underwater demolition teams

"Fergus Frew thought he knew what to expect when he signed up with the Navy's demolitions team. But as the Korean War rages on, Fergus and his fellow divers -- aka 'frogmen' are tasked with more than just scouting mudflats, Soon they're planting mines. And sabotaging tunnels, bridges ... and even fishing nets. Scariest of all, it falls to Fergus to discover where the enemy has placed their mines, a job as painstaking as it is dangerous. But frogmen are amphibious. And Fergus may not realize it, but he's in a position to change the way the world thinks about combat"--Jacket flap.

The Navy SEALs history stretches back to World War II when US intelligence officials formed a team of special-operation combat swimmers. Under the leadership of Captain Jack Taylor, a California dentist, the Maritime Unit (MU) started training in 1942, learning underwater and covert operation techniques, as it developed an array of James Bond-like new equipment, including the recently invented underwater breathing apparatus, limpet mines, silent electric motors, and a collapsible eight-foot submarine. Finally deployed in 1944, the unit conducted some of the most daring, behind-enemy-lines operations of the war in Italy, where they linked up with fearsome Italian commandos. In one of its greatest coups, they captured the plans--and the architect--of Germany's famed Gothic Line, resulting in the Eighth Army's partial breakthrough. Filled with unforgettable characters, including the unit's charismatic leader, a Hollywood star, and a gritty New York City gas station owner, The First SEALs cinematically narrates one of the greatest untold stories of World War II and links their storied past to today's gloried US Navy SEALs.