Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage Command
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Rear Adm. R.O. Glover, 7th Fleet Forces commander, awards the Navy Silver Star to Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Malcolm A. Peppo, 113th Naval Construction Battalion, for his actions during a Japanese attack on Dec. 15, 1944. While unloading stores from an LST during the assault on Mindanao, Philippine Islands, Peppo's ship was attacked by a kamikaze plane. Because the ship was being unloaded, its bow doors were open and its ramp was down, making it helpless to maneuver. When the anti-aircraft gun crew looked up and saw the suicide plane headed straight for the beached vessel, the men instinctively abandoned their positions and scattered. Peppo, however, jumped into the vacated gun emplacement and fired at the oncoming plane until it crashed. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)
Disaster Relief
In December 1975 Seabees of Construction Battalion Unit 417 engaged in flood control operations at Mt. Vernon, Washington, when the Skagit River overflowed and threatened the town.
December 8
1943: 20th Special NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.
1945: 51st NCB inactivated on Saipan.
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1954: One of the largest auctions of used and unused naval equipment ever offered for sale was held 7-8 December 1954. Materiel valued at $8.1 million went up for auction including automotive, construction and industrial equipment as well as spare parts. Among the countless items being offered were 650 trucks, 54 cranes, rock crushers, scrapers, air compressors, pole trailer, cranes, graders, bucket loaders, winches, pumps, and generators, 20 February 1946. (Courtesy of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum)
1966: NMCB 7 main body returned to Davisville, Rhode Island in 14 C-130 aircraft flights.
1967: Main body of NMCB 58 departed Davisville, Rhode Island for Camp Haskins, North, Da Nang, RVN.
1969: Headquarters of the 30th NCR moved from Vietnam to Okinawa, Japan. This move was the result of the reduction of the Naval Construction Force in Vietnam, which was the result of de-escalation of U.S. activity in Southeast Asia.
1969: Cmdr. C.R. Whipple, commanding officer of NMCB 3, relieved Capt. J.E. Powell, as commander, 30th NCR, at Camp Kinser, Okinawa.
2002: Typhoon Pongsona hits Guam, inflicting considerable damage. NMCB 74 assisted in relief efforts on the island.
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2002: Builder 2nd Class Chad Johnson loads debris onto a dump truck during recovery efforts from damages incurred at U.S. Naval Forces Marianas from the effects of Super Typhoon Pongsona, that passed over the Island of Guam on December 8, 2002. (U.S. Navy photo)
December 9
1942: 52nd NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, Virginia.
1943: ACORN 5 disestablished. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put
together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)
1965: NMCB 4 main body on board Camp Shields, Chu Lai, RVN; NMCB 4 replaced NMCB 10 at Camp Shields, Okinawa.
1967: The main body of NMCB 58 arrived at Da Nang, RVN. Lt. Cmdr. John L. Dettbarn relieved Lt. Cmdr. Ronald G. Shirley as executive officer of NMCB 7; Seabee Team 1110 relieved Seabee Team 0309, located in Long Xuyen, Chau Thanh District, An Giang Province, RVN. Team 0309 departed Long Xuyen the following day.
1968: NMCB 6 main body of 14 officers and 395 enlisted Seabees deployed to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico via six C-141 aircraft.
December 10
1945: 37th and 39th NCRs inactivated; 302nd NCB inactivated at Intrepid Point, Hawaii.
1967: Seabee Team 0407 officially relieved by Seabee Team 0809 in the city of Can Tho, Phong Dinh Province, RVN; main body of NMCB 58 arrived in RVN.
1969: NMCB 53 was disestablished at Davisville, Rhode Island; Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) requested assignment of one diving officer to the staff of the Commander 21st NCR and one diving officer to 31st NCR to coordinate and manage a nucleus of Atlantic and Pacific area underwater construction teams.
1970: Seabee Team 0318 deployed to Ben Tre to relieve Seabee Team 0517 during the pacification effort in Vietnam, RVN via government aircraft. The Kien Hoa Province was in dire need of roads, school buildings, warehouses, and government buildings. Seabee Team 0517 was selected as "Best of Type" during their tenure in Ben Tre.
1992: Amphibious Construction Battalion 1 arrived at Mogadishu as part of the Naval Support Element in Somalia. Within a short time ACB 1 unloaded five of the U.S. Marines' Maritime Pre-positioning Force ships, refurbished the port, and provided fuel and water for military forces in Somalia.
Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 and 40 began deploying to Somalia on 10 December. Within 30 days both battalion main bodies had arrived. The 30th Naval Construction Regiment (Operational) was activated to provide command and control for the two deployed battalions. By the end of December, Seabees from NMCB 1 were convoying personnel and equipment to Baledogle, Bardera, and Baidoa to effect airfield repairs and improvements and construct base camp facilities for the deploying U.N. coalition forces. The Seabees arrived in Baledogle on 31 December and joined forces with Marines from Marine Support Wing Squadron 372 to establish landing and staging areas for CH-53 helicopters and a taxiway and turnaround pad for C-130 aircraft. The Seabees used 240,000 square feet of AM2 metal matting to construct the facility.
Near Bardera, Seabees from NMCB 1 restored a water source to a refugee camp by installing a new pump on the bank of the Jubba River. Seabees from NMCB 40 completed Operation "Clean Sweep" in Mogadishu, which consisted of removing debris (trash and car hulks) from critical areas of the city. They also prepared a site for a 300-bed Army evacuation hospital and installed 90,000 square feet of airfield at the Mogadishu airport. NMCB 40 participated in the amphibious landing at the Portof Kismayo. They quickly completed repairs to the Kismayo airfield, which allowed the rapid deployment of follow-on coalition forces to that city. Finally, the Seabees provided construction support for President George Bush's visit to Somalia on 1 January. In addition to their tasking in support of the coalition forces, the Seabees carried out numerous civic action projects in support of the Somali people during the course of Operation "Restore Hope."
December 11
1966: Main body of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 7 arrived in Davisville, Rhode Island from Phu Bai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN).
1967: Cmdr. Ward W. DeGroot III, commanding officer of NMCB 58 relieved Cmdr. Paul R. Gates, commanding officer of NMCB 1 at Camp Haskins, North, RVN.
December 12
1942: 55th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) commissioned at Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.
December 13
1945: 130th NCB inactivation completed on Okinawa, Japan.
1963: Opening ceremonies were held for a 6,000-foot military airfield located at Nakhon Phanom in northeast Thailand. The airfield was near the Mekong River which divides Thailand and Laos. The construction of this airfield was the first major project undertaken by the Seabees in Southeast Asia. The men of NMCB 3 began the project, which included the clearing of 235 acres of heavy monsoon forest, in August 1962.
1966: Four personnel of NMCB 8 were wounded in an enemy mining and booby trap incident, approximately 10 miles south of Chu Lai, RVN on Route No. 1. Two men were wounded when the five ton wrecker in which they were riding was blown up by a command detonated mine. Two other NMCB 8 personnel were wounded at the scene when a Vietnamese detonated a booby trap believed to be a fragmentation grenade. All four casualties were air evacuated to the First Medical Battalion Hospital in Chu Lai, and were stabilized in good condition.
December 14
1942: ACORN 6 commissioned. (In World War II, Navy ACORN units, composed of Seabees and other components such as aircraft maintenance units, etc., were put together to design, construct, operate and maintain forward landplane and seaplane bases and operational facilities.)
1945: The Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Port Hueneme, California, consisting of the U.S. Naval Advance Base Depot and the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center, was established as the center for Seabee activity in the postwar Navy.
1956: Chief Builder Charles A. Bevilacqua erects a 15-foot tall, orange-and-black striped bamboo pole, topped with a 16-inch mirrored glass ball atop the newly completed garage at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. This ceremonial South Pole is still in use today.
1967: Detail Foxtrot of NMCB 5 came under enemy fire while deployed at site A-3, RVN. The resultant enemy action resulted in Builder (Heavy) Constructionman Roger E. Huestis being killed in action, and Builder (Concrete) 2nd Class Wiliam D. Thompson wounded in action. Thompson later died as a result of wounds received in this action on December 15, 1967.
1969: Seabee Teams 0810 and 0811 deployed from Vietnam to CBC Port Hueneme, California.