NAVY SEAL KNIVES from 1965- 2015

[Claymore33]

I spent much of my career in the Navy attached to NSW units on 3 continents. ST 5, SBU 26, UNIT 3, Group ONE. I am NOT a SEAL. These are the knives I have seen in service over the last 50 years with the TEAMS.

Having said that, be aware that in Iraq and Afghanistan most SEALS I know and worked with did not carry a sheath knife on ops. They carried a nice folder.
In the desert in 125F heat the name of the game is lightweight.
Since you must carry lots of water and 500 rounds of ammo, the big sheath knife was abandoned for most operations.
Now that the TEAMS are going back to the water, the sheath knives will be carried again.
The top knife in the picture is SOG w/7" blade. I carried it in IRAQ and scuba diving with German Navy in the RED SEA.
The middle blade is the WATSON-HARSEY made by GERBER.
Named after Master Chief "Patches " Watson (SEAL) . He wrote book POINT MAN which I highly recommend.
bottom blade is NAVY MARK 3 MOD 0 dive knife issued @ 1965 to SEALS, UDT, and EOD.

 

[BAM-BAM]

COOool.....

 

[kwill1911]

Neat stuff. How about a follow up with SEAL handguns?

 

[John_M52]

Here's a copy of a KA-BAR Marine Fighting Knife in Damascus. After two years of waiting I finally got it from the guy who makes them one at a time. Not a Randall but I think it's pretty cool. Nice collection you have, and with memories.

 

[JJEH]

Very interesting. Do you know by any chance if the Ka-Bar Mk I was ever used by the SEAL's?

It's marked "USN" and they advertise it as "issued to the Department of the Navy during WWII."

KA-BAR: Mark I

I have it and like it, but it would be sad if it wasn't based on something authentic.

 

[BAM-BAM]

SEALS were not formed until the 1960s IIRC President Kennedy spun up the Army Special Forces and SEALs in 1961/62 ...... and first saw action in the Vietnam War.

The SEALS "History" does go back to WWII Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT)..... my guess would be these Teams carried the 7" Ka-Bar "fighting" knife vs the 5" utility knife.



The Mark I "Deck Knife" was a utility knife issued to sailors in WWII ..... versions were made by several manufacturers. I own a couple of those MkI as a general utility knife at the cabin and in "Penn's Woods".... great knife in that roll IMO!

 

[Claymore33]

YES , UDT ( FROGMEN ) carried the K-BAR and other variations during WW2 and KOREA. Most of the USMC K-BARS had leather handles so they did not hold up well in saltwater. there is now a KYDEX handle K-BAR.
I have one of those also.

 

[Claymore33]

Neat stuff. How about a follow up with SEAL handguns?

While I worked in the TEAMS they carried 3 primary handguns:
1) 1911 .45 ACP until 1988-90
2)After DEV GRU( SEAL TEAM SIX) tested and rejected Beretta M9
they adopted SIG SAUER P226 on both Coasts in 1988-90
3) For underwater OPS the TEAMS adopted S&W 686 in 4" . Revolvers can shoot right out of the water after you swim up to a dock and you need to take out a sentry, Semi-automatics do not cycle well full of water. However there was no .357 ammo in the Military inventory so we were limited to .38 Special in the 686s.
When I went down to SBU 26 in PANAMA in 1997, the XO had determined that they were encountering many bad guys hopped up on drugs. The 9mm were not lethal enough. So he had the armorer ship all 9mms back to LITTLE CREEK and received 1911 in .45 ACPs in return.

 

[digi-shots]

Nice photos, Claymore!

Here’s an Aqua-Lung dive knife I picked up locally… unit marked - NSWU-4 (Naval Special Warfare Unit 4).

 

[BAM-BAM]

Not saying it isn't......... but I hope you bought the knife and not the story!



Seems a bit over "marked"... I still have the personally owned custom knife my Dad carried in the Philippines in WWII while in the Coast Guard.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I’ve got an MK3 MOD 0 with the scabbard. Impressive weapon/tool . . .

 

[digi-shots]

You do need to be careful and not get caught up in the “story”.
The dive knife was like $10 and not advertised as being unit marked. If it was “humped up” I would have expected it to say “SEAL Team” or something along those lines.

Here is a Randall made knife that I bought directly from a team member (Tom) who retired after 32 years and served with SEAL Team 1 during Vietnam. I had him sign the back of the sheath, along with photos of him holding the knife.

Tom gave me both the British hard hat diver knife (he had traded with a British Navy fellow) and a Vietnam captured 1903 rifle.

 

[Greyman50]

Best Buy Cole’s books if you can find them. Back in mid 70’s knew some SEALs around Va. Beach, they all loved Randalls.
In WWII servicemen in General carried whatever they could get their hands on, period. Marines had their knives but Army,Navy and United States Army Air Force got what they could. Army Paratroopers had their switch blades they carried in the zipper pocket near their throats for cutting shroud lines.

 

[eveled]

Very interesting. Do you know by any chance if the Ka-Bar Mk I was ever used by the SEAL's?

It's marked "USN" and they advertise it as "issued to the Department of the Navy during WWII."

KA-BAR: Mark I

I have it and like it, but it would be sad if it wasn't based on something authentic.

It absolutely is based on a real WW2 knife. KA-BAR was only one of many manufacturers. It is called a deck knife, for working not for fighting.

 

[eveled]

A picture of a ww2 KA-BAR and a modern one same vintage as yours with a civilian knife between them.

The front row if my military drawer is almost all USN knives. Mk1,2&3. Then mk1’s from different makers.

 

[boykinlp]

A picture of a ww2 KA-BAR and a modern one same vintage as yours with a civilian knife between them.

Tge front row if my military drawer is almost all USN knives. Mk1,2&3. Then mk1’s from different makers.

eveled, you always have very cool blades!
Larry

 

[digi-shots]

Here are a couple more US Navy knives..

From left to right:

USN MK 1 - PAL (used in WWII by C.O. UDT-4)
USN MK 2 - Camillus (no provenance)
Aqua-Lung Dive Knife - (unit marked NSWU-4)
“Japan” stamped MK 2 with sterile sheath (came from local manufacturer’s collection)
USN MK3, MOD O (no provenance)
Gerber Command (used by USN BMCM, Retired - UDT 21/22, ST 2, 4, 6)

 

[bob1956]

I have a strider tanto style knife, it has NSN engraved on the blade. Not sure who used these but I’m pretty sure the navy didn’t issue them to BM’s for deck operations.

 

[JJEH]

The Mark I "Deck Knife" was a utility knife ...

It absolutely is based on a real WW2 knife. KA-BAR was only one of many manufacturers. It is called a deck knife, for working not for fighting.

Deck Knife.... I learn something new every day, thank you

But now I'm curious as to who the original manufacturer was and what year they came out?!

 

[kwill1911]

Military knives are as bad as military pistols--the answers can be less than simple. There were over 1 million Mk I deck knives made during WWII by 8 different makers.