Significant changes were made in 1944. After Frank Knox died in April, James Forrestal became Secretary of the Navy. Forrestal, a member of a civil rights organization, believed integration was the best way to alleviate racial tension. On a trial basis, he assigned black personnel to general sea duty positions. To prevent segregation, they were limited to placement on large auxiliary vessels and could not exceed more than 10 percent of the ships officers. The experiment was a success with twenty-five ships reporting very few race relation problems.
In 1945, the success of the experiment led to the decision to gradually assign African American general service personnel to all auxiliary ships of the fleet. Furthermore, since the integration on ships proved successful, the special training program for African American general service recruits was terminated and instead, they were sent to the same training centers as whites.
By the time Carl Brashear joined the Navy in 1948, segregation was still prevalent. Despite the advancements of 1945, many American Americans still worked in the Steward's Branch. Like many other black enlistees, Brashear first worked as a steward in segregated Key West, Florida. Things looked bleak, but his fate changed when he met Chief Boatswain's Mate Guy P. Johnson who got him a job as a beachmaster. After leaving Key West, Brashear served on the USS Palau (CVE-122) where his first request to become a diver was rejected, but while working on the USS Tripoli (CVE-64) his second request was granted.
African American divers were rare, so while in diving school Brashear faced threats, harassment, and racial slurs. Despite racial tension, Brashear stuck with his goal. Even though he flunked the first class, he did not give up. From 1961 to 1963, he studied in preparation for his return to the program. After 26 weeks at a diving school in Washington, D.C., he graduated third out of a class of seventeen.
Training school was not the biggest challenge Brashear would face. While serving on the USS Hoist in 1966, Brashear and the crew were assigned on a mission to recover a nuclear weapon in Spanish water. The recovery mission resulted in an accident that required the amputation of Brashear's left leg below the knee.
After the accident, the Navy assumed that he would retire. Even though the Navy's plan to retire him from active duty was already underway, Brashear set out to prove that he could still dive. Under the close observation of the Navy, he began training in diving school. Remarkably, he passed all of the tests and was able to continue his career in the Navy.
In 1970, he went to Washington D.C.'s Experimental Diving Unit as a candidate to become a master diver. He achieved the rank of Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate, and in June of 1970, he became the first African American Master Diver of the United States Navy. After this accomplishment, he went on to serve on the USS Hunley (AS-31) and the USS Recovery (ARS-43). After a long career in the Navy, he retired in 1979.
