page_title: Seabee
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Seabee / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: 19th Naval Construction Battalion Plaque
context_page_description: United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force. The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the first letters "C B" from the words Construction Battalion. Depending upon how the word is used "Seabee" can refer to one of three things: all enlisted personnel in the USN's occupational field 7, all officers and enlisted assigned to the Naval Construction Force, or Construction Battalions. Seabees serve outside the NCF as well. During WWII they served in both the Naval Combat Demolition Units and the Underwater Demolition Teams. In addition, they served as elements of Cubs, Lions, Acorns and the United States Marine Corps.
  They also provided the manpower for the top secret CWS Flame Tank Group. Today they 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.
context_section_description: On December 28, 1941, RADM Moreell requested authority to commission three Naval Construction Battalions. His request was approved on January 5, 1942 by Admiral Nimitz. The 1st HQ Construction Company was used to commission the 1st Naval Construction Detachment, which was assigned to Operation Bobcat. They were sent to Bora Bora and are known in Seabee history as "Bobcats". 
  Concurrently, the other four requested HQ Construction Companies had been approved.  BuDocks took Companies 2 & 3 to form the 1st Naval Construction Battalion at Charleston, South Carolina.  HQ Companies 4 & 5 were used for the 2nd CB.   All four deployed as independent units.  CBs 3, 4, & 5 were all deployed similarly. CB 6 was the first battalion to deploy full complement to the same deployment site.
  Before all this could happen, BuDocks had to address the dual command issue. Naval regs stated unit command was strictly limited to line officers.  BuDocks deemed it essential that CBs be commanded by CEC officers trained in construction. The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BuPers) strongly opposed this.  Adm. Moreell took the issue directly to the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox.  On March 19, 1942, Knox gave the Civil Engineer Corps complete command of all Naval Construction units.  Almost 11,400 would become CEC during WWII with 7,960 doing CB service. Two weeks prior, on March 5th all construction battalion personnel were officially named "Seabees".
  The first volunteers were construction tradesmen who were given advanced rank for their trade skills. This would result in them being the highest-paid group in uniform. To recruit these men, age and physical standards were waived up to age 50. Until November 1942 the average recruit age was 37, even so all received the same physical training.  In December, FDR ordered the Selective Service System to provide CB recruits.  Enlistees could request CB service with a written statement certifying that they were trade qualified. This lasted until October 1943 when voluntary enlistment in the Seabees ceased until December 1944. By war's end, 258,872 officers and enlisted had served in the Seabees.  They never reached the Navy's authorized quota of 321,056.
  In 1942 initial CB boot was Camp Allen,VA.,  which moved to Camp Bradford, which moved to Camp Peary and finally moved to Camp Endicott, Rhode Island.  CBs 1-5 were sent directly overseas for urgent projects. CBs that followed were sent to Advance Base Depots (ABDs) for deployment.  Camp Rousseau at Port Hueneme became operational first and was the ABD to the Pacific.  The Davisville ABD became operational in June with NTC Camp Endicott commissioned that August. Other CB Camps were Camp Parks, Livermore, Ca., and Camp Lee-Stephenson, Quoddy Village, Eastport, Maine and Camp Holliday, Gulfport, Ms.
  CBs sent to the Pacific were attached to one of the four Amphibious Corps: I, III, and V were USMC. The VII Amphibious Force was under General Douglas MacArthur, Supereme Commander.
  Advance Bases
  The Office of Naval Operations created a code identifying Advance Base (AB) construction as a numbered metaphor for the size/type of base. That code was also used to identify the "unit" that would be the administration for that base. These were Lion, Cub, Oak and Acorn with a Lion being a main Fleet Base (numbered 1–6). Cubs were Secondary Fleet Bases 1/4 the size of a Lion (numbered 1–12). Oak and Acorn were the names given air installations, new or captured (airfield or airstrip). Cubs quickly gained status.  The speed with which the Seabees could make one operational led the Marines to consider them a tactical component.  Camp Bedilion shared a common fence-line with Camp Rousseau at Port Hueneme and was home to the Acorn Assembly and Training Detachment (AATD) As the war progressed, BuDocks realized that logistics required that Advance Base Construction Depots (ABCDs) be built and CBs built seven.   When the code was first created, BuDocks foresaw two CBs constructing a Lion.  By 1944 an entire Regiment was being used.  The invasion of Okinawa took four Construction Brigad
caption: 19th CB Plaque from when battalion was designated 3rd Battalion 17th Marines
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