page_title: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces
section_title: African-Americans
hierarchical_section_title: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces / United States Navy / World War II / African-Americans
context_page_description: Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces, which has included separation of white and non-white American troops, quotas, restriction of people of color troops to support roles, and outright bans on blacks and other people of color serving in the military, has been a part of the military history of the United States since the American Revolution. Each branch of the Armed Forces has historically had different policies regarding racial segregation. Although Executive Order 9981 officially ended segregation in the Armed Forces in 1948, following World War II, some forms of racial segregation continued until after the Korean War. The US government complied with an Icelandic government request not to station black soldiers on the US base in Keflavík, Iceland until the 1970s and 1980s when black soldiers began to be stationed in Iceland.
context_section_description: In June 1940 the Navy had 4,007 African-American personnel, representing 2.3 percent of its total strength of nearly 170,000.  All of these African Americans were enlisted men, and with the exception of six regular-rated seamen, all were steward's mates. They were characterized by the black press as "seagoing bellhops."  Within a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the number of African Americans in the Navy had increased to 5,026; however, they were still restricted to working as steward's mates. One exception was the black navy bandmaster Alton Augustus Adams, who was recalled to active duty after Pearl Harbor along with eight other black musicians and sent to Guantanamo Bay, creating the Navy's first racially integrated ensemble.
  The destroyer-escort USS Mason was the only Navy vessel in World War II with an entirely black crew who were not cooks or waiters.   In 1995, 11 surviving crew members were all given belated recognition and letters of commendation from Navy Secretary John Dalton for having braved harsh weather and quickly welding the cracks in their ship so they could continue escorting support ships to England.
  The Navy did not allow women of color until January 25, 1945. The first African-American woman sworn into the Navy was Phyllis Mae Dailey, a nurse and Columbia University student from New York. She was the first of only four African American women to serve in the navy during WW2.
  Publicity surrounding the Port Chicago disaster on July 17, 1944 and the ensuing mutiny convictions of 50 black sailors spotlighted racism in the Navy and was a major impetus for Circular Order 48-46, published on February 27, 1946, which desegregated the Navy.
  African American Seabee stevedores
  In February 1942 CNO Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark recommended African Americans for ratings in the construction trades. In April the Navy announced it would enlist African Americans in the Seabees. Even so, there were just two regular CBs that were segregated units, the 34th and 80th NCBs. Both had white Southern officers and black enlisted. Both battalions experienced problems with that arrangement that led to the replacement of the officers.
  The Navy had a huge need for cargo handlers.  The lack of stevedores for unloading ships in combat zones was creating a problem.  On 18 September 1942 authorization was granted for the formation of a different type of CB denoted by the tag "Special" for cargo handling.    By wars end 41 Special Construction Battalions were commissioned of which 15 were segregated. Those Special CBs later became the first fully integrated units in the U.S. Navy.  The wars end also brought the decommissioning of every one of those units.
  Of particular note were the actions of the 17th Special at Peleliu 15–18 September 1944.  On D-day the 7th Marines were in a situation where they did not have enough men to man the lines and get the wounded to safety. Coming to their aid were the 2 companies of the 16 Marine Field Depot(segregated) and the 17th Special Seabee(segregated).  The Japanese mounted a counter-attack at 0200 hours on D-day night. By the time it was over nearly the entire 17th had volunteered to hump ammunition, to the front lines on the stretchers they brought the wounded back on. They volunteered to man the line where the wounded had been, man 37mm that had lost their crews and volunteered for anything dangerous. The 17th remained with the 7th Marines until the right flank had been secured D-plus 3.  According to the Military History Encyclopedia on the Web, were it not for the "Black Marine shore party personnel" the counterattack on the 7th Marines would not have been repulsed.
  African American Seabees
caption: "17th Special" Seabees with the 7th Marines on Peleliu made national news in an official U.S. Navy press release.[44] NARA-532537
exif: {}