Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command
Seabees, often master artisans, were often used to create signs, carve plaques, or paint nose art, 1944. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of the Seabee Museum.)
August 1
1944: 7th Naval Construction Brigade commissioned. 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th, 35th, 36th, 37th NCRs commissioned.
1945: ACORN 13 decommissioned and incorporated into Naval Air Base Samar. ACORN 30 decommissioned and Naval Air Base, Jinamoc Tacloban, Leyte established. ACORN 45 decommissioned and Naval Air Base Sangley Point established. ACORN 47 decommissioned and Naval Air Base Puerta Princessa established.
1957: The 10th NCB was redesignated as Naval Construction Forces Pacific. This was later to become Naval Construction Battalions, Pacific.
1966: NMCB 9 main body of 646 personnel deployed to Da Nang, RVN on seven C-141 aircraft.
1967: The 32nd NCR was established at Gia Le Phu Bai, RVN. Commander R.L. Foley, commanding officer, NMCB 3, assumed commander of the 32nd NCR at commissioning ceremonies of the regiment.
1967: LCDR R.S. Stedman, Jr., CEC, USN was relieved as NMCB-1 executive officer by LCDR W.F. Glover, CEC, USN.
August 1-7, 1967: NMCB 121 arrived at Phu Bai, RVN.
1985: NMCB 7 re-commissioned at CBC Gulfport, Mississippi.
August 2
1942: 16th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, VA.
1965: On this day the Chief of Naval Material transferred the material support responsibility for the Navy s floating drydocks to the Bureau of Ships from the Bureau of Yards and Docks. The transfer was made in order to provide more effective support to the Navy s Operating Forces. Material support included research, development, test, procurement, production, supply, and maintenance and modification, as well as the planning, budgeting, and provision of feasibility advice for the floating drydocks.
1971: CDR D.G. Wilson, CEC, USN, relieved CDR H. E. Keppell, Jr., CEC, USN a commanding officer of CBMU-302.
August 3
1946: 53rd NCB inactivated on Bikini Atoll.
1967: NMCB 8 main body of 20 officers and 664 enlisted personnel deployed by eight C-141s from Chu Lai, RVN to CBC, Port Hueneme, CA.
August 3-6, 1967: NMCB 6 main body of 19 officers and 533 enlisted men arrived in Camp Miller, Chu Lai, RVN.
1970: CAPT Walter E. Marquardt, Jr., CEC, USN relieved CAPT Charles C. Heid, CEC, USN, as Commander, 21st NCR.
August 4
1970: CDR E.J. Peltier, Jr., CEC, USN, assumed command of ACB-2. He relieved CDR Russell Myers, Jr., CEC, USN who had command since July 1969.
August 5
1943: 113th NCB commissioned at NCTC Camp Peary, Magruder, VA.
1968: Seabee Team 0310 deployed to Long Xuyen, RVN, and Seabee Team 0311 deployed to Can Tho, RVN, via government aircraft.
1968: Special battalion quarters held to announce that NMCB 74 had been selected as best of type among the Atlantic Fleet Construction Forces for the period of July 1967 to July 1968.
1969: Seabee Team 0312 deployed to Ben Tre, RVN via government aircraft.
1970: Main body of NMCB 71 departed Davisville, RI for deployment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
August 6
1945: A U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber, called the Enola Gay, took off from North Field on the island of Tinian and later in the day dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan. This was the first time that the weapon, until then held secret, was used for a military purpose. The bomb destroyed over four square miles of the city and brought death or injury to over 160,000 people. Seabees of the Sixth Naval Construction Brigade participated in many phases of the operation. When the USS Indianapolis arrived at Tinian from the Naval Weapons Center, Port Chicago, California, Seabees helped with the unloading of the components of the atomic bomb. The Seabees then stored the elements in a shed built by themselves, and they then organized a detachment to guard the shed and its mysterious contents. Scientists assembled the atomic bombs in the shed with several Seabees assisting as handymen. Later when she started on her mission to Japan, the Enola Gay with her atomic bomb took off from Tinian s North field which the Seabees had built.
August 8
1942: 17th NCB commissioned at Camp Allen, Norfolk, VA.
1945: 7th Special NCB inactivated at ABD Port Hueneme, CA.
1949: The first Naval Mobile Construction Battalion, NMCB 1, was activated for use in advance base construction and for participation in special task force projects.
1951: The U.S. Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Supply Depot, Davisville, RI was disestablished. In its place, BuDocks established USN Advance Base Depot, USN Construction Battalion Center, USN Advanced Base Tactical Training Center, USN Advanced Base Supply Depot, CBC, and USN Construction Equipment Depot, Davisville, RI.
1952: Establishment ceremony held for NMCB 9 at CBC, Port Hueneme, CA.
August 9
1946: 20th NCR inactivated.
1967: NMCB 1 vehicle was hit by claymore type mine on Route 1; one man killed in action, five men wounded in action.
1968: CDR Warren H. Anderson, CEC, USN, relieved CDR Richard D. Coughlin, CEC, USN, as Commanding Officer, NMCB 71 at Chu Lai, RVN.
2002: First Naval Construction Division commissioned at NAB Little Creek, Norfolk, VA, under command of RADM Charles R. Kubic. The Division unified the Atlantic and Pacific Naval Construction Forces as a unified Seabee command for worldwide operations.