DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER - The construction battalion, the fundamental unit of the Seabee organization, comprised four companies that included the necessary construction
skills for doing any job, plus a headquarters company consisting of medical and dental professionals and technicians, administrative personnel, storekeepers, cooks, and similar specialists. The complement
of a standard battalion originally was set at 32 officers and 1,073 men, but from time to time the complement varied in number.
The Seabees' task on Okinawa was truly immense. On this agrarian island, whose physical facilities a fierce bombardment had all but destroyed, they built ocean ports, a grid of roads, bomber and fighter
fields, a seaplane base, Quonset villages, tank farms, storage dumps, hospitals, and ship repair facilities.
Nearly 55,000 Seabees, organized into four brigades, participated in Okinawa construction operations. By the beginning of August 1945, sufficient facilities, supplies, and manpower were at hand to mount
an invasion of the Japanese home islands.
These photographs are reproduced here by courtesy of Mrs. Barbara Morrisey Grandaughter of Mailman Third Class Donald E. Morrisey Seabees United States Navy. Her keen interest in her Grandfather's service during World War 2 and hard work in providing these interesting photographs for all to see is commendable. Thank you! A special thank you to Mr. Peter Reale for providing details from a Seabee who was there on the ground, sharing with me the efforts put forth by the construction units during the battle of Okinawa. I enjoyed our conversations immensely. |
 Morrisey in front of a Okinawan turtleback tomb entrance |  ?, Don & Peter Reale and Donald Morrisey |
Donald Morrisey & Peter Reale buddies from New York City who enlisted together, and by happenstance met each other on Okinawa after the 43rd Naval Construction Regiment started construction on the Awase Airstrip soon after 23 April 1945. |   Time to lighten up a bit after the Battle |
The 43rd Construction regiment was the first American force to land on the east coast of Okinawa. Between the 27th and 30th of April, the 36th, 40th, and 87th Battalions landed with the 7th, 14th, and 21st Battalions of the Eight Construction Brigade and the 79th battalion of the 11th Brigade. It was realized early in the planning stage that shipping limitations would prevent the landing of Seabees early enough to accomplish their mission and at the same time avoid interference with the support of combat troops. Accordingly, these eight battalions were streamlined and staged at Saipan on LST's returned from the assault echelon. They were landed on the east coast of Okinawa and developed their own beaches. Construction troops landed in this manner were able to begin work on Chimu and Awase airfields at a date much earlier than would have been possible under the regular shipping schedules. - U.S. Navy |  Peter Reale Machinist Mate One evening after a working a 24 hour shift, Peter crashed in his tent " I heard the alarm, but I was too exhausted and said "f*ck it"! But then it got eerily quiet, so I jumped outta the tent and saw a Kamikaze flying straight towards me! I ran and jumped into a foxhole filled with 5 feet of water, then the plane roared overhead and smashed into the docks behind me killing six of the Seabees working there". - Peter Reale 21 March 2011 |
Views
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Local Color circa 1946
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Buddies!
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Typhoon Damage
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 Camp Sign of the 36th Battalion 43rd Naval Construction Regiment | 
Right to Left: Top row: Ken Renner, Don Reale, Don Morrisey, Unknown Bottom row: Unknown, Peter Reale, Joe Rehak |