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FIRST FULLY-INTEGRATED SHIP IN THE U.S. NAVY

SY Sea Cloud, the once privately owned luxury four-masted barque, made military history of a very special kind during its service as IX-99 during World War II: she was the first experimental vessel for racial integration in the U.S. Navy. In the Second World War the U.S. Navy took over several private yachts for use as weather ships and for other normally non-combative duty stations. More about all that in a moment

Today the 68-passenger Sea Cloud proffers one-week, off-the-beaten path Caribbean cruises between November and April each year. In the Summer, however, Sea Cloud calls on ports in the Mediterranean and Aegean.

The ship features 34 air-conditioned cabins with telephone, safe, hair-dryer, bathrobes, and sea views. Complimentary wines with lunch and dinner complement meals.

Sea Cloud proffers: a library; piano; video player; overhead and slide projectors; daily news update via satellite; gift and souvenir boutique; laundry service; medical care; and deck chairs.

At the beginning of the war only a small number of blacks with low ratings were assigned to U.S. Navy vessels. Sea Cloud's commanding Navy officer, Captain Carlton Skinner, calculated that in comparison to the 11 percent black population ashore at the time, only 2 percent of blacks made up a ship's complement. He figured, given the chance, they would serve their country equally effectively as white sailors. And proved it.

Skinner initiated a program whereby Sea Cloud soon boasted a completely integrated crew with four black officers and some 50 black petty officers and seamen serving in the ship's 175-man company. (As a private yacht, Sea Cloud was originally built to accommodate 80 guests and crew in comfort. But nobody ever said the Navy was concerned with comfort!)

The success aboard Sea Cloud led to the General Order of February 1945, which for the first time declared blacks could comprise ten (10) percent of the general ranks on a ship. This simple order effectively ended segregation in the U.S. Navy.

Skinner also discovered he had a talented painter aboard in the person of Seaman Joseph Lawrence. Remembering that throughout history navy ships of various countries had chroniclers aboard, Skinner determined the IX-99 should have hers too.

Consequently, Lawrence was assigned to ship duties for half a day. . . and painting for the other half. Today Joseph Lawrence is recognized as one of America's foremost black artists and his works, including some of his wartime Sea Cloud paintings, hang in several museums.

Learn more about this author, Timothy Benford.
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