On 31 October 1941, Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, authorized the formation of the 1st Headquarters Construction Company. Recruiting began in November while boot training began 7 December 1941 at Naval Station Newport. By 16 December, four additional companies had been authorized.
December 28 Rear Admiral Ben Moreell requested authority to create Naval Construction Battalions. The Bureau of Navigation gave authorization on 5 January 1942. Three Battalions were officially authorized on 5 March 1942.
The 1st HQ Construction Company was used to commission the 1st Naval Construction Detachment, which was assigned to Operation Bobcat. They were sent to Bora Bora and are known in Seabee history as “Bobcats”.
Concurrently, the other requested companies had been approved. BuDocks took Companies 2 & 3 to form the 1st Naval Construction Battalion at Charleston, South Carolina. HQ Companies 4 & 5 were used for the 2nd CB. All four companies deployed independently. CBs 3, 4, & 5 were deployed the same way. CB 6 was the first battalion to deploy as a Battalion.
Before all this could happen, BuDocks had to address the dual command issue. Naval regs stated unit command was strictly limited to line officers. BuDocks deemed it essential that CBs be commanded by Civil Engineer Corps(CEC) officers trained in construction. The Bureau of Naval Personnel (BuPers) was strongly opposed. Adm. Moreell took the issue directly to the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox. 19 March 1942, Knox gave the CEC complete command of all Naval Construction Force (NCF) personnel. Almost 11,400 would become CEC during WWII with 7,960 doing CB service. Two weeks earlier, on 5 March all CB personnel were officially named “Seabees”.
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