Can Do: The Story of the Seabees

[Music] [Applause] the [Applause] Davisville Rhode Island home of the United States Naval construction battalion's Atlantic Fleet the famous fighting CB men skilled in building and trained to protect their handywork their famous Insignia epitomized the spirit and skills of the most unique of United States forces construction Battalion was just too unwieldy for men with a mission shortened to the initials CB and then to the now world famous CB the Insignia shows an angry and determined bee diving across the field of blue outlined with a hazard he clutches a wrench and a hammer on each wrist is the Insignia of the civil engineer Corp of the [Music] Navy the men who wear this Insignia have helped turn the tide of battle and dearly every military involvement of this country since World War II our fighting men in Africa Sicily and France have landed on pontoon piers and sped to the front lines over roads and bridges built by the men of the Navy construction battalions on the battles scarred beaches of the Pacific coral reefs were blasted and built into peer heads and Supply Centers Flying Fields carved out of hostile islands and beaches with an assist from the CBS man and material left from one Island to another spanning the reaches of the Pacific to the homeland of the aggressor this is the story of these men of their home base at Davisville Rhode Island today's modern base with its smart buildings paved roadways and complex equipment makes it difficult to Envision the vast changes that have transformed this one-time summer resort area into a great Storehouse and Training Facility to the veterans of the Navy's First Construction forces in the early days The Bleak spring of March 1942 is more than two decades in the past it was the grading filling and building of Camp Endicott Davisville in less than 8 months the construction training center was humming with activity from a modest beginning as a sprawling Tent City by November 1942 Camp Ott was operating at capacity of some 350 officers and 15,000 men 100,000 Builders and Fighters scream from this base to the South Pacific the uans Iceland Europe Africa the Mediterranean here the famous Igloo like quanset Huts were designed and developed the singular design of these Huts put them in the Forefront of the pre-fabricated buildings of today hospitals barracks and workshops were housed in The Versatile Quan Huts another distinctive development of Davisville was referred to on the beaches and waterfronts of the world is the CB's Magic Box this 5x 7x 5T cube of sheet steel handled by the CBS like toy building blocks was fastened together to make causeways peers cargo lighters floating cranes and dry Ducks this technique developed here on narraganset Bay quet Huts pontoons the Maron mats of perforated steel that firm Tropic mud and Arctic tundra all the tools of the trade in a worldwide construction project whether building for battle or for peace the Ingenuity of the CBS is known worldwide today's CBS are much younger than the builders and fighters of World War II in contrast to the grizzled veteran construction men who hasten to volunteer their skills during the threat of the early 40s today's CB recruits come to the Navy with little or no construction experience today at Davisville it's on the job training the most impressive and perhaps the noisiest classroom at Davisville is the heavy equipment [Music] school here the novice learns the rating of equipment operator purged high in the driver's seat fresh-faced youngsters who may have never driven anything more complicated than the family convertible wheel giant bulldozers and Earth movers through the area affectionately known as the snake pit the equipment operator learns to handle bulldozers scraper graters ditching machines front-end loaders clam shells drag lines and back hes this jointed monster does a man-sized job the bulldozer and scraper combinations averaging about $30,000 a piece can move the equivalent of five dump truck loads of Earth in a single [Music] sweep keeping the bulldozers and Earth scrapers in line is the task of the CB surveyor while the transit operator a Keen Eye and mathematical perception of angles and distances are a key to a well-laid out project at the Davisville Training Site highways Bridges air strips and Grading projects are marked out every day as the CBS take their classroom mathematics out ofd doors for actual field practice working along with the construction Crews skilled CB electricians set poles and string the high lines to bring in Power and Light schooled by experienced civilian and navy electricians the train try dons the climbing irons and safety belt and learns to move up in this unusual classroom that's about 40 ft up add to this the electric voltage coursing through the high lines on the top of the pole on the brighter side an elevated game of catch helps to acclimate the new climbers to hike the penalty for a missed catch the man who misses must clamor down the bowl then return with the ball the CBS have always been known for their Ingenuity adapting themselves to the situation living off of the land to carve out bases in the wilderness to learn how to log and Mill out their own Lumber the CBS practice at a civilian Sawmill nearby Davisville green logs soon become useful Timbers under the direction of CB instructors [Music] the CBS are prepared at Davisville to maintain their automotive and heavy equipment wherever they may be assigned the future Grease Monkeys are not only trained in the traditional maintenance procedures but face new challenges from the continuing new developments of this nation's Automotive [Music] progress the multi-fuel engine in a new 6x6 dump truck poses new problems the truck is fitted with six wheels and all six with power thus the term 6x6 the multifuel engine can burn any sort of petroleum fuel from kerosene through gasoline diesel fuel and even the heavy black bunker oil in the maintenance shop civilian employees help to train the CBS in an agreement with cooperating trade unions the civilian employees in the shops give the CBS the benefit of their skills and [Music] experience public telephone companies contribute their equipment and knowhow to the communication school when a husky masculine voice says number please from this switchboard your line may be to a distant command post a supply dump or a forward area linking these areas are other CBS with hot soldering irons as they splice and connect the complex Maze of cables and wires meanwhile out in the sun CB Carpenters are learning how to construct the typical building used in the southeast Asia theater of operations called strong backs in the Navy vernacular they are the subtropical answer to the old quanset Huts some of these CBS may be welders metal Smiths or electricians sawing a straight line through a 2x4 may be the job that's called for on the next assignment part of the CB's motto is we fight and this Elemental part of the CB's schooling is punctuated by the sharp crack of a carbine or the rattle of a machine gun at Sun Valley reservation just Inland from the Davisville complex the New England countrys side lends itself to all sorts of combat terrain here's a platoon of combat ready trainees as they fan out across an open Valley seeking out the enemy somewhere out there hidden gorillas waiting an ambush but where and how is the question striped helmeted instructors move with the troops checking and correcting tactics although this is all blank ammunition the tension and the fence is nonetheless real there's a machine gun Hit the Dirt there may be more check the perimeter the platoon pinned down in the open scattered return fire but no clear shot at the hidden gun which has a clear Field of Fire the platoon leader calls for artillery support smoke charges simulate several rounds of our arery the gun is silenced and the platoon moves out to another [Music] problem again the classroom is the New England Countryside the subjects read like a catalog of battle principles of camouflage and concealment unconventional warfare infiltration night noises night vision rifle grenades grenade launcher the CB's motto we fight they learn how at Sun B [Music] the CV trainees and recruits enter the gates at Davisville armed with the spirit and the will to learn the training command of the Atlantic Fleet Naval construction battalions provides the inspiration and the knowledge with increasing pressure on our Fleet units in Southeast Asia additional mobile construction battalions are being commissioned mobile construction Battalion 40 is recommissioned famous 40 unit distinguished in World War II gets a new commissioning pennant for the Battle Flag new orders for Action overseas for facilities in Saigon barracks and dang water purification plant at Kon CB's trained at Davisville Rhode Island on a world girdling mission to build and to fight mobile construction Battalion 7 is typical of the David Bill CBS who have answered the call for our increased commitments in Southeast Asia at dawn on a recent spring morning the advanced party lined up for final muster on the runway at quanset the Rays of the slowly Rising Sun had little effect on the chill winds that swept across the field from narraganset Bay standing by a short distance away a shining jet transport its massive rear doors ajar poised for the long flight to the other side of the world [Applause] the passage of our CBS to Vietnam challenges the imagination soaring at the edge of space at close to the speed of sound they travel the great circle route singing over Alaskan mountains locked in ice and snow and then down over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean reaching on toward the Battlefront in Southeast Asia mcv7 was assigned to the northern portion of South Vietnam just below the border at fbai on the outskirts of we 34 Mi north of Don this a Vietnamese cemetery next to it soggy Patty is where the natives eek out their rice Harvest near this remote area the Marines are dug in living in two man tents at the edge of their slit trenches the job of the CBS assemble the tools the material and get to work build a camp for the CBS a working base to start then get on with the job of building for the Marines and the Army the original structures are 20x 40t screened and canvas shelters the strong backs the large wooden frames are built about 3 ft off the ground wooden legs and feet designed to keep the men off the ground during the fall fall monsoon season when the moist Tropic Air sweeps in from the sea with torrents of rain that falls in sheets for days on end flooding everything here the skills learned at Davisville serve the men well by prefabricating the wooden structures in sections the number of man days it takes to construct these shelters is cut almost in half with the CBS housed and mes Halls built the men of Battalion 7 move on to new projects 110 strong backs erected for the Marines six comfortable Airy mes Hogs Wells drilled to supply running water electrical generators installed wiring struck a Communication Center heed out of the Red Sand earth 15 ft underground shored up and banked with sand bags and trenched entrances in this carefully protected burrow the delicate electronic and Communications equipment is set up construction goes on a screened in medical facility For the First Time The Physicians can operate under huge 500lb operating room lighting units put in place thanks to the Ingenuity of the CBS the hardworking CBS and Marines for the first time enjoyed indoor showers where before the men blocked to a common spray pipe under the sky the weary toilers could now luxuriate beneath the cooling showers screened and sheltered Fleet logistic warehouses were constructed to shelter delicate material food and ammunition from the blazing sun when Marine combat Vehicles tanks and Troop carriers are damaged in combat they are taken to the CB's Body and Fender shop for repair and refurbishing when it came time to for concrete for the foundation forms the men of the 7th found they did not have a suitable concrete bucket again yeah Ingenuity paid off two 50g drums are cut and welded into a bucket and funnel to do the job working side by side with the CBS South Vietnamese men and women pitch in the natives are paid for their labors at the going rate this is part of the Civic action program helps to bolster their economy and makes s sustaining leftover food and rations are channeled to the natives also and medical and dental technicians make regular visits to nearby Villages and hamlets to hold sick call they have encountered unfamiliar diseases and afflictions that challenge the medical world their efforts in instructing and indoctrinating the natives in personal hygiene and Care are paying off the CBS are building confidence and understanding through their civic Action Program the war is ever present and the CBS guard their section with care the perimeter of their Enclave is ringed with water trenches zigzag to minimize the effect of Shel from time to time the enemy probes the wire and Mine Fields only to be driven off by the defending construction men with all of the effort there's still time out for play even a fast game of volleyball when it's 100 110 degrees in the sun is a welcome break from the day's [Music] routine extra class work in the new now completed mess Halls also provides a change and a challenge in Vietnam the CBS and the Marines are working and fighting together for World security at another distant Outpost manned and supported by the CBS the natives Frolic on their beaches seemingly without a care in the world this is the bottom of the world the icebound continent of the Antarctic more than 300 officers and men are assigned to the Antarctic support activities operation deep freeze two units make the long journey to the bottom of the world each October during the summer season down under aerial delivery by huge C130 Hercules ski equipped planes Thunder into the snow fields this a snow Miller built in Switzerland and flown into the cabbs in Marie Birdland this 20ton mechanical mole claws its way through hardpacked snow gobbling a 4X 8T trench and spewing it out in a two-story plume of ice and snow [Applause] with the Deep trench cut into the ice cap CBS apply the finishing smoothing [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] off new material for the job arrives on schedule is The Versatile c130s Wing in from the distance Supply dumps shrinking the icy wastes traversed short Years Ago by the lumbering tractor trains large pre-fabricated arches feed the construction of the roof section tapping over the Deep Tren the giant archers protect the building from the crushing weight of the snow Banks thus the CBS work to create the under Snow Station of the future housing our Antarctic scientific effort under the weather and biting winds in Marie [Music] [Applause] [Music] Birdland meanwhile at McMurdo sound demolition experts break ground for the first nuclear power station at the South Pole pre-fabricated reactor units prepared in Rhode Island arrive at the ice shelf by ship in less than 75 days the nuclear reactor is fully operational supplying 1500 KW of power for McMurdo sound traditional CB engenuity utilizes a sky hook on the ice to raise a 110 ft High romic antenna as part of the complex communication and weather facility thanks to the Atlantic Fleet CBS from Davisville our scientists and research technicians have a permanent foothold on the forbidding ice of the South Pole at present five CB built bases are manned by the Personnel of Davis ville's Antarctic support activities one of them right on the South Pole itself [Music] at Lota Spain some of the more conventional work by CBS goes [Music] on here the CBS erect pre-fabricated homes these buildings come in pre-numbered pieces and fit together like a child's building set 300 units literally spring up on the broad plane at Ren planning and preparation back in the United States paid off here speeded by direct sea transportation from Davisville Rhode Island to support CBS in such widely Divergent areas as the Antarctic rot to Spain Argenta Newland and Guantanamo Bay Cuba a ready reservoir of Supply must be maintained at the home base this year round responsibility at Davisville employs more than a thousand civilians engaged in planning and filling out the shopping list from this huge government Supermarket on narraganset Bay construction materials from simple paneling wiring and plumbing to Scientific items are amassed from all over the country assembled and packed for worldwide [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] distribution packing for this world worldwide Market Basket means every consideration must be taken for the extremes of temperature and humidity that might be encountered thousands of repair parts are assembled and placed in specialized containers to provide a vital on thepot source of spare parts to keep the equipment operating in the field there are 306 buildings enclosing some 2,000 acres of storage facility at Davisville 244,000 ft of this space is in controlled atmosphere carefully monitored to provide constant temperature and humidity Davisville Piers can handle seven deep water shifts plus an LST [Music] [Applause] Landing within the base there are 47 Mi of paved roads 11 Mi of gravel roads and 23 Mi of railroad track upon which the CBS operate their own railroad not only for facilitating storage and supply but for training as well along the Davisville Waterfront the year-round activity of replenishment and Supply goes on this is one of eight Fleet ammunition ships attached to the Atlantic Fleet in summer heat or winter cold these ships in the service Force load ammunition and supplies for the Navy's distant forward areas with ships like these great quantities of spare parts and other Commodities can be transported easily wherever needed a little known facet of the Davis Bill activity is the storing of national stockpile material strict security guards these critical items from Austria aluminum oxide and abrasive grain material is stored in 1100 lb Barrel stacked according to grade and size solid copper sheets weighing 100 to 200 lb are stored and shipped from the stockpile solid copper bars are also forklifted to waiting cars much of the copper used in the new coins was shipped from here to plants in nearby Attleboro and Elsewhere for fabrication into the sandwich metal and the Duke quarters ingots of lead ten and zinc are stored on the huge flat paved area in Western Davisville this vast plane bordered by railroad loading sightings was formerly the S side of the fabrication plants for the quanset Huts shipped from here around the world during World War II four warehouses 200 ft wide and 1,000 ft long house other diverse items from around the world great Bale of hemp from the Philippines and elsewhere are stacked high in the warehouse the long golden strands of fiber packed in Long [Music] Bales in another section workmen weigh and sort bales of crude rubber sheets of the latex poured and smoked in the distant jungles and bailed in heavy blocks stored in unheated warehouses the rubber absorbs the chill of the New England winter amazingly when a bail is broken open the thin sheets of rubber are cold and stiff Even In The Heat Of Summer [Music] Uncle Sam also stores bales of feathers and down millions of ducks and geese in various parts of the world contributed to this stockpile incredible as it may seem some of the bales of feathers from the Far East have been carefully picked over in a human effort that staggers the Western imagination each feather has had its quiller shaft carefully removed the result hundreds of pounds of softer feathers many millions of dollars worth of strategic and not so strategic material are received stored and shipped by civilian workers at Davisville as homebased the Atlantic CBS the men of the growing force of construction battalions are housed fed and provided with training and recreational facilities while they are at home in Rhode Island this the barracks area Tastefully painted in pastels offers at least a psychological variance from the usual run-of-the-mill military establishment sparkling clean modern and comfortable much credit for the Davisville CB's High must be attributed to the expert food preparation and service in what is known to the Navy as the general [Music] mess the cooked Bakers and mess men take pride in the fact that their mess has been tops in the first Naval district for for more than 4 years the cbes built their own Chapel in the Pines on the base in this unique house of worship religious services for both Catholic and Protestant Personnel are conducted on a regular basis the unusual rotating altar provides a quick transition for denominational worship another CB inspiration the CBS are good neighbors to Rhode Island the construction battalion Center is one of the major contributors to the economy of Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts they operate on a $25 million budget which is used for the payment of salaries purchase of material and equipment and many other items which go into the operation of an activity this size there's no question that the impact of the CB Center on the community is a significant one the CB's is construimus bamus we build we fight they have lived up to it and have died for it in strange places around the world today the fighting CBS are again a growing Force new men are being trained to build and to fight at remote outposts and battlefronts around the world and the CBS are changing the face of the world supporting the Marines and the Navy in activities in peace and War from their home base in Rhode Island at Davisville h [Applause] [Music] a [Music]