The modern-day US Navy SEALs originated in World War II as Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) that provided hydrographic reconnaissance and underwater demolition of obstacles prior to any amphibious landing. The Navy UDT-SEAL Museum stands on the site where those first divers trained, at Fort Pierce, Florida, an hour’s drive north of Soverel Harbour Marina.
Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps
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Ghillie suit
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
Just inside the museum was a Ghillie camouflage suit, commonly worn by snipers and hunters.
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SDV
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
Suspended from the ceiling was a SEAL Delivery Vehicle. The flooded-design submersible is designed to delivers SEALs clandestinely for covert missions. The occupants are exposed to the water and breathe either through their own SCUBA gear or the SDV’s compressed air supply.
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Wave
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
The museum had some incredible footage of Navy SEALs in action. Check out the size of the breaking wave those inflatables are paddling into.
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Firepower
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
An impressive display of the wide range of firepower used by the SEALs.
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Not so threatening
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
The museum had a selection of plastic firearms made to the same size and weight of the real ones. Just carrying this around would be heavy enough, let alone all the SEAL’s gear.
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Bin Laden compound
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
A model of the Bin Laden compound where Navy SEALs killed Osama Bin Laden during a raid in May of 2011.
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Maersk Alabama
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.74
The actual life raft from the Maersk Alabama, where Captain Richard Phillips was held hostage for five days by Somali pirates before Navy SEALs rescued him.
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Obstacle course
Position: -80 18.01, 27 29.75
Displays outside the museum included an obstacle course modeled after that of the SEAL BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) course. A couple of people were trying their luck–it did not look easy.
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SOC-R
Position: -80 18.04, 27 29.77
Looking into the cockpit of a Special Operations Craft-Riverine (SOC-R). The 33-ft boat has a beam of 9ft and draws only 8 inches at speeds up to 42 knots. This particular vessel logged 192 missions during 1050 hours and travelled over 3400 nautical along the Tigris River in Iraq between 2007 and 2008. SEALs always use the latest and best hardware they can get—we noted that the navigation software was Furuno NavNet vx2, state-of-the-art back on 2007.
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Mk V
Position: -80 18.04, 27 29.77
The 82-ft Mk V Assault Craft carries 2,525 gallons of fuel and has a 500-mile range operating at speeds beyond 40 knots.
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Mk V interior
Position: -80 18.06, 27 29.75
The Mk V carries a crew of 5, plus up to 16 SEALs in seats specially-designed for maximum comfort and shock-mitigation in high seas or heavy maneuvering. With the roof removed, the vessel can actually fit, barely, inside a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy aircraft. With a second C-5 carrying the rest of the detachment and gear, the Mk V can be deployed within 24 hours of landing.
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Apollo capsule
Position: -80 18.04, 27 29.70
When the Apollo capsules splashed down, Navy UDT divers jumped from waiting helicopters and attached a floatation collar around the capsule to prevent it from sinking. They then opened the door, decontaminated the astronauts, and helped them safely be lifted out and into the helicopters. These are two of the mock capsules the UDT divers trained with.
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SEAL Memorial
Position: -80 18.00, 27 29.71
The Navy SEAL Memorial lists the names of all 280 Underwater Demolition Team members, World War II “Frogmen” and modern Navy SEALs who died serving their country.
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Medal of Honor
Position: -80 18.00, 27 29.74
Navy SEAL Chief Edward C. Byers was awarded the Medal of Honor for rushing into gunfire to shield an American hostage in Afghanistan. His name was being added to the SEAL Medal of Honor statue the day we were there. Only six SEALs have publicly received the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, many SEAL missions are classified, so there can’t be a public award.
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Beach
Position: -80 17.93, 27 29.74
We took a quick walk along the beach adjacent to the museum before returning home.
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Carmine’s Ocean Grill
Position: -80 4.28, 26 50.74
We finished the day with Happy Hour at Carmine’s Ocean Grill at our marina. We arrived shortly before a torrential downpour. We’ve been seeing a lot of thunder and lightning storms recently—time to head north.
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Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise.
On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at http://mvdirona.com/maps. |
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The man that designed many of those boats while a commander at DEVGRU lives there in Florida. They have some really neat and deadly toys! I will have to stop in there one day!
I would enjoy meeting the designer of any of those boats. The museum is definitely a worthy stop.