{"product_id":"coral-shoes","title":"Coral Shoes - UDT Teams \u0026 Modern SEALs","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCoral shoes like these helped the Underwater Demolition Teams survive some of the deadliest beaches in World War II. \u003c\/span\u003eDuring the war, the UDTs had a deadly job. In addition to surveying and clearing enemy beaches of obstacles in advance of the amphibious landings they faced natural obstacles such as sharp coral. Coral could inflict cuts or scrapes that could take weeks or months to heal. Initially the UDTs used white sneakers that they would dye blue. Eventually the military developed and issued the coral shoes or “coral creepers” shown here. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday, Navy SEALs and other aquatic special operations groups sometimes use black Converse Chuck Taylors as improvised dive booties. They are lightweight, flexible, and  enjoy a cult following. If you're feeling more old school PF Flyers still makes a version of their WW2 boot called the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/pfflyers.com\/products\/grounder-high-top-olive-green-black?variant=46028767428775\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eGrounder\u003c\/a\u003e. \u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eAnother popular option would be the Altama OTB Maritime assault boots. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese modern choices are the descendants of the original coral shoes. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb id=\"docs-internal-guid-09b6f77d-7fff-8a0e-0087-543af14a6d90\"\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"514\" height=\"914\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wCty-LKuAPw\" title=\"Project BAKU: A quick look at the Coral Shoes used by the UDT's\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe title=\"Project BAKU - PF Flyer\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t-RfjZMMFSQ\" height=\"914\" width=\"514\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mk II Watches","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47066676134027,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0388\/2139\/6619\/files\/Coral_Shoes.png?v=1779736503","url":"https:\/\/mkiiwatches.com\/products\/coral-shoes","provider":"Mk II Watches","version":"1.0","type":"link"}