the captions. More photos will be added as the Webmaster locates and resizes them for the web. | ||
| MEMBER'S NAME | QUAL BOAT | QUAL YEAR |
| Warren Rucker | Grampus SS-523 | 1952 |
| John Leonard | Catfish SS-339 | 1957 |
| Bill Hiesley | Atule SS-403 | 1957 |
| Mickey Martin | Halfbeak SS-352 | 1957 |
| Tom Jones | Growler SSG-577 | 1959 |
| Richard Moore | Rasher AGSS-269 | 1960 |
| Thurman Register | Grampus SS-523 | 1961 |
| Dick Kanning | Angler SS-240 | 1962 |
| Kenn McDermott | Bang SS-385 | 1962 |
| Tom Chaffee | Bugara SS-331 | 1963 (Inducted 02/14/13) |
| Bill Lewis | Redfin SS-272 | 1963 (Inducted 02/14/13) |
| Ron Randolph | Alexander Hamilton SSBN-617 | 1963 (Inducted 02/14/13) |
| Al Ptasznik | Thomas A Edison SSBN-610 | 1964 |
| Sandy Harvey | Sarda SS-488 | 1964 |
| Doug Blaha | Sea Dragon SSN-584 | 1964 |
| Bob Kutzenberger | Grouper AGSS-214 | 1964 |
| Jim Pentz | Theodore Roosevelt SSBN-600 | 1964 |
| Dave Jonker | Greenfish SS-351 | 1966 |
| Mike Eggleston | Theodore Roosevelot SSBN-600 | 1968 |
| Jim Lassiter | Francis Scott Key SSBN-657 | 1968 |
| John Mosticone | George Washington Carver SSBN-656 | 1968 |
| Herbie Ortiz | George Bancroft SSBN-643 | 1968 |
| Rec Stanbery | Carbonero SS-337 | 1968 |
| Pete Fortier | Sam Rayburn SSBN-635 | 1969 |
| Jim Lencalis | USS Grayling SSN-646 | 1970 |
| Bob Jacobs | USS Robert E. Lee SSBN/SSN-601 | 1970 |
| Gene Knight | USS Seahorse SSN-669 | 1971 |
| Vincent Eikmeier | USS Andrew Jackson SSBN-619 | 1972 |
| Joseph Rodrigues | USS Jack SSN-605 | 1972 |
| John Williams | USS Ray SSN-653 | 1972 |
| Alan Stafford | USS Sam Rayburn SSBN-635 | 1973 |