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This Week in Seabee History: June 7 - 13

June 8, 2020 | By ggranger

Consolidated by U.S. Navy Seabee Museum, Naval History and Heritage Command

14001
VIRIN: 170609-N-ZY182-4001


June 7

16637
Photo By: MC2 Mark Logico
VIRIN: 180531-N-ZY182-6637

2013: Cmdr. Cameron Geertsema, CEC, relieved Cmdr. Pete Maculan, CEC, as commanding officer, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5, at Camp Shields, Okinawa, Japan.


June 9

1943: ACORN 1 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)

16640
VIRIN: 180531-N-ZY182-6640

1952: In Korea, a detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 landed behind enemy lines on the island of Yo. There they built an emergency landing airstrip for crippled U.S. Marine aircraft. The planned 2,400 foot runway had been estimated to be a 45-day project. The Seabees finished it in 16 days.

1965: Just before midnight on June 9, 1965, an estimated 2,000 Viet Cong launched an attack upon the still unfinished U.S. Special Forces camp at Dong Xoai in the Republic of Vietnam. The men of Seabee Team 1104, who were building the camp, joined with a small detachment of U.S. Army Special Forces and 400 RVN irregular forces to put up a heroic defense. At daybreak on June 10th, human wave attacks of Viet Cong made further resistance impossible, so the surviving defenders were evacuated by helicopter.

16641
VIRIN: 180531-N-ZY182-6641
16636
VIRIN: 180531-N-ZY182-6636

1968: An NMCB 5 patrol, patrolling the area south of Sector II on the Dong Ha Combat Base, RVN, set off an explosive device resulting in the injury of one member of the patrol, Builder (Heavy) 3rd Class T.L. Richart.


June 10

1944: Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia disestablished.

1965: The first Seabee killed in action in Vietnam, Steelworker 2nd Class William C. Hoover, was killed at the Battle of Dong Xoai. Although wounded in the initial Viet Cong mortar barrage, Hoover quickly went to his assigned defensive post and began firing at the enemy. He was subsequently killed in the fighting. For his heroism, Hoover was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Also killed in the battle was Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Marvin C. Shields, the first Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor. Both men were members of Seabee Team 1104.

16695
Photo By: Lance Cpl. Justin R Wheeler
VIRIN: 180608-N-ZY182-6695

2014: Cmdr. Kemit Spears, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), relieved Cmdr. Chad Brooks, CEC, as commanding officer of NMCB 1 during a change of command ceremony at Camp Shields in Okinawa, Japan.


June 11

1965: In Costa Rica, three members of a detachment from Mobile Construction Battalion (MCB) 1 saved the lives of three Costa Ricans who were stranded by a six-foot-deep mud flow during a flood control project. No deaths or injuries were reported and property damage was light in the San Jose and Cartago area, where a flood in December 1963 had left nearly 5,000 homeless.

2010: Cmdr. William Whitmire, Civil Engineer Corps (CEC), assumed command of Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Gulfport, Mississippi after reliving Capt. Stephanie Jones, CEC.


June 12

1943: ACORN 2 dissolved. (Used during World War II, an ACORN was a tailored unit designed to carry out the rapid construction and subsequent operation of a landplane and seaplane advance base. Each ACORN had a construction battalion attached to it, as well as trained personnel to operate the control tower, field lighting, aerological unit, transportation, medical, berthing, and messing facilities. A Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) also accompanied each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn. During the war, ACORNs were sent to such places at Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, Green Island, Rendova, Treasury Island, and Majuro.)


June 13

1944: The 16th, 21st, 22nd Naval Construction Regiments (NCR) were inactivated; the 2nd Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) was inactivated.

1966: Approximately 60 Seabees from Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Port Hueneme, California were sent to help fight the fire in the Los Padres National Forest, 35 miles northeast of Santa Barbara.

2008: Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Miller, CEC, relieved Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Stoddard, CEC, as commanding officer, Underwater Construction Team (UCT) 1, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Norfolk, Virginia.

2008: Cmdr. Stephanie Jones, CEC, relieved Capt. Darius Banaji as commander, NCTC, CBC Gulfport Mississippi.

2008: Capt. James Worcester, CEC, relieved Capt. Kelly Schmader as commanding officer, Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center (NFELC) and as commander, 31st Seabee Readiness Group, Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, California.