The National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum is located on North Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, Florida, and is the only museum dedicated solely to preserving the history of the U.S. Navy SEALs and their predecessors. It resides on the site of the original training grounds of the Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDU) and Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), also known as the “Frogmen.”
In early 1943, the Navy established the U.S. Naval Amphibious Training Base (USNATB) in Fort Pierce, Florida. The training was conducted on the operation of landing craft and the demolition of underwater obstacles. U.S. Navy Seabees manufactured steel and concrete copies of enemy obstacles, which trainees promptly blew up. By the war’s end, some 140,000 trainees passed through, with approximately 3,500 trained in UDT operations. In 1946, like many World War II training bases, USNATB was closed.
If you’ve ever wondered where SEAL “Hell
