World War II Seabee Construction Equipment

Seabee construciton of new sea and air bases was a vital factor in the success of American naval operation in World War II. As most bases were built in undeveloped locations, it was necessary for the Seabees to bring all of their equipment and a large amount of material from the US. Advance base equipment fell into two main categories, standard items procured from the domestic market and special items developed in the field to speed and ease construction.

Development of special items ranged from simple adaptions to the invention and exploitation of the wonder box, better known as the pontoon. A variety of these special construction items will be uploaded to this site as we locate them in the collection. Others are located in the "Seabee Ingenuity" collection on this site.

The Seabees had no standard for placing insignias on their equipment and often used block lettering with the unit name only to identify equipment ownership. Later in the war, the Seabee insignia began to appear on equipment but with no clear or set placement. This is one of the most frequently asked questions the archives receives. As the Seabee Museum locates equipment with logo, insignia, or block lettering on equipment we will upload the images to aid those restoring equipment or that are just interested in the history. Enjoy!