Rhino Ferries....SEABEES on Safari?

Actually no, Rhino ferries are not used to keep rhinos from getting wet while crossing water obstacles. They are very useful inventions by the SEABEES that made an irreplaceable contribution to the amphibious landings of Army and Marine forces in World War II. Without them, many of those landings would not have been successful or would have cost much more in lives and lost equipment. Rhino ferries were an outgrowth of the "magic boxes" of steel called pontoons successfully used by the SEABEES to provide a floating steel bridge between cargo ships kept offshore by shallow water and the target beaches where men, vehicles, and supplies must be unloaded quickly, often under heavy enemy fire.

The ferries themselves were deceptively simple. It was only matter of joining a number of the pontoons to form the desired length and width for the floating barge, and then attaching one or more of the specially built outboard propulsion units to the rear of the barge and it was done! But that was the only easy part. The hard part came when it was time to pilot a large slow moving target, totally unprotected, and loaded with critical cargo of men, tanks, artillery, and ammunition, towards the landing beach through the churning waters of a hotly contested combat zone. Many brave SEABEES died or were horribly injured undertaking this hazardous mission. Many more were lost overboard and never seen again.

Without the additional rapid transport of large quantities of vital warfighting equipment to the beachheads, and the ability to provide offshore refueling platforms out of range of enemy fire for the fleets of small craft making several round trips to the beaches, many landings would have failed. In other operations, pontoon barges provided mobile support bases for PT boats, and other river and coastal patrol craft, including even seaplanes used extensively during the war.

And finally, did you know that U.S. Navy SEABEES at the Normandy invasion followed the invading troops far inland? They aided in crossing numerous water obstacles across France and eventually helped ferry Gen. George S. Patton's fast moving Third Army across the Rhine River and onto German soil ! The Rhino ferries never went on Safari, or maybe they did in a way. Certainly the sweep across France into Germany, was as dangerous and exciting an adventure as any African Safari could ever be!

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