Gallimore started on diesel-electric submarines , including the USS Hardhead and the USS Sablefish in 1958 . Cat-and-mouse games of two superpowers aside , risks remain even today for sailors who head out beneath the waves , says Gallimore , now 73 . `` All the submariners , '' he says , `` when they go to sea , they 're in harm 's way . '' Gallimore remembers an incident that happened during the turnover of older diesel subs to the Greek navy . He and other crew members acted as observers during the training phase . During a dive , the boat angled down steeply and the propellers shook . The sub managed to surface eventually , yet Gallimore insisted the danger was part of the job . `` We 've all experienced when something went wrong , '' Gallimore says . Before any sailor can be called a submariner , he has to earn his `` dolphins , '' a pin that 's the equivalent to a pilot 's wings . The sailors must qualify on the submarines they are to serve by knowing the systems inside and out . The training and testing are rigorous .
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Al Charette traveled to the North Pole , he went under it . The USS Nautilus , the world 's first nuclear-powered submarine , made history when it reached the North Pole on August 3 , 1958 , beneath the ice . Charette , who was part of that Cold War crew , recalls how this milestone was of much more significance than being a historical first . `` What we did , '' he says , `` is really expose 3,000 miles of coastline of the U.S.S.R. '' Submarines , which submariners call boats , played a pivotal role in intelligence gathering and nuclear deterrence at a time of political tension between the United States and Soviet Union . Attack submarines sought out and tracked Soviet ballistic missile submarines , while U.S. Navy missile boats tried to keep from being discovered . `` We did n't want to make any kind of a noise that a fish did n't make , '' the 79-year-old Charette remembers . The Cold War may be remembered as a conflict without any battles , but for submariners , the danger on the front lines was real . Jack