The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum, also known as the Navy SEAL Museum, is located in St. Lucie County, just outside

Fort Pierce Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. It houses exhibits to inform and educate on the role of Navy

Underwater Demolition Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII fun ...

s (UDT) and Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) teams. The museum also preserves the history of the SEALs (the original Navy frogmen first trained outside of Fort Pierce). The idea of the museum originated in the home of Albert Stankie, where he and other former UDT Frogmen gathered personal artifacts and experiences from their service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. They worked to procure the defunct Ft. Pierce Treasure Museum building and site. The Navy SEAL Museum sits on public land owned by Florida. This evolved into a dedicated facility, which opened in 1985, and was recognized as a National Museum by an act of Congress signed into law February 7, 2008.

UDT-SEAL memorial

The museum's focal point is a UDT-SEAL Memorial, dedicated to Navy SEALs and their predecessors. The memorial consists of a 500-pound, 9-foot-tall, bronze sculpture of a modern Navy SEAL. The names of all Underwater Demolition Team members—the "Frogmen" of World War II and modern Navy SEALs—who have died in the service of the country are carved into black granite panels on the walls surrounding the sculpture and its reflecting pool.

Other notable exhibits

The museum collection includes several artifacts dating from the SEALs' founding, from the days of Scouts & Raiders, through the Underwater Demolition Teams, to recent present-day Navy SEAL activities: * Original

–era obstacles used for demolition training before the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

("D-Day"). *

LCPL The Landing Craft Personnel (Large) or LCP (L) was a landing craft used extensively in the Second World War. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by ...

"the Shark Tooth Boat" the UDT used during the

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. * Patrol Boat River (PBR), used during the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

era. These boats had a shallow draft and jet drive making them ideal for insertion and extraction in the rivers and canals of the region. * Apollo program spacecraft—the actual training devices used by the UDT "frogmen" recovery teams during the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury space missions. *

Mark V Special Operations Craft The Mark V SOC (Special Operations Craft) was a marine security, patrol, and special forces insertion boat used by the United States Navy and manufactured by VT Halter Marine Inc (Gulfport, Mississippi). It was introduced into service with the ...

(SOC), an 82-foot and 52-plus ton boat operated by Special Boat Teams, used as a medium-range insertion and extraction platform for Navy SEALs. It saw service for coastal patrol and reconnaissance. *

SEAL Delivery Vehicle The SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV) is a crewed submersible and a type of swimmer delivery vehicle used to deliver United States Navy SEALs and their equipment for special operations missions. It is also operated by the Royal Navy's Special Boat Serv ...

s or SDVs, specifically the MK XII MOD 0, the MARK IX (9), and the MARK VII (7) MOD 0, which are mini-subs that flood inside (the operators wear compressed air tanks). These SDVs are used to enter enemy harbors clandestinely. * Various SEAL vehicles from operations in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. * The ''

MV Maersk Alabama MV ''Tygra'' (formerly MV ''Maersk Alabama'') is a container ship currently operated by the Waterman Steamship Corporation and owned by Element Shipmanagement SA of Piraeus, Greece. She was previously owned by the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and o ...

'' lifeboat aboard which

Somali pirates Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali, ...

held Captain Richard Phillips hostage during the

Maersk Alabama hijacking The ''Maersk Alabama'' hijacking began on 9 April 2009, when four pirates in the Indian Ocean seized the U.S. cargo ship at a distance of southeast of Eyl, Somalia. The siege ended after a rescue effort by the United States Navy on 12 April. ...

. * A wall honoring

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipients, with citations for each one.

Controversies

On August 2, 2020, a video surfaced showing a live service dog demonstration in front of a crowd of civilians and uniformed military personnel at the museum in 2019. The demonstration included four dogs attacking a museum staff member wearing the jersey of former NFL quarterback

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt du ...

over his protective equipment. Kaepernick had knelt during the national anthem at the start of NFL games in protest of police brutality and

racial inequality in the United States Racial inequality in the United States identifies the social inequality and advantages and disparities that affect different races within the United States. These can also be seen as a result of historic oppression, inequality of inheritance, or ...

. In response to the footage, the Commander of US Navy Special Warfare Command Rear Admiral Collin Green suspended the SEALs' support for the museum saying, "Each and every one of us serves to protect our fellow Americans - ALL Americans. Even the perception that our commitment to serving the men and women of this nation is applied unevenly is destructive," and that "We will revisit our relationship with the Museum when I am convinced that they have made the necessary changes to ensure this type of behavior does not happen again."

Notes

External links

Official website
{{authority control 1985 establishments in Florida Fort Pierce, Florida Military and war museums in Florida Museums in St. Lucie County, Florida Naval museums in the United States Museums established in 1985 Armed forces diving United States Navy SEALs Navy UDT-SEAL Museum Navy UDT-SEAL Museum

UDT-SEAL memorial

Other notable exhibits

Controversies

See also

Notes

External links