Naval History and Heritage Command
- Commemoration Toolkits
- Wars, Conflicts, and Operations
- American Revolution
- Quasi-War with France
- War of 1812
- Mexican-American War
- Civil War
- Steam Navy
- Spanish-American War
- Early 20th-Century Conflicts
- World War I
- World War II
- Korean War
- Cold War Era
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Vietnam War
- Operation Allied Force
- Middle East Engagements
- POW MIA
- Pirate Interdiction and the U.S. Navy
- The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
- Heritage
- Uniforms
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1776-1783
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1797
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1802
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1812-1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1815
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1830-1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1841
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1852-1855
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1862-1863
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1864
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1898
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1900
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1905-1913
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1917-1918
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1918-1919
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1922-1931
- Uniforms of the U.S Navy 1941
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1942-1943
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1943-1944
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1951-1952
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1961
- Uniforms of the U.S. Navy 1967
- Customs and Traditions
- Sailors' Tattoos
- Goats and the U.S. Navy
- Navy Athletics
- The Sailor’s Creed
- The Ship’s Bell
- Striking the Flag
- Unofficial Navy Certificates
- Precedence of Forces in Parades
- Passing Honors, National Anniversaries, and Solemnities
- Rocks and Shoals: Articles for the Government of the U.S. Navy
- Plank Owners
- Ship Naming
- Twenty-One Gun Salute
- Change of Command
- Navy Music
- Commissioning Pennant
- Ship Launching and Commissioning
- Burial at Sea
- Crossing the Line
- Banners
- Life Aboard
- Decorations and Awards
- Speak Like a Sailor
- Famous Navy Quotations
- Origins of the Navy
- U.S. Navy History Lessons Learned
- The Navy and Marine Corps Team
- "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. Naval Academy
- Uniforms
- Communities
- Disasters and Phenomena
- Organization and Administration
- Leadership
- Ranks
- Regulations and Policy
- Personnel
- Service and Medical Records
- U.S. Navy Installations
- Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia
- Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia
- Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut
- Naval Station Mayport, Florida
- Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida
- Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois
- Naval Base San Diego, California
- Naval Base Kitsap, Washington
- Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan
- Naval Support Activity Bahrain
- Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy
- Historic Former U.S. Navy Bases and Stations
- Diversity
- Exploration and Innovation
- Electricity and USS Trenton
- The World Cruise of the Great White Fleet
- The Voyage of a Lifetime
- The Ships of the Great White Fleet
- Great White Fleet Gallery
- Beginning of the Cruise
- Fleet Leadership
- Crossing the Equator
- World Cruise Experience
- At Sea
- Puerto Rico-South America-Mexico
- U.S. West Coast
- Hawaii-Australia-New Zealand
- Japan and China
- Philippines and Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
- Suez Canal-Egypt-Turkey
- Mediterranean
- End of the Cruise
- Memorabilia
- Navy Role in Space Exploration
- Polar Exploration
- The First U.S. Naval Observatory
- Bathyscaphe Trieste
- Airships & Dirigibles
- Higgins Boats
- Navy’s Use of Torpedoes
- The Nuclear Navy
- Radar and Sonar
- Navy’s Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Naval Mine Warfare
- The Navy’s Use of Carrier Pigeons
- Notable People
- Presidents
- Chiefs of Naval Operations
- The Office
- Admiral William S. Benson
- Admiral Robert E. Coontz
- Admiral Edward W. Eberle
- Admiral Charles F. Hughes
- Admiral William V. Pratt
- Admiral William H. Standley
- Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy
- Admiral Harold R. Stark
- Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King
- Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
- Admiral Louis E. Denfeld
- Admiral Forrest P. Sherman
- Admiral William M. Fechteler
- Admiral Robert B. Carney
- Admiral Arleigh A. Burke
- Admiral George W. Anderson Jr.
- Admiral David L. McDonald
- Admiral Thomas H. Moorer
- Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr.
- Admiral James L. Holloway III
- Admiral Thomas B. Hayward
- Admiral James D. Watkins
- Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost
- Admiral Frank B. Kelso II
- Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda
- Admiral Jay L. Johnson
- Admiral Vernon E. Clark
- Admiral Michael G. Mullen
- Admiral Gary Roughead
- Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert
- Admiral John M. Richardson
- Admiral Michael Gilday
- Master Chief Petty Officers of the Navy
- MCPON Delbert D. Black
- MCPON John D. Whittet
- MCPON Robert J. Walker
- MCPON Thomas S. Crow
- MCPON Billy C. Sanders
- MCPON William H. Plackett
- MCPON Duane R. Bushey
- MCPON John Hagan
- MCPON James L. Herdt
- MCPON Terry D. Scott
- MCPON Joe R. Campa Jr.
- MCPON Rick D. West
- MCPON Michael D. Stevens
- MCPON Steven S. Giordano
- MCPON Official Photographs
- Historical Figures
- Secretaries of the Navy
- Benjamin Stoddert (1798 - 1801)
- Robert Smith (1801 - 1809)
- Paul Hamilton (1809 - 1812)
- William Jones (1813 - 1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815 - 1818)
- Smith Thompson (1819 - 1823)
- Samuel Southard (1823 - 1829)
- John Branch, Jr. (1829 - 1831)
- Levi Woodbury (1831 - 1834)
- Mahlon Dickerson (1834 - 1838)
- James K. Paulding (1838 - 1841)
- George Edmund Badger (1841)
- Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843)
- David Henshaw (1843 - 1844)
- Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-1845) (1846-1849)
- George Bancroft (1845 - 1846)
- William B. Preston (1849 - 1850)
- William A. Graham (1850 - 1852)
- John P. Kennedy (1852 - 1853)
- James C. Dobbin (1853 - 1857)
- Isaac Toucey (1857 - 1861)
- Gideon Welles (1861 - 1869)
- Adolph Edward Borie (1869)
- George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877)
- Richard W. Thompson (1877 - 1880)
- Nathan Goff, Jr. (1881)
- William Henry Hunt (1881 - 1882)
- William Eaton Chandler (1882 - 1885)
- William C. Whitney (1885 - 1889)
- Benjamin F. Tracy (1889 - 1893)
- Hilary A. Herbert (1893 - 1897)
- John D. Long (1897 - 1902)
- William H. Moody (1902 - 1904)
- Paul Morton (1904 - 1905)
- Charles J. Bonaparte (1905 - 1906)
- Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908)
- Truman H. Newberry (1908 - 1909)
- George von L. Meyer (1909 - 1913)
- Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921)
- Edwin Denby (1921 - 1924)
- Charles F. Adams, III (1929 - 1933)
- Claude A. Swanson (1933 - 1939)
- Charles Edison (1940)
- William Franklin Knox (1940 - 1944)
- James Forrestal (1944 - 1947)
- John Lawrence Sullivan (1947 - 1949)
- Francis P. Matthews (1949 - 1951)
- Dan A. Kimball (1951 - 1953)
- Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954)
- Charles S. Thomas (1954 - 1957)
- Thomas S. Gates (1957 - 1959)
- William Birrell Franke (1959 - 1961)
- John Bowden Connally, Jr. (1961)
- Fred Korth (1962 - 1963)
- Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963)
- Paul Henry Nitze (1963 - 1967)
- Charles Fitz Baird (acting) (1967)
- Paul R. Ignatius (1967 - 1969)
- John Hubbard Chafee (1969 - 1972)
- John William Warner (1972 - 1974)
- J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977)
- William Graham Claytor, Jr. (1977 - 1979)
- Edward Hidalgo (1979 - 1981)
- John Lehman (1981 - 1987)
- James H. Webb (1987 - 1988)
- William L. Ball (1988 - 1989)
- Henry L. Garrett III (1989 - 1992)
- Daniel Howard (acting) (1992)
- Sean Charles O'Keefe (1992 - 1993)
- ADM Frank B. Kelso, II (acting) (1993)
- John Howard Dalton (1993 - 1998)
- Richard Jeffrey Danzig (1998 - 2001)
- Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting) (2001)
- Gordon R. England (2001-2003) (2003-2005)
- Susan M. Livingstone (acting) (2003)
- Hansford T. Johnson (acting) (2003)
- Donald Charles Winter (2006 - 2009)
- Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. (2009 - 2017)
- Sean G. J. Stackley (acting) (2017)
- Richard V. Spencer (2017 - 2019)
- Thomas B. Modly (acting) (2019-2020)
- James E. McPherson (acting) (2020)
- Kenneth J. Braithwaite (2020-2021)
- Thomas W. Harker (acting) (2021)
- Carlos Del Toro (2021-present)
- Profiles in Duty
- Medal of Honor Recipients
- Modern Navy Veterans
- Namesakes
- Sergeant Cornelius H. Charlton
- Private First Class Oscar P. Austin
- Civil Rights Activist Medgar Evers
- Private George Watson
- Cook First Class William Pinckney
- Commander Mary Sears
- Rear Admiral Grace Hopper
- Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
- Senator Daniel K. Inouye
- Private First Class Herbert K. Pililaau
- Sergeant First Class Rodney J.T. Yano
- First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez
- Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez
- Civil Rights Activist Cesar Chavez
- Admiral David Glasgow Farragut
- Private First Class Fernando Garcia
- Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez
- Sergeant Rafael Peralta
- Chief Petty Officer James E. Williams
- Guide and Interpreter Sacagawea
- Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole
- Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee
- Captain Thomas J. Hudner, Jr.
- Trailblazers
- Notable Ships
- U.S. Navy’s Six Original Frigates
- Ships of Sail
- Sail-to-Steam
- Modern Ships
- Alchiba (AK-23)
- Arizona (BB-39)
- Cole (DDG-67)
- Fletcher (DD-445)
- Harmon (DE-678)
- Houston (CA-30)
- Indianapolis (CA-35)
- Jacob Jones (DD-61)
- Johnston (DD-557)
- Maddox (DD-731)
- Missouri (BB-63)
- O'Bannon (DD-450)
- Pueblo (AGER-2)
- Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)
- San Diego (CL-53)
- San Francisco (CA-38)
- Tripoli (LPH-10)
- Turner Joy (DD-951)
- Washington (BB-56)
- Aircraft Carriers
- Submarines
- Heritage-Customs and Traditions
- Historical Summary
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Seabees
U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, CA.
Birth of the Navy’s Construction Battalions
The Naval Construction Force, better known as the Seabees, was born 5 March 1942. To meet the Navy’s need for construction of advanced bases in combat zones in WWII, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks, requested specific authority to activate, organize, and man Navy construction units. The first Seabee units were authorized on 5 January 1942, and official authorization of the Seabee name and insignia occurred on 5 March 1942.
Since then, for over 75 years, Seabees have been the Navy's construction force, building bases and airfields, conducting underwater construction, and building roads, bridges, and other support facilities. They play a crucial role in supporting the fleet and combatant commands while carrying out the Navy's maritime strategy.
Seabees also play an important role in sustaining global relationships. Seabees are forward deployed around the world to provide engineering and construction support while promoting regional stability and improving lives through engineering civic action projects in many countries.
U.S. Navy Seabee Museum
The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum selects, collects, preserves, and displays historic material related to the history of the Naval Construction Force (Seabees), and the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps. A wide selection of museum holdings is available digitally through the museum website. Material includes World War II unit histories, World War II cruisebooks, and issuances from the World War II Seabee News Service.
More History and Tradition of the Seabees
Naval Construction Battalion Books
Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
Seabee History: Formation of the Seabees and World War II
Seabee History: Between the Second World War and the Korean War
Seabee History: Southeast Asia
Seabee History: Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Museum Advisory Council Green-lights 75th Seabee Anniversary Plans for March 2017
Seabee Unit Cruise Books in the Navy Department Library
Videos
The following videos focus on the proud and continuing tradition of the Seabees.
Built on History
Seabee Reflections: World War II to Present. [YouTube] In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Seabees, the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, California, had the opportunity recently to interview Seabees who served from World War II to present.
Celebration of the Fighting Seabees. [YouTube] This video combines historic footage with recent imagery to show the Fighting Seabees, then and now.
Seabees of World War II. [YouTube] This World War II footage, obtained from the National Archives, includes a brief prologue and epilogue from Rear Adm. Ben Moreell. Footage includes Pacific operations as well as scenes of the Sicily invasion and landing at Salerno.
History of the Seabees in Guam. [YouTube] This video, courtesy of Joint Region Marianas, provides a historical look at Seabee contributions in Guam.
Celebrating the Contributions of Seabee Betty. [YouTube] This video, courtesy of Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs, tells the story of "Seabee Betty," who served as a surrogate mother to thousands of Seabees stationed in Guam.
“Can Do Since ’42”: World War II Service
These video clips highlight the service of Seabee veterans.
All Hands Magazine interviews World War II Seabees. [YouTube]
World War II veteran and Seabee Jack Mace recounts his service in the Pacific Fleet. [YouTube]
The son of a World War II veteran discusses the pride he has for his father’s service. [YouTube]
A World War II Seabee veteran discusses his experience serving in the Philippines. [YouTube]
Constructing the Future
These videos depict the range of Seabee capabilities and provide footage of today’s Seabees at work.
Capabilities of the Seabees [YouTube]
All Hands Update [YouTube]
NMCB 5 Holds Basic First Aid Educational Event in Calinog [DVIDS]
BUCN Glenn Vaca: Construction Project in Cambodia [DVIDS]
NMCB 5 Classroom Construction Project in Panay [DVIDS]
Seabees in Cambodia [DVIDS]
UCT Diego Garcia: Diving Operations [DVIDS]
Valiant Shield 2016: CTF-75 [DVIDS]
Why I’m Proud To Be a Seabee
In these video interviews, Sailors share why they’re proud to be Seabees.
Share from YouTube:
The valuable skills Seabees learn
The amazing accomplishments of the Seabees
The versatility of the Seabees
Seabees Can Do! | Full interview also available.
Download video packages from DVIDS:
The opportunity to dive into history
Notable Seabees
James D. Fairbanks
Edward Griffin Underhill
Selected Images
Footnotes
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