Seabees In World War II

When World War II broke out the United States Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees) did not exist. The logistics of a two theater war were daunting to conceive. Rear Admiral Moreell completely understood the issues. What needed to be done was build staging bases to take the war to the enemy, across both oceans, and create the construction force to do the work. Naval Construction Battalions were first conceived at Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks) in the 1930s. The onset of hostilities clarified to Radm. Moreell the need for developing advance bases to project American power. The solution: tap the vast pool of skilled labor in the U.S. Put it in uniform to build anything, anywhere under any conditions and get the Marine Corps to train it. The first volunteers came skilled. To obtain these tradesmen, military age was waived to age 50. It was later found that several past 60 had managed to get in. Men were given advanced rank/pay based upon experience making the Seabees the highest paid group in the U.S. military. The first 60 battalions had an average age of 37.

"December 1942 saw voluntary Seabee enlistments cease per presidential order. For the next year the Selective Service System provided younger unskilled recruits." The Seabee solution were Construction Training Centers with courses in over 60 trades. In the field seabees became renowned for the arts of obtaining materials by unofficial and unorthodox means,"Cumshaw" () "moonlight procurement", and souvenir making. Bulldozers, steel pontoons, steel mat, and corrugated steel, combined with "ingenuity and elbow grease became synonymous with Seabees Nearly 11,400 became officers in the Civil Engineer Corps of which nearly 8,000 served with CBs. During the war the Naval Construction Force (NCF) was simultaneously spread across multiple projects worldwide. On 13 February 1945 Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, made the NCF a permanent Naval element. Before that happened Seabees had volunteered for many tasks outside the NCF: Naval Combat Demolition Units, UDTs, Marine Corps Engineers/ Pioneers and the top secret Chemical Warfare Service Flame tank Group. While the Seabees had many unit types and had their tasks outside the NCF, other services, and the rest of the Navy itself, made no distinction, they all were simply "Seabees".

History

Pre-war naval construction development

In the late 1930s the US saw the need to prepare militarily. Congress authorized the expansion of naval Shore Activities in the Caribbean and by 1939 in the Central Pacific. "Following standard peacetime guidelines the Navy awarded contracts to civilian constructions firms. These contractors employed native civilian populations as well as U.S citizens and were answerable to naval officers in charge of construction. By 1941 large bases were being built on Guam, Midway, Wake, Pearl Harbor, Iceland, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Trinidad to name a few." International law, dictated civilians not to resist enemy military attacks. Resistance meant they could be summarily executed as guerrillas. Wake turned out to be a case in point for Americans.

World War II

The need for a militarized construction force became evident after the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 28 Radm. Moreell requested authority to create Naval Construction Battalions. The Bureau of Navigation gave authorization on 5 January 1942. Three Battalions were officially authorized on 5 March 1942. Enlistment was voluntary until December when the Selective Service System became responsible for recruitment. Seabee Training Centers were named for former heads of the Civil Engineer Corps: Radm. Mordecai T. Endicott, Radm. Harry H. Rousseau, Radm. Richard C. Hollyday, Radm. Charles W. Park and RADM. Robert Peary. One NCTC was named for the first CEC killed in action, Lt. Irwin W. Lee and Lt. (jg) George W. Stephenson of the 24th CB.

An issue for BuDocks was CB command. Navy regulations stated that command of naval personnel was limited to line officers of the fleet. BuDocks deemed it essential that CBs be commanded by CEC officers trained in construction. The Bureau of Naval Personnel strongly objected to this violation of Naval tradition. Radm. Moreell took the issue directly to the Secretary of the Navy. In March the Secretary gave the CEC complete command of all men assigned to CB units. With CBs authorized and the command question settled, BuDocks then had to deal with recruitment, training, military organization structure plus organizing the logistics to make it all work. That all happened quickly. Due to the exigencies of war there was a great deal of "improvisation", a quality that became synonymous with Seabees in general.

"At Naval Construction Training Centers (NCTC) and Advanced Base Depots (ABD) on both coasts, men learned: trade skills, military discipline, and advanced combat training. Although technically designated "support", Seabees frequently found themselves under fire with the Marines. After completing boot training at Camp Allen VA. and later Camp Peary VA, the men were formed into CBs or other smaller CB units. The first five battalions were deployed immediately upon completion of training due to the backlog of projects. Battalions that followed were sent to an ABDs at either Davisville, Rhode Island, or Port Hueneme, California to be staged prior to shipping out. Basic military training was done by the Navy while the Marine Corps provided advanced military training at Camp Peary, Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendelton. About 175,000 Seabees were staged out of Port Hueneme during the war. Units that had seen extended service in the Pacific were returned to the R&R Center at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, CA. There units were reorganized, re-deployed or decommissioned. Men were given 30-day leaves and later, those eligible were discharged. The same was done at the Davisville, Rhode Island, for the east coast."

From California, battalions attached to III Amphibious Corps or V Amphibious Corps, were staged to the Moanalua Ridge Seabee encampment in the Hawaiian Territory. It covered 120 acres and had 20 self-contained areas for CB units. Within each area were 6 two-story barracks served by a 1,200 man galley and messhall plus 8 standard quonsets for offices, dispensary, officers quarters and a single large quonset for the ships store. The entire facility had water, sewer, electricity, pavements, armory and a large outdoor theater. A second CB encampment of 4 additional 1000 man Quonsit areas was built on Iroquois Point. Battalions attached to the 7th Amphibious Fleet were staged at Camp Seabee next to the ABCD in Brisbane, Australia then to other US Naval Advance Bases.

The Atlantic theater

"When the war became a two-ocean war, the Panama Canal became geographically strategic. The convergence of shipping lanes necessitated bases to protect its approaches. Agreements in the Caribbean made that possible as did the Lend Lease Agreement. Under the Greenslade Program naval bases in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Panama Canal Zone were all expanded. In Puerto Rico Naval Station Roosevelt Roads was turned into the "Pearl Harbor of the Caribbean. Construction on existing bases was done primarily by civilian contractors until late 1943 when CBs took over. In the Atlantic, the bases formed a line from Bermuda to Brazil. On the Pacific side of the Americas the U.S had bases from the Honduras to Ecuador. The 80th(colored) CB upgraded Carlson airfield on Trinidad. The 83rd CB cut a highway out of Port of Spain, that required moving one million cubic yards of material." "On the Galapagos Islands, CBD 1012 constructed a seaplane base with tank farm and did the same again at Salinas, Ecuador. Salinas would be the southernmost U.S. base in the Pacific. While not in combat zones these bases were necessary for the overall war effort."

"North Africa was the Seabees' first combat. Landing with the assault in November 1942, they built facilities at Oran, Casablanca, Sifi, and Fedala. Later they would build a series of staging and training areas along the Mediterranean including NAS Port Lyautey, Morocco."

"With Tunisia taken the Seabees began prepping pontoon assemblies for their first use in combat at Sicily. This Seabee "innovation" was adapted for amphibious warfare. A pontoon box, standardized in size so multiple pontoons could be quickly assembled like to form causeways, piers, or rhinos to meet the exigencies of amphibious warfare. The beaches of Sicily were considered impossible for an amphibious landing by both the Allies and Axis. The Seabees with their pontoons proved that was not true. The Germans were overwhelmed by the men and material that poured ashore over them.

"Seabee causeways were used again at Salerno and Anzio. Having learned from Sicily the Germans were prepared causing heavy casualties at both. At Anzio Seabees were under extended continuous fire. After Southern Italy the Seabees had one last task in the theater, Operation Dragoon."

"Seabee operations in the North Atlantic began early 1942. The first were in Iceland, Newfoundland, and Greenland. These airfields and ports supported Allied convoys. To complete the defensive line these bases made, Seabees were sent to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Lough Erne, Loch Ryan, and Rosneath, Scotland. Depots, fuel farms, and seaplane bases were constructed to anchor the line. Afterwards the Seabees went South for Operation Overlord preparations. They built invasion bases from Milford Haven to Exeter and prepared for their own multifaceted D-day role."

On D-Day Seabees were the first ashore as Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDU). Their task was to remove German defensive beach obstructions built to impede amphibious landings. "They came under very heavy fire, but were able to detonate their charges opening gaps allowing the assault to land. Once again Seabees placed pontoon causeways over which the assault to reach land." "Seabees also brought their Rhino ferries, a motorized adaptation of their modular pontoon boxes. With them, vast amounts of men and material went ashore. For the American sector Seabees assembled piers, and breakwaters into Mulberry A. It was a temporary port until French ports were liberated. Even after weather disabled the Mulberry, Seabee handiwork got thousands of tons supplies and troops ashore."

"The liberation of Cherbourg and Le Havre gave CBs major projects. These were the harbors that would replace Mulberry A. Foreseeing the Allies would want harbors the Germans had left them in ruins. At Cherbourg the first cargo landed 11 days of the Seabees and within a month it was handling 14 ships simultaneously. Seabees repeated this at Le Havre and again at Brest, Lorient, and St. Nazaire."

The last Seabee task in Europe was the crossing of the Rhine. The U.S. Army asked the Navy for Seabees to do the job. General Patton ordered they wear Army fatigues to do it. Their first crossing was at Bad Neuenahr near Remagen and the Seabees made the operation work as planned. On 22 March 1945, they put Patton's armor across at Oppenheim, on pontoon ferries and landing craft that had been trucked overland from the coast. More than 300 craft were brought inland to make the crossing possible. One crew even took Prime Minister Churchill across.

"The 69th was the only CB to set foot on German soil. They also were the first CB to deploy by air. They were flown to Bremen in April tasked to repair damaged buildings and the power grid for the allied occupation force. Making Bremerhaven harbor operational also fell to them. One detachment's project was the U.S. Navy Hq in Germany at Frankfurt-am-Main. By August 1945 the battalion was back in England concluding NCF Atlantic operations."

The Pacific theater

"Pacific Seabee deeds were historically unparalleled. It was there that 80% of the NCF literally built the road to VJ-day constructing nearly all the airfields, piers, ammunition bunkers, supply depots, hospitals, fuel tanks, and barracks required to make it happen on over 300 islands." The very first job Seabees had a hand in was the salvage of the USS California (BB-44) and USS West Virginia (BB-48) at Pearl Harbor under the command of a CEC Lieutenant. He had Seabee divers and 120 men from the 16th CB before he was done.

"The entire Pacific from Australia to Alaska and the Aleutians were in the Japanese theater of operations. In 1942 they occupied the islands of Attu and Kiska. Seabees sent to the North were there to work on stalling Japanese strategy. By late June 1942 bases were being built on Adak and Amchitka which served as deterrents for the remainder of the war." While in the region CBs dealt with tasks beyond construction. Twice CB 45 had ships beached on their Tanaga Island doorstep. They assisted the evacuations of both the USS Ailanthus (AN-38) and the LST 451. They put damage control crews aboard the LST. Working round the clock they salvaged the ship. On another salvage operation in the Aleutians CB 4 had divers in the water. And, CBMU 1058 was sent into Naval Petroleum Reserve 4 to drill for oil as well as survey a potential pipeline route that remains utilized today.

"The first CB projects were on Bora Bora where the 1st CB Detachment arrived February 1942. They took the name "Bobcats" for their own from the Operation's code name BOBCAT. They deployed before the "Seabee" name was created. Their project was a fuel depot on a down under route to Australia. They encountered typical issues of the tropics: incessant rain, multiple types of dysentery, numerous skin problems, and the dreaded elephantiasis. Combined they made conditions miserable, and were harbingers of what was awaiting Seabees else wheres. That det was beset with difficulties, but gained satisfaction when the island's tank farms fueled Task Force 44 for the Battle of the Coral Sea."

Following the Bobcats the 2nd and 3rd Construction Battalion Detachments were formed. The 2nd went to Tongatapu while the 3rd went to New Hebrides both on down under routes also. Their projects would support operations in the Coral Sea and the Solomon Islands. The New Hebrides became strategic when the Japanese took Guadalcanal and started building airfields. The 3rd CB Det was rushed from Efate to Espiritu Santo to build a countermanding field asap. Within 20 days a 6000' airstrip was operational and the groundwork started on the Espiritu Santo Naval Base.

CB 3 sent a detachment to Bora Bora to augment the Bobcats. In the fall of 1943 all of those Seabees were ordered to join CB 3 at Noumea. En route they were redesignated the 3rd Battalion 23rd Marines. The remainder of CB 3s A Co was transferred to the 22nd as well. Neither the Bobcats nor A Co had not received advanced military training before deploying so the 22nd Marines gave them all an intense field version on Bora Bora. Afterwards the regiment returned to Hawaii for amphibious warfare training. For the Marshalls landings 3rd Battalion was tasked as shore party, engineers and demolitions men. They would see extensive combat at the Battle of Eniwetok. When those operations were over the 22nd Marines were given a Naval Unit Commendation and the Bobcats and A Co 3 CB were released by the Marines.

On 30 October 1942 the USS Enterprise (CV-6) pulled into Noumea damaged from the Battle of Santa Cruz. She was the only air craft carrier remaining west of Pearl Harbor, but had a bomb go through the flight deck at the bow. Two of enterprise's aircraft elevators were out of commission as well as a torpedo elevator. The flight deck arrestor cables were severed and their gear damaged. One near miss was midships below the waterline while another was adjacent the elevator hit. B Co. from CB 3 put 75 men aboard her to assist effect emergency repairs en route to the first naval Battle of the Solomons. Underway to engage the enemy, the Seabees focused on the repairs even into the battle. They had worked round-the-clock under the Enterprise's damage control officer along with 40 men off the repair ship USS Vestal. He wrote that on 11 November: "''She made the open sea with her decks... shaking and echoing to air hammers, with welders' arcs sparking... and with her forward elevator still jammed... since the bomb...broke it in half.''"
On 13 November the ship's Captain of notified SOPAC in Noumea that "''The emergency repairs accomplished by this skillful, well-trained, and enthusiastically energetic force have placed this vessel in condition for further action against the enemy''". Those repairs enabled the Enterprise to engage and sink the Japanese battleship Hiei that day. Over the next three days her planes would be involved in the sinking of 16 and damaging another 8. When it was over and Vice Admiral Bull Halsey knew what those Seabee repairs meant to the outcome. He sent a commendatory letter to the Seabee's OIC, Lt. Quayle: "''Your commander wishes to express to you and the men of the Construction Battalion serving under you, his appreciation for the services rendered by you in effecting emergency repairs during action against the enemy. The repairs were completed by these men with speed and efficiency. I hereby commend them for their willingness, zeal, and capability.''" At Pearl Harbor in November 1942, 120 steel workers, riggers, and electricians from the 16th CB were responsible for salvaging the USS West Virginia far faster than Navy estimates. Divers from the 16th CB assisted in the salvage of the USS Oklahoma. The 27th CB created its own "Ships Repair Shop" as a courtesy to the fleet. Its divers replaced 160 damaged ship's props. That "Shop" logged major repairs on 145 vessels, including 4 submarines.

The 6th CB was the first CB to see combat. They did so with the 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal keeping Henderson Field operational. The Japanese made this a never-ending job, bombing it as fast as the Seabees repaired it. The first Seabee given a Silver Star was there." The Marines/Seabees made simultaneous landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi Island. On Tulagi it was to construct an advance PT base. Its boats became famous for theirs operations in the "slot" PT Squadron 3 was there and requested Seabee volunteers nightly to fill out its crews. It also became Headquarters Motor Torpedo Boat So. Pacific Command MTBSoPac.
News worthy to the troops at the time, off Tassafaronga Point on Guadalcanal, Seabees in a Higgins boat ran into the periscope of a sunk Japanese two-man sub offshore. It was in of water and with improvised diving gear they hooked cables for bulldozers to pull it ashore. With bulldozers straining on the cables, a dynamite blast was used free it of the mud suction force and it was beached. It became a "must see" for U.S troops on the island.

Like CBs, PTs were new in WWII. The Seabees would build 119 PT bases or Cubs. The largest would be on Mios Woendi. Many battalions were involved, however, the 113th and 116th CBs had PT Advance Base Construction Detachments. The 113th's det was attached to Task Group 70.1 through the end of the war. It was a precursor to postwar Seabee teams. Each man was cross-trained in multiple trades with some qualified as corpsmen or divers.

Down under deployments had CBs building bases in New Zealand and Australia. As the war island-hopped the Seabees landed in assaults with Kiwis and Aussies on multiple islands to build airfields for joint RNZAF, RAAF, U.S. Army Air Corps operations. There were some airfields like Turtle Bay that were built for joint USMC RNZAF use. Kukum Field on Guadalcanal was home at various times to RNZAF Squadrons 1, 2, 3, 14, 15, 16, and 17 as well as the USAAF. On Noemfoor the 95th CB repaired three airfields that would service RAAF 22, 30, 37, 75, 76, and 80 Squadrons. On the Solomons, Russells, Rendova, New Georgia, and Bougainville CBs turned all into some kind of advanced base. "Mid-1943 Merauke, New Guinea got an air strip and comm station at Port Moresby. In December Seabees with the 1st Marine Division landed at Cape Gloucester. There, Seabees of the 19th Marines bulldozed trails for the armor beyond the front lines so far they had to be told to hold up.
A Co 87th CB had to visit the armory for combat gear prior to joining the 3rd New Zealand Division. The 3rd New Zealander's took Seabees with them in taking the Green and Treasury Island groups. Japanese occupied Papua, New Guinea, and New Britain was Australian administered Territory that saw Battalions from Camp Seabee Brisbane.

Prior to Cape Gloucester the 1st Marine Division posted notice requesting flight qualified volunteers to form an aviation unit of Piper L4 Grasshoppers. Sixty stepped forward with a dozen having flight time. A Seabee in the 17th Marines, MM2 Chester Perkins, was one. Perkins and the others were put through two months training for recon and artillery spotting once the Pipers arrived. He logged over 200 hours dropping flares ammo, medical supplies, observing troop movements, and providing taxi service to officers. For this Maj. Gen. Rupertus, USMC promoted him to Staff sergeant/Petty officer 1st class and Admiral Nimitz wrote him and the other flyers commendations for the Navy Air Medal.

"The Admiralities became key to isolating Rabaul and the neutralization of New Britain. The seizure of Manus Island and Los Negros Island cut supplies from all points north and east. By 1944 Seabees had transformed those islands into the largest Lion and Oak in the Southwest Pacific. The Lion became the main supply and repair depot of the Seventh Fleet. The capture of Emirau completed the encirclement of Rabaul. A strategic two-field Oak, with depots, dry dock, and PT base was constructed there."

"The Central Pacific saw CBs both landing in all the assaults, their efforts moved the U.S relentlessly toward the Japanese homeland. Tarawa