Underwater Demolition Team (Historic)

Underwater Demolition Teams were US Navy combat-swimmer units, formed in 1943 during the Second World War, that reconnoitered enemy beaches and blasted obstacles, coral, and mines to clear the way for amphibious landings in the Pacific and at Normandy. Operating from fast transports with little more than fins, mask, and explosives, the UDTs earned the nickname frogmen. In 1962 they became the basis of the new SEAL teams, and the remaining UDTs were redesignated as SEAL and special-boat units in 1983, ending the historic designation.