Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Underwater Demolition Team frogmen go ashore at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, wearing their aqualung gear, circa The UDT swam ashore to blast obstructions impeding the progress of an assault.
Thomas, Virgin Islands, circa Accession : K An underwater demolition swimmer checks his swim fins and face mask during UDT operations at Balikpapan, 3 July Name on his trunks is "Hopper. Their mission was the destruction of North Korean fishing nets in an effort to reduce Communist forces' food supplies. Navy photograph now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog : G-K Catalog : L A member of a U. Navy SEAL team uses caution as he watches for any movement in a thick wooded area along a stream in the Republic of Vietnam, October Catalog : K An Underwater Demolition Team recruit strains to help hoist a telephone pole during an exercise period at the Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, California, January Naval History and Heritage Command.
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They also conducted river surveys and foreign military training. Their training started in November at Camp Pendleton, moved to Catalina Island in January , and finally moved to the warmer waters in the Bahamas in March Within the U.
They became part of UDT in July The Scouts and Raiders mission was to identify and reconnoiter the objective beach, maintain a position on the designated beach prior to a landing and guide the assault waves to the landing beach.
The first group included Phil H. A second group of Scouts and Raiders, code-named Special Service Unit 1, was established on July 7, , as a joint and combined operations force. The first mission, in September , was at Finschafen on New Guinea. Conflicts arose over operational matters, and all non-Navy personnel were reassigned. The unit, renamed 7th Amphibious Scouts, received a new mission, to go ashore with the assault boats, buoy channels, erect markers for the incoming craft, handle casualties, take offshore soundings, blow up beach obstacles and maintain voice communications linking the troops ashore, incoming boats and nearby ships.
The 7th Amphibious Scouts conducted operations in the Pacific for the duration of the conflict, participating in more than 40 landings. The third Scout and Raiders organization operated in China. Pierce, FL. They conducted a survey of the Upper Yangtze River in the spring of and, disguised as coolies, conducted a detailed three-month survey of the Chinese coast from Shanghai to Kitchioh Wan, near Hong Kong.
In September of , 17 Navy salvage personnel arrived at ATB Little Creek, VA for a one-week concentrated course on demolitions, explosive cable cutting and commando raiding techniques. Rangers who captured the Port Lyautey airdrome. Plans for a massive cross-channel invasion of Europe had begun and intelligence indicated that the Germans were placing extensive underwater obstacles on the beaches at Normandy.
Pierce, Florida. Training commenced with one grueling week designed to eliminate the men from the boys. Some said that the men had sense enough to quit, and left the boys. The training made the use of rubber boats and surprisingly little swimming. The assumptions were that the men would paddle in and work in shallow water leaving the deep-water demolitions to the Army.
At this point, the men were required to wear Navy fatigues with shoes and helmets. They were ordered to be life-lined to their boats and stay out of the water as much as possible. One innovation was to use 2. Later NCDU 11 was enlarged into 13 man assault teams.
The Scouts and Raiders were also deployed to start their recon of the Normandy Coast. These creatively included steel posts driven into the sand and topped with explosives. Large 3-ton steel barricades called Belgian Gates were placed well into the surf zone. Additionally, he strategically placed reinforced mortar and machine gun nests. The Scouts and Raiders spent weeks gathering information during nightly surveillance missions up and down the French coast. The strategy of the UDT was to knock the gates flat, not to shred and spread them along the beaches, thereby creating more of an obstacle for the advancing troops.
Then a first wave of tanks and troop carriers were to land and clear any remaining German bunkers and snipers. The Demolitions Gap-assault teams would come in with the second wave and work at low tide to clear the obstacles. As happens often during the fog of war, the Allied aircraft ended up dropping their bombs too far inland. Navy artillery then sent the majority of their shells far over the German positions — wreaking havoc on the French farmlands but leaving the well-positioned German guns in perfect operating condition.
These guns sent withering ground fire against the approaching Allied forces. The tides also ended up pushing many of the demolition crews well ahead of the first wave. They found themselves the first to land on the beaches.
Many of the teams were killed by machine gun and mortar fire before reaching the beach. Other team members under enemy fire managed to set charges on the obstacles and blow them. At one point, soldiers were taking cover behind the obstacles, which were emplaced with demolitions charged with timers.
The GIs quickly made their way onto the beaches to avoid becoming a friendly casualty of war. The mission was to open sixteen foot wide corridors for the landing.
By nightfall only thirteen were open, and these beaches exacted a heavy toll on the Navy Gap-Assault teams. Their Teammates on Utah Beach faired far better because the beach was considerably less fortified. Four were killed and11 wounded, when an artillery shell landed among one of the teams working to clear the beach. Weeks before the invasion all available Underwater Demolition men were sent from Fort Pierce to England.
The largest loss occurred at the landing on Omaha beach, Normandy. This ended a trying but evolutionary time in the history of Naval Special Warfare.
On 6 June , in the face of great adversity, the NCDUs at Omaha Beach managed to blow eight complete gaps and two partial gaps in the German defenses. They cleared yards of beach in two hours, another yards by the afternoon.
Casualties at Utah Beach were significantly lighter with 6 killed and 11 wounded. NCDUs also operated in the Pacific theater.
The islands in this region have unpredictable tide changes and shallow reefs that can easily thwart the progress of the naval transport vessels. At Tarawa, the first wave made it across the reef in Amtracs, but the second wave in Higgens boats got stuck on a reef left exposed by the low tide.
The Marines had to unload and wade to shore. Many drowned or were killed before making the beach. The Amtracs, without reinforcements from the second wave, were slaughtered on the beach. It was a valuable lesson that the Navy would not permit to be repeated. The Navy Combat Swimmers were turned to for an answer. Attending were men from Fort Pierce as well as men from the Army and Marines.
They hastily trained for the attack on Kwajalein on 31 January This was a major turning point for the tactics of the UDT. The plan was to send in night reconnaissance teams such as the Scouts and Raiders were accustomed to. Then Admiral Turner, worried about the presence of obstacles emplaced by the Japanese, ordered two daylight recon operations. The missions were to follow the standard procedure.
Team one was to go in a rubber boat in full fatigues, boots, life jackets and metal helmets. The coral reef kept their craft too far from shore to be certain of the beach conditions. Ensign Lewis F. Removing all but their underwear, they swam undeterred across the reef. They returned with sketches of the beach gun embankment locations, along with information about a log wall built to deter landings and other vital intelligence.
Operations began in April In May , Gen. William Donovan, the head of the OSS, divided the unit into groups. He loaned Group 1, under Lt. Arthur Choate Jr. They became part of UDT in July Nimitz's "Granite Plan" for central Pacific operations required an efficient amphibious force. Many of the targeted islands were coral atolls with reefs that acted as natural obstacles to landings. During early November , SeaBees engaged in experimental underwater blasting work were assembled at Waipio Amphibious Operating Base on Oahu to begin training in underwater demolition.
Marine landing on Tarawa Atoll emphasized the need for hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolition of obstacles before any amphibious landing. After Tarawa, 30 officers and enlisted men were moved to Waimanalo Amphibious Training Base to form the nucleus of a demolition training program.
The UDTs saw their first combat on Jan. Eventually, 34 UDT teams were established. The rapid demobilization at the conclusion of the war reduced the number of active-duty UDTs to two on each coast, with a complement of seven officers and 45 enlisted men each.
Beginning with a detachment of 11 personnel from UDT 3, UDT participation expanded to three teams with a combined strength of men. On Sept. UDT 1 and 3 provided personnel who went in ahead of the landing craft, scouting mud flats, marking low points in the channel, clearing fouled propellers and searching for mines.
Four UDT personnel acted as wave guides for the Marine landing. In October , UDTs supported mine-clearing operations in Wonsan Harbor where frogmen located and marked mines for minesweepers. On Oct. UDTs rescued 25 sailors. The next day, William Giannotti conducted the first U. For the remainder of the war, UDTs conducted beach and river reconnaissance missions, infiltrated guerrillas behind the lines from sea, continued minesweeping operations and participated in Operation Fishnet, which severely damaged the North Korean's fishing capability.
Responding to President John F. Kennedy's desire for the services to develop an unconventional warfare UW capability, the U. Formed entirely with personnel from Underwater Demolition Teams, the SEALs mission was to conduct counterguerilla warfare and clandestine operations in maritime and riverine environments. SEAL involvement in Vietnam began immediately and was advisory in nature. SEAL advisers instructed the Vietnamese in clandestine maritime operations.
When attached to the riverine groups, the UDTs conducted operations with river patrol boats and, in many cases, patrolled into the hinterland as well as along the riverbanks and beaches to destroy obstacles and bunkers. Additionally, UDT personnel acted as advisers.
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