This article is about a part of the U.S. Navy. For the aircraft, see Republic RC-3 Seabee.
Naval Construction Battalions
The Seabee logo
Founded
1942
Country
United States
Branch
United States Navy
Type
Expeditionary Forces
Role
Military engineering
Size
7,000+ active personnel
6,927 Reserve personnel
Around 14,000 total
Nickname(s)
Seabees
Motto(s)
Latin: Construimus, Batuimus for "We build, We fight"
"Can Do"
Colors
United States Navy
Mascot(s)
Bumblebee
Anniversaries
December 28, 1941 (1941-12-28) formation requested, March 5, 1942 (1942-03-05) formation authorized
Engagements
Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, Los Negros, Guam, Peleliu, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima, Philippines, Okinawa, North Africa, Sicily, Anzio, Normandy, Inchon landing, Khe Sanh, Dong Xaoi, Chu Lai, Con Thien, Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom
Website
www.necc.usff.navy.mil/seabees/
Commanders
Notable commanders
Admiral Ben Moreell
Military unit
CB Navy Yard Bougainville with the Seabee Expression3rd Marine Div. 2nd Raider's sign on Bougainville. 53rd CB was the shore party to the 2nd Raiders of Green Beach, D-Day.
United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion".[1] Depending upon context, "Seabee" can refer to all enlisted personnel in the USN's occupational field 13 (OF-13), all personnel in the Naval Construction Force (NCF), or Construction Battalion. Seabees serve both in and outside the NCF. During World War II they were plank-holders of both the Naval Combat Demolition Units and the Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs). The men in the NCF considered these units to be "Seabee".[2] In addition, Seabees served as elements of Cubs, Lions, Acorns and the United States Marine Corps.[3] They also provided the manpower for the top secret CWS Flame Tank Group. Today the Seabees have many special task assignments starting with Camp David and the Naval Support Unit at the Department of State. Seabees serve under both Commanders of the Naval Surface Forces Atlantic/Pacific fleets as well as on many base Public Works and USN diving commands.
CEC Insignia
Supply Corps Insignia
WWII Naval Officers assigned to Naval Construction Battalions from the Civil Engineer Corps, Medical Corps, Dental Corps and Supply Corps had a Silver Seabee on their Corps insignia. The WWII CEC insignia is used today as the emblem of the CEC/Seabee Historical Foundation.
Naval Construction Battalions were conceived of as replacements for civilian construction companies in combat zones after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time civilian contractors had roughly 70,000 men working U.S.N. contracts overseas. International law made it illegal for civilian workers to resist an attack. Doing so would classify them as guerrillas and could lead to summary execution.[4] The formation of the Seabees amidst the aftermath of the Battle of Wake Island inspired the backstory for the World War II movie The Fighting Seabees.
Adm. Moreell's concept model CB was a USMC trained military equivalent of those civilian companies: able to work anywhere, under any conditions or circumstances.[5] They have a storied legacy of creative field ingenuity,[6] stretching from Normandy and Okinawa to Iraq and Afghanistan. Adm. Ernest King wrote to the Seabees on their second anniversary, "Your ingenuity and fortitude have become a legend in the naval service."[7] They were unique at conception and remain unchanged from Adm. Moreell's model today. In the October 1944 issue of Flying, the Seabees are described as "a phenomenon of WWII".[8]
^"Chapter VI: The Seabees". Building the Navy's Bases in World War II: History of the BuDocks and the CEC 1940–1946. Vol. I. Washington, DC: U.S.GPO. 1947. Retrieved 18 October 2017 – via HyperWar.
^37th Seabees cruisebook, Seabee Museum Archives website, Port Hueneme, CA, Jan. 2020, p. 12-16
^U.S. Marine Corps WWII Order of Battle, Gordon L. Rottman, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 2002, p. 32
^"Seabee History: Formation of the Seabees and World War II". NHHC. 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
^"Admiral Ben Moreell, CEC, USN". Seabee Museum and Memorial Park. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
^"Coca-Cola and the Art of Seabee "Acquisition"". 15 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^"SeaBees Name and Insignia Officially Authorized". Naval History Blog. U.S. Naval Institute. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
^"The Seabees". Flying (magazine). Vol. 35, no. 4. October 1944. p. 261. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
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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...
The Fighting Seabees is a 1944 American war film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast includes Dennis...
included the first six classes of Seabee volunteers for the Naval Combat Demolition Units. After June 1944 Seabee boot camp was moved to Camp Endicott...
Seabee's 55th Battalion arrived and built "Camp Seabee", 5 miles north-east of Brisbane, at Eagle Farm. Camp Seabee became a staging camp for Seabees...
Seabee Hook Seabee Hook is a low, recurved spit composed of coarse volcanic ash which projects about 900 m (984 yd) west from the high rocky ridge forming...
The Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist (SCWS) insignia is a warfare qualification of the United States Navy. To be eligible to earn the SCWS insignia, personnel...
84th Seabee Construction Battalion unloaded and loaned the needed equipment to the United States Army Engineers to work on the runway. The 84th Seabee Construction...
enlisted men reported from the Seabees dynamiting and demolition school at Camp Peary for a four-week course. Those Seabees were immediately sent to participate...
Renard Sound Seaplane Base. US Navy Seabee Construction Battalions built the base starting in February 1943. Seabee 33rd Battalion, 35th Battalion and...
Seabee Mine Aerodrome (TC LID: CCB2) is located near Laonil Lake and serves the Seabee Gold Mine in Saskatchewan, Canada. List of airports in Saskatchewan...
Jima. United States Navy Seabee built all the facilities on the island.[dubious – discuss] With the landings on Iwo Jima, Seabees' first task was to get...
and architects, acquisitions specialists, and Seabee Combat Warfare Officers who qualify within Seabee units. They are responsible for executing and managing...
606757; -71.449404 Seabee Museum and Memorial Park is a non-profit military history museum in Davisville, Rhode Island, devoted to the Seabees of the U.S. Navy...
health and preventive medicine. Seabee Teams also called Civic Action Teams or CATs A product of the Cold War, Seabee Teams were an idea of the U.S. State...
Seabee Engineer Reconnaissance Teams (SERTs) were developed by the First Naval Construction Division (1st NCD) in Operation Iraqi Freedom intended to provide...
repaired and did expansion of the airfields on Okinawa. United States Navy Seabees built or repaired the facilities on the island. The bases on Okinawa put...
“https://www.steelmasterusa.com/quonset-huts/history/ accessed 6/29/2022 "Seabee Museum and Memorial Park - Quonset Huts". www.seabeesmuseum.com. Retrieved...
ships or lighter transport ships. During World War II the United States Seabees developed a pontoon assembly for moving cargo from transports to assault...
department security had 800 employees, plus 1,200 U.S. Marines and 115 Seabees. That Seabee number is roughly the same today. Headquartered on Navy Hill, across...
Survey Antarctic Expedition (NZGSAE), 1957–58, because Hallett Station on Seabee Hook was established at the north end of the peninsula. The peninsula is...
1942 Camp Seabee gate at Eagle Farm, Brisbane Camp Seabee Dock on Brisbane River Camp Seabee Naval Base Brisbane, base building trips map Seabees building...
of military contracts to produce the Republic RC-3 Seabee, an unusual all-metal amphibian. The Seabee was the brainchild of Percival "Spence" Spencer, a...
(December 30, 1939 – June 10, 1965) was the first and only United States Navy Seabee to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was also the first sailor to receive...
also called Tinian Harbor. All construction was carried out by the Navy's Seabees 6th Naval Construction Brigade, including the main two airfields: West...
were built in Algeria and Tunisia to prepare for the upcoming invasions. Seabees, United States Naval Construction Battalions, did most of the repair work...
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