Original Item: Only One Available. This Lightweight Diving Dress or dive suit was worn by Underwater Construction Battalion Seabee Divers in the 1970s. It was commonly referred to as a “bunny suit” because of the folded bun “tail” which creates the watertight seal with the folded white waterproof canvas fabric. It was the lightweight version of the deep sea dress, the Mark V, which was used with the MK V hardhat rig.

A diver would don the suit from the back and wore a weight belt and lead-soled boots with canvas uppers and bronze toe caps to control buoyancy. As it was a “dry” suit, you could wear long underwear and wool socks to keep warm.

A “Jack Browne” diving mask was normally worn with the bunny suit and it provided similar protection like the MK V deep sea mask, except it was used for lighter work in shallower depths. Air to the mask was controlled with a simple valve operated by the diver with a hand wheel. Unlike the MK V helmet, the Jack Browne diving mask had no voice communications built in, so they communicated on the surface via line pull signals.

This example is NOS and still contained in its original cardboard box which is well marked and dated 3/69 for March, 1969. There is no size marking but it appears to be large or XL. The suit itself DATED JANUARY, 1969 AND is nicely stamped on the interior:
UNIROYAL INC
DSA 700-69-C-2887
H4220-233-6824
1/69
GENERAL DETERIORATIVE ITEM

“We Build, We Fight, We Dive”. This is the motto of Seabee Divers from the Underwater Construction Teams (UCT’s) of the Naval Construction Force (NCF). UCT’s provide support for construction, inspection, repair, and maintenance of ocean facilities supporting Naval and Marine Corps operations worldwide.

In the mid-1960s, increased interest in exploitation of the ocean for defense spotlighted a need to establish an underwater construction capability within the Navy. On November 1, 1973 the Chief of Naval Operations established UCT-1 and UCT-2 under the 21st and 31st Naval Construction Regiments respectively. The two teams are currently located on both coasts; UCT-1 is stationed in Virginia Beach, VA and UCT-2 in Port Hueneme, CA. Each team is comprised of 70 personnel consisting of Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers and enlisted Seabees. The teams are divided into three detachments of 12-15 Seabees that are deployed worldwide to support both peacetime and wartime missions. They are prepared to execute underwater construction tasking in both permissive and non-permissive environments and in climates ranging from the tropics to extreme cold weather.

These elite Seabees begin their careers in battalions, learning their rate and earning Seabee Combat Warfare (SCW) qualifications. Divers are expected not only to know their job as a steelworker, construction mechanic, builder, construction electrician, engineering aide, utilities man or equipment operator, they also need to know their job as an underwater construction diver. This is gained through rigorous training and exacting qualifications.