Carlton Skinner

“ Fortunately, the Sea Cloud was a comfortable ship and handled well at one third ahead and a few points off the wind and sea. When we reached the top of circle, we could "coast down hill" for fifty miles, which was always more pleasant in a force 6 or 7 wind.
The Negroes didn't like the bad weather any more than the white seamen. They griped and complained and swore just as much, and no more. In fact, the bad weather and the monotonous duty may have helped to integrate the crew. Both Negro and white seamen felt abused. ”

“ There was little noticeable interest in the Sea Cloud. It appeared to be treated as any other unit. Thus, in the Navy Yard in terms of presenting Work Orders, getting supplies, etc., we encountered no hostility or prejudice. We did find that the Navy Yard blue collar foremen, quartermen, leading men, etc., frequently tried to avoid the ship and occasionally made slurring remarks about the crew.
Necessity is the mother of invention and we found that with a few pounds of butter or cans of coffee, we could change the attitude. ”

“ I concluded that there had to be a demonstration that Negroes could serve in general ratings effectively. I quickly rejected the idea of an all-Negro unit. First, it was a violation of the proven method of training sailors of putting them on board ship and improving on their boot camp basic skills at sea. Sailors learn from other sailors. The Chief Boatswain's Mate with 25 years of service, two thirds of them at sea, is the best instructor. He can be tough, but the sailor learns from this toughness how to maneuver a small boat alongside, how to paint, how to clean, how to steer, etc. ”

“ This meant that the Coast Guard and Navy would have to take 11 to 12 percent of Negroes in their new manpower (the generally accepted percentage of Negroes in the U. S. population) . Over a period of time this would result in the 9 percent of recruits not available for sea duty being placed in shore installations. Soon Coast Guard and Navy shore installations would be disproportionately heavy with Negro personnel. ”

“ The Negroes were assigned to berthing arrangements as any other seamen. Inevitably, if there is a preferred sleeping berth, the old-timers on the ship grab it and the newest arrivals get the leavings. I did not interfere with this, but later there were times when white seamen or petty officers were assigned and the old-timer Negro seamen or petty officers then reaped the benefit of seniority. Obviously, petty officers get or find better quarters than seamen, and the same system applied. ”

“ Training
The training program aboard ship was that of the ship itself -- nothing else. The Sea Cloud was a unit of the Atlantic Fleet, in Task Force 24, and there were training requirements, drills, etc. In addition, the Coast Guard had certain customary drills. Thus, the normal shipboard abandon ship, man overboard, damage control, general quarters drills were performed daily, except in impossible weather.
In addition, while in Boston or Argentia, there were ASW tracking drills for officers and sonarmen, anti-aircraft gunnery training in Rhode Island, etc. ”

“ I did have to make a special point of instruction for officers calling on other ships or at the Navy Yard for work or supplies to be especially nice and cooperative. In one incident, when a hurricane was approaching Boston and due to hit at midnight, I passed the word to get wire cable to be used in doubling all our mooring lines. A Negro Boatswain's Mate asked the yard for a spool of cable to allow us to do this and he was refused, I think, because of the nature of our crew. ”

“ Weather patrol vessels, four in all at any one time, were manned by the Coast Guard. Weather observers were civilians from the U. S. Weather Service. The ship's complement for wartime was 175 men and 12 officers. However, its officers' country, formerly owner and guest quarters, add 20-24 officers and extra officers were frequently assigned for sea duty familiarization after a prolonged period of shore duty or upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy. ”

“ Each officer with a department had responsibility for all the men of his department, Negro or white, in full compliance with Coast Guard regulations. After several voyages, we received two Negro officers from the Coast Guard Reserve Officer Training program. ”

“ As such, I wished eagerly to be active in the war against fascism, active in a military service in combat or potential combat. As such, I applied for a commission in the Coast Guard Reserve as soon as it was authorized as a military reserve force. I took my examinations in the spring of 1941, was commissioned in June 1941, and placed on active duty early in July. In the same month I reported for duty on the USS Northland, CG, (WPG-49) at the Boston Navy Yard where it was outfitting to return to its assignment as a unit of the Greenland Patrol. ”

“ Certainly the inspection staff of the Atlantic Fleet had no reason to give any special consideration to a fleet unit because it had Negroes in general ratings or was an experiment in racial integration on a fleet unit. Later, the Sea Cloud was decommissioned in the fall of 1944, for purely logistical and supply reasons. All parts for the Krupp diesels and auxiliaries, piping, etc., had to be fabricated specially at the Boston Navy Yard. ”

“ Without notice, about three days before we were to sail, the Coast Guard Receiving station, at the old Hotel Brunswick, sent down to the ship 12 Negro apprentice seamen and we detached 12 white seamen. Still no word of action on my proposal. But it was clear to me that I was being assigned to carry out what I had proposed. The method was probably the best in that it called the least attention to the program. ”

“ The tour on station was usually 21 days, with from eight to twelve days to get to station and back. We would wait until we sighted the relief ship before departing station. Sometimes we provided a check point for aircraft, including one flight of dirigibles. ”