John Pitts Spence (June 14, 1918 – October 29, 2013) was an American diver for the United States Navy and World War II veteran who is widely credited as the country's first combat frogman.
[1][2][3] Spence was the first enlisted man to be recruited into a clandestine group, operated by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which would become known as the frogmen.
[1] In an interview with maritime historian Erick Simmel, Spence explained that frogman first came into use while he was training in a green, waterproof suit.
[1] Spence trained under a medical student, Dr. Christian Lambertsen, who developed the United States Navy frogmen's rebreathers for underwater warfare.
[1] However, Spence's original mission was cancelled for fear that the attack on the submarine base might accidentally alert Nazi Germany to the impending D-Day invasion of Normandy.