Sailors of the USS Mason (DE-529)

This photograph shows two sailors standing in front of the USS Mason (DE-529) at the Boston Navy Yard. The USS Mason, commissioned on March 20, 1944, was the first U.S. Navy ship with a predominantly Black crew. 

The National Archives at Boston holds correspondence, administrative records, and daily logs of the Boston Navy Yard and the Portsmouth Navy Yard, as well as a number of other records related to the 1st Naval District. Please see our Navy and Marine Corps Records finding aid for further information.

View and download the photograph Two Sailors Stand in Front of the USS Mason (DE-529) the First U.S. Navy Ship with a Predominantly Black Crew on our online Catalog. This record is one example of the many records of the First Naval District in the National Archives at Boston, Massachusetts. You can explore more records held at the National Archives at Boston by visiting our online Catalog or by visiting the National Archives at Boston, Massachusetts. This record is located within Record Group 181: Records of Navy Installations Command, Navy Regions, Naval Districts, and Shore Establishments, Series: Administrative History of the First Naval District in World War 2, 1946. Many of the records in this collection have yet to be digitized. We encourage researchers to visit us onsite to explore these records and learn more about the archival collections held in the National Archives at Boston.