Beach Jumpers
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Beach Jumpers were U.S. Navy special warfare units organized during World War II by Lieutenant
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939), ...
They specialized in
deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...
and
psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...
. The units were active from 1943 to 1946 and 1951 to 1972.


Inspired by British tactics

Lieutenant
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939), ...
, the Hollywood actor and naval officer, was assigned as a United States liaison officer to British Admiral Lord
Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy of ...
, who was British Chief of Combined Operations, which included
British Commando The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against German-occ ...
operations. This included undertaking training at HMS Tormentor, a Commando training facility in Southern England. Fairbanks not only observed the training, planning, and execution of the Commando's raiding parties, diversions, and deception operations, but he trained with the unit and participated in several cross channel harassment raids. During these raids he developed a deep appreciation for the military art of deception. When he returned to the U.S., Fairbanks presented his idea for a unit of men trained to conduct tactical cover, diversionary and deception missions to Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Fleet and
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...
. Inspired by the success of the
British Commando The Commandos, also known as the British Commandos, were formed during the World War II, Second World War in June 1940, following a request from Winston Churchill, for special forces that could carry out Raid (military), raids against German-occ ...
in using sonic deception on raids against the Nazis and Fairbanks' concept of operations, King issued a secret letter on 5 March 1943 charging the
Vice Chief of Naval Operations The vice chief of naval operations (VCNO) is the second highest-ranking commissioned United States Navy officer and functions as the principal deputy of the Chief of Naval Operations, chief of naval operations. By statute, the vice chief is appo ...
with the responsibility to recruit 180 officers and 300 enlisted men for the Beach Jumper program. Admiral H. Kent Hewitt Commander of Amphibious Forces and all U.S. Naval Forces in Northwest African waters and the Western Mediterranean, was put in charge.


Volunteer requirements

Beach Jumper volunteers had to meet four general requirements: no seasickness, experience with small boat handling, enough electrical knowledge to fix a home radio, and basic knowledge of
celestial navigation Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space or on the surface ...
. The announcement further stated that, "The Navy is requesting volunteers for prolonged, hazardous, distant duty for a secret project." Their identities and activities were very highly classified, since the slightest leak of information could ruin even brilliant deceptions. Their early basic mission was "To assist and support the operating forces in the conduct of Tactical Cover and Deception in Naval Warfare." To accomplish it, they learned to simulate very large
amphibious landings Amphibious warfare is a type of Offensive (military), offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the opera ...
with very limited forces. Using specialized deception equipment, a few dozen Beach Jumpers could make the enemy believe they were a 70,000-man amphibious landing force, when in fact that force would be elsewhere, usually a great distance away.


Unit organization

On 16 March 1943, the volunteers reported to the Amphibious Training Base at Camp Bradford, Virginia, forming Beach Jumper Unit One. The group was trained in small boat handling,
seamanship Seamanship is the skill, art, competence (human resources), competence, and knowledge of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, o ...
, ordnance, gunnery,
demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...
,
pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...
, and
meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...
. The unit was assigned ten 63-foot double-hulled plywood
air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...
(ASR) boats, each manned by an officer and a six-man crew. The boats were equipped with twin 50 caliber machine guns, 3.5-inch window rockets, smoke pots and generators, and floating time-delay explosive packs. They also carried the unit's specialized deception equipment: the multi-component "heater," consisting of a wire recorder; 5-phase amplifier, and 1000 watt, 12 horn speaker; and ZKM and MK-6 Naval balloons to which strips of radar reflective
window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...
had been attached. The latter could be towed behind the boats to enhance their radar cross-section. Later, the Beach Jumpers acquired various jamming transmitters such as the APT-2 (Carpet); APQ-2 (Rug); AN/APT-3 (Mandrel); AN/SPT-4; AM-14/APT; AM-18/APT; and AN/SPT-1 (DINA). When the units were reactivated for the Korean War the designation of the 63-foot boats was changed to AVR (aviation rescue) since that was the purpose of the boats at the time. Fueling of Beach Jumper Unit 1 boats, stationed at the Amphibious Base in Coronado, California, was done at the North Island Naval base at Coronado since that was the location of the high octane fuel needed to run the twin Hall Scott engines in each boat. In 1953 another boat was added to the six 63 footers at BJU1; a 104-foot AVR used as the command boat. The Beach Jumpers got their name because of their ability to quickly hit the beach and confuse the enemy with harassment and deception operations. During a high level conference, someone stated that the purpose of the Beach Jumpers' work was "to scare the be-jesus out of the enemy." The term "BJ factor" was used thereafter in their planning, and is said to have inspired the cover name Beach Jumpers.


Action during World War II

Beach Jumpers saw much action in World War II. Their first operation was in
Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
. On the night of 10 July 1943, Beach Jumper Unit 1 (BJU 1) was ordered to conduct a diversion off Cape San Marco, 100 miles west of the HUSKY landing area. The first attempt was recalled due to hazardous seas. On D+1, the weather was better and the operation began at 22:00. At 3,000 yards off shore, three of the ASRs prepared their heaters, one ASR proceeded a thousand yards ahead and began to lay smoke. As the sound boats prepared to make their run parallel to the beach, a searchlight from Cape San Marco illuminated the area, accompanied by small arms and artillery fire. At 02:30 the sound boats were ordered to secure their heaters and approach the beach, which they did, firing guns and rockets. All boats retired on a course back to their home port at
Pantelleria Pantelleria (; ), known in ancient times as Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisian coast. On clear days Tunisia is visible from the ...
, Sicily. To keep the Germans' attention, the unit was ordered to conduct another operation on the night of 12 July 1943, using all available craft. This time the shore batteries were completely alerted. The Germans were convinced that a landing was about to take place. Salvos of six-inch and smaller guns were thrown at the boats. The operation was a success and no casualties were sustained. Operation Husky accomplished complete surprise due to the uncertainty created in the minds of some German commanders by the diversions and deception operations. BJU-1 was responsible for an entire German Reserve Division being held in place, as the German command was unsure where the actual landing would take place. Beach Jumpers continued to work successfully in the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
through the summer of 1944. Beach Jumper operations in the Pacific were less rewarding, but at least one diversion proved effective, allowing the 34th Regimental Combat team and the 38th and 11th Airborne Divisions to land with little or no opposition. Shortly after the end of World War II, all Beach Jumper Units were deactivated.


Service in Cold War, Vietnam

Beach Jumpers were reactivated in 1951, in spite of the objections of those who questioned the worth of a deception unit in more sophisticated times. A Beach Jumper unit was given a chance to prove its worth when an important training exercise was being planned. The Beach Jumpers knew that fleet communications from the force commander to ships at sea were relayed through radio Washington. Pretending to be the force commander, they sent a message, via Radio Washington, ordering every ship's commanding officer to report to the flagship the next morning to discuss terminating the exercise. The next morning at least half of the commanding officers were aboard the flagship in a state of mounting confusion and anger. There were no more doubts about the value of the Beach Jumper program. Through the late-1950s and into the early-1960s as the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
evolved into the "
counterinsurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
era", Beach Jumper expertise in the area of manipulative and imitative deception and electronic warfare (EW) was employed in revolutionary new ways, both during scheduled fleet exercises and on actual operations. Additionally, they acquired a new secondary mission: "To plan and execute
psychological operations Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Min ...
in support of commands to which assigned." Several Beach Jumper teams were active in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, responsible for tactical deception and for employing psychological operations (PSYOPS), which was also their unclassified cover activity. They operated from several naval platforms including the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) and USS Tripoli (LPH-10). Their primary mission was to assist and support the operating forces in the conduct of tactical cover and deception. They conducted monitoring, tape preparation, and Soviet signal intelligence
SIGINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
trawler jamming missions from
destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
. Some of the men became
paratroopers A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light inf ...
, possibly to add credibility to the Beach Jumper cover name. Other Beach Jumpers operated under the cover name "Yankee Station Special Surveillance Unit", aboard fleet tugs such as the USS Cocopa (ATF-101). Their mission was to deceive and jam Soviet signal intelligence (SIGINT) and electronics intelligence (
ELINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...
) trawlers that were monitoring U.S. naval operations in the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...
. This group conducted counter-SIGINT trawler activities which included random jamming with noises that included bagpipe recordings.


Retirement

The Beach Jumper name was retired in 1972, and the Beach Jumper mission was assigned to Fleet Composite Operational Readiness Group One (FLTCORGRU 1). In 1986, Fleet Tactical Deception Group Pacific (FLTDECGRUPAC) and Fleet Tactical Deception Group Atlantic (FLTDECGRULANT) were formed, with the mission of "Assisting Commanders in the planning and conduct of tactical military deception operations." Former Beach Jumpers are eligible to join the U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers Association and to be Associate Members of the UDT-SEAL Association.


References


Further reading

* * *{{cite book, last=Holt, first=Thaddeus, title=The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War, year=2004, publisher=Scribner, location=New York, isbn=0-7432-5042-7, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/deceiversalliedm00holt


External links


Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and the Beach Jumpers
''9:55 video''
U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers AssociationThe UDT-SEAL AssociationThe Naval Special Warfare Foundation
Special Operations Forces of the United States Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1972