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June 22, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the final day of the Battle of Okinawa — a pivotal moment in the Pacific Theater of World War II. To commemorate this historic battle, “World of Warships,” in partnership with the veteran non-profit organization FORCE BLUE, will be releasing a documentary entitled “Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific,” set to release in November 2025.
Watch the teaser trailer:
The Battle of Okinawa
On April 1, 1945, more than 60,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines stormed the beaches of Okinawa in the final island battle before the anticipated invasion of mainland Japan. The initial landing was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of the war, and the success of the mission was supported by the work of the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) — one of the units that paved the way for today’s Navy SEALs.
While the initial advance was largely unopposed, U.S. forces soon encountered robust Japanese defenses. For the next three months, a vicious land, sea, and air battle raged on, further impeded by heavy rains and rugged terrain.
The fighting was savage and prolonged; not only were Japan’s defenses well-supported, but their counterattacks and assaults inflicted terrible losses on the American forces.
By the time victory was won, there were more than 49,000 American casualties in the battle, including 12,000 deaths. Meanwhile, 90,000 Japanese combatants died in the fighting, with deaths among Okinawan civilians reaching as high as 150,000.
It was a warning of what would come during the attack against Japan’s home islands.
The amphibious assault was heavily supported by the reconnaissance and demolition work of the UDT. The teams conducted full sweeps of the beaches and waters off a landing site’s coast to determine if there was anything — man-made or naturally occurring — that would impede the arrival of landing craft and then demolish the obstacles.
In preparation for the Battle of Okinawa, the UDT teams cleared debris and Japanese traps embedded in the coral reef. As a result of the invasion, the reef sustained damage. Luckily, FORCE BLUE knows a little something about repairing coral reefs.
Naval Combat Demolition Unit & Underwater Demolition Team
The predecessors of today’s Navy SEALs were drawn from a mix of fields, including salvage divers, engineers, and ordnance disposal experts, who were promptly thrown into amphibious assault, demolitions and reconnaissance training to form a new breed of specialized unit. The Naval Demolition Project, directed by the Chief of Naval Operations in June 1943, led to establishment of the NCDU training school at Fort Pierce, Florida, with volunteers from the Bomb and Mine Disposal School, Washington D.C., and the Civil Engineering Corps and Naval Construction Corps (Seabees) School at Camp Peary, Virginia.
The NCDU would become unsung heroes just one year later during Operation Neptune, the June 6, 1944 amphibious landings at Normandy. Despite suffering a casualty rate of over 50%, their demolition work during the assault helped breach key obstacles and helped pave the way for the landing force to take the beaches.
Building off the NCDU, the UDT were deployed to the Pacific Theater, where their largest operation was the invasion of Okinawa, with nearly 1,000 men deployed. There they faced cold waters that threatened hypothermia as they conducted reconnaissance and demolition operations ahead of amphibious landings.
The legacy capabilities of these units during World War II were adopted and remain embodied in today’s SEAL Teams.
‘Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific‘
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, “World of Warships” and FORCE BLUE will release their new documentary in November 2025. Last Battle of the Pacific serves as a sequel to their debut documentary “Frog Fathers: Lessons from the Normandy Surf,” which was released in 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Narrated by John C. McGinley, the documentary tells the story of Naval Combat Demolitions Units at Normandy, following four ex-Navy SEALS in the footsteps of their forefathers.
“Frog Fathers 2: Last Battle of the Pacific” follows a new team of veterans comprised of SEALs, Marines (including actor and FORCE BLUE founder Rudy Reyes), and a Green Beret as they revisit the island of Okinawa to retrace the unique challenges the Underwater Demolition Teams of old faced in the Pacific Theater.
In concurrence with the mission of FORCE BLUE — which unites the community of special operations veterans with the world of marine science and conservation — they will also repair a coral reef off the coast of Okinawa that was damaged in the battle while troop transports landed on the beaches.
“World of Warships” is the biggest historically accurate naval battle massively multiplayer online game (MMO), with over 800 highly detailed replicas of warships from the 20th century.
“Frog Fathers: Lessons from the Normandy Surf” can be viewed here.
