Early Construction on Diego Garcia

One of the major projects for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the major project for the Seabees in the 1970s and early 1980s was the construction of naval facilities on the atoll of Diego Garcia, which was part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. Diego Garcia, one of the 52 coral atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, was located in the Indian Ocean 960 miles south of India and 7 miles south of the equator. The 6,700 acre, heavily vegetated atoll was horseshoe- shaped with a perimeter of approximately 40 miles and average elevations of 3 to 7 feet. More info at: www.history.na...
Film digitization made possible through a generous donation from the Navy Seabee Foundation whose support enables the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum to preserve, protect, and share Seabee history.
Color, no sound
Home film footage
Film #: USNSM Film reel 839 H264

[@IOSALive]

SeabeeMuseum, cool video keep up the amazing content

[@dennisstender1743]

75' with MCB5

[@barrygrant2907]

Was there in '81. Seabees were still very actively building the base.

[@diegorhoenisch62]

While I really do appreciate your efforts to save this documentation, you might consider pointing out that describing Diego Garcia as being "part of the British Indian Ocean Territory" is rather similar to saying that Crimea belongs to Russia: it's not entirely inaccurate, but it ignores the view of the former inhabitants. The Chagossians have been fighting to get Diego Garcia back for decades. This land never belonged to the British government, it was stolen and the US is an accomplice in that theft. Cheers, Alan Tomlinson

[@savagedrum]

Gary Parker , good to see you again after all these years.