We left off with our retelling of the beginnings of the Navy SEALs with one of its predecessors – the 7th Amphibious Scouts, the second group that one may call a “spin-off” from the Scouts and Raiders, who fought in the Pacific area during the Second World War.

A third group of Scouts and Raiders fought in China. This group was formed as a result of an order from then Admiral Ernest J. King, who called for 120 officers and 900 men to assist in the efforts of the Sino-American Cooperation Organization (SACO). These soldiers were trained at the Scout and Ranger School in Fort Pierce, Florida, and became the core of “a guerilla amphibious organization of Americans and Chinese operating from coastal waters, lakes and rivers employing small steamers and sampans.”

Most of the “Amphibious Roger” forces were stationed in Camp Knox in Calcutta. Three teams were pressed into active service, conducting a survey of the Upper Yangtze River in the spring of 1945. They also masqueraded as coolies as they conducted a survey of the Chinese coast, making their way from Shanghai to Kitchioh Wan over the course of three months.

Yet another skill that is associated with SEALs is demolitions; one of the teams trained specifically for this skill in the early days are Navy salvage personnel. In September 1942, 17 of these men underwent a concentrated course on demolitions, explosive cable cutting and commando raiding techniques for a week in Little Creek, Virginia. Among the feats of this core Navy demolition unit is the successful cutting of a cable and net barrier across the Wadi Sebou River in North Africa. The November 1942 mission was part of Operation TORCH. As a result of their success, the USS Dallas (DD 199) was able to travel down the river carrying U.S. Rangers. These U.S. Rangers were successfully inserted into their target location and were able to capture the Port Lyautey airdrome.