OBITUARY
Joseph Hawkins, CSC(SS) (ret)

Perch Base Holland Club Member and Life Member Joseph James Hawkins, CSC(SS) (ret), 89, passed away November 14, 2017.
Joseph was born May 18, 1928 in Pawtucket, RI, joined the Navy in 1946 and honorably served in the US Navy during WWII, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War until 1966. He retired from the Navy as a Chief Culinary Specialist, CSC(SS).
Perch Base officers had been trying unsuccessfully to make contact with Joseph, but it was not until 2025 that we discovered the location of his interment in the Rhode Island Veterans Memorial Cemetery (Section J-5, Row 4, Site 282, Memorial ID 185318182) in Exeter, RI, that we learned he had passed onto Eternal Patrol.
Joseph's first submarine assignment was aboard EX‑U‑2513 as a Seaman after WWII, which included both evaluation tests of the U‑boat's design and duty in conjunction with the development of submarine and antisubmarine tactics. The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) would be initiated because of the results of these tests, where we learned about the schnorchel (a.k.a., snorkel.)
Joseph then served on the USS Dogfish (SS‑350) and subsequently Qualified in Submarines on the USS Becuna (SS‑319). He also served on the USS Sculpin (SSN‑590) and the USS Sailfish (SS‑572).