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This Week in Seabee History: May 2 - 8

April 26, 2021 | By whitney.deloach

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

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VIRIN: 170504-N-ZY182-3912

During May

1977: Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 performed recovery and reconstruction work of all types on Guam in the wake of Typhoon "Pamela."


May 2

1944: 31st Special NCB commissioned at Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCTC) Camp Endicott, Davisville, Rhode Island.

1945: 16th NCB inactivated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

1968: Cmdr. W.K. Hartell, CEC, took command of the Seabee camp at Quang Tri Combat Base, RVN.

2004: A mortar attack at Camp Ramadi, Al-Ramadi, Al Anbar Province, Iraq killed five members of NMCB 14, one U.S. Army soldier, and wounded 28 other personnel. This represented the deadliest day for the Seabees since the Vietnam War.


May 3

1951: NMCB 6 activated.

1967: The first flight of NMCB 3 s advance party departed Port Hueneme, California in C-118 s for Phu Bai, RVN.


May 4

1944: ACORN 20 dissolved, incorporated into Naval Air Base Majuro; ACORN 21 dissolved and absorbed into Naval Air Base, Roi. (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each ACORN to maintain the base after the initial construction was completed and the construction battalion had been withdrawn.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.)

1967: Seabee Team 1109 arrived on site at Chiang Kham, Changwat Chiang Rai, North Thailand, to relieve Seabee Team 0909.


May 5

1945: Seabees of the 30th NCR completed the last runway of the four-field B-29 airdrome on Tinian in the Mariana Islands from which B-29 Superfortresses airplanes mounted the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945.

1968: The first increment of NMCB 1 s advance party of 76 personnel deployed via C-141 aircraft from Davisville, Rhode Island to Da Nang, RVN.

1969: Seabee Team 0410 moved from the Construction Battalion Center (CBC), Port Hueneme, California, where they were in training, to Vietnam beginning their eight-month deployment. The team arrived in Saigon on May 5, 1969.

1970: Seabee Team 0414 with Officer in Charge Lt. j.g. K. Vogel departed CBC Port Hueneme, California for Saigon, RVN for training and indoctrination before proceeding to their final deployment site in Cao Lanh, RVN.


May 6

1968: The main body of NMCB 11 deployed from CBC, Port Hueneme, California to Quang Tri, RVN.

2016: Capt. Chris LaPlatney, CEC, relieved Capt. Marc Delao, CEC, as commanding officer, Amphibious Construction Battalion Two at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia.


May 7

1943: 94th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) formation authorized.

1946: 146th NCB inactivated on Okinawa.

1965: Assisted by Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 manning pontoon causeways, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 10 landed on the beaches at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam (RVN), together with U.S. Marine units. The landing was the first deployment of a full Seabee battalion to Vietnam. NMCB 10 commenced construction of the Chu Lai expeditionary airfield and advance base.

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VIRIN: 180507-N-ZY182-6434

1968: NMCB 10 main body departed Quang Tri, RVN for the continental U.S. (CONUS).

1970: NMCB 4 advance party arrived at Camp Kinser and Guam.

1971: Construction Battalion Unit (CBU) 201 received the Navy Unit Commendation for meritorious service from June 1966 to March 1971 for providing construction support to Operation Deep Freeze in the Antarctic. The award was presented at the unit s disestablishment ceremony held at Davisville, Rhode Island. At the time, Lt. John E. Perry, Jr., the officer in charge, accepted the award on behalf of the officers and men who had served with the unit.

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VIRIN: 180507-N-ZY182-6435

1971: Seabee Team 0107 departed Tan An, RVN.


May 8

1943: 7th Special NCB commissioned at Naval Construction Training Center (NCTC) Camp Peary, Magruder, Virginia.

1945: 46th NCB inactivated at Camp Parks, Shoemaker, California.

1967: A detachment of Seabees from NMCB 4 was assigned the task of building underground bunkers, defensive positions, and galley and storage facilities for a United States Army Special Forces unit at Con Thien, RVN. Con Thien was located approximately two kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). At first, the Seabees conducted their construction work on a nearly normal daily routine and were able to complete the initial portion of their projects without harassment. On May 8, however, Con Thien came under attack by an estimated two reinforced North Vietnamese Army battalions. The enemy fired an estimated 600 to 1,000 rounds of mortar at the camp. The assault on the camp was successfully repelled by Seabee, Marine, and Special Forces personnel. After the attack, the Seabees returned to their construction work, but the camp continued to be harassed by enemy mortar and small artillery fire. From the time of the first attack to the time the entire detachment of 25 Seabees was evacuated on May 13, eleven of the Seabees had been wounded. The construction work for the Special Forces camp was later completed by another detachment of Seabees from the same battalion.

1967: Utilitiesman 1st Class Lloyd O Banion was awarded a Silver Star for his actions during an attack at Con Thien, RVN.

1967: 138 enlisted men and four officers of the NMCB 3 advance party arrived on board at Gia Le Combat Base, RVN.

1968: Arrival of first flight of NMCB 11 at Quang Tri, RVN.

2009: NMCB 5 was deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan supporting the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and was one of the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command war fighting support elements providing host nation construction support and security.

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Photo By: MC1 E. Rosario
VIRIN: 180507-N-ZY182-6437
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