4.95 45.05
1953 51.73 48.27
1954 53.43 48.57
1955 51.19 48.81
1956 25.38 74.62
1957 21.66 78.34
1958 23.35 76.65

C. Officer Strength (Selected Years)

_Year_ _Black Officers on Active Duty_ _Total Officers_

1949 19 45,464
1951 23 66,323
1953 53 78,095
1955 81 71,591
1960 149

_Source_: BuPers, Personnel Statistics Branch. See especially BuPers,
"Memo on Discrimination of the Negro," 24 Jan 59, BAF2-014. BuPers
Technical Library. All figures represent yearly averages.

The Navy had an explanation for the small number of Negroes. The
reduced manpower ceilings imposed on the Navy, even during the Korean
War, had caused a drastic curtailment in recruiting. At the same time,
with the brief exception of the Korean War, the Navy had depended on
volunteers for enlistment and had required volunteers to score ninety
or higher on the general classification test. The percentage of those
who scored above ninety was lower for blacks than for whites--16
percent against 67 percent, a ratio, naval spokesmen suggested, that
explained the enlistment figures. Furthermore, the low enlistment
quotas produced a long waiting list of those desiring to volunteer.
All applicants for the relatively few openings were thoroughly
screened, and competition was so keen that any Negroes accepted for
the monthly quota had to be extraordinarily well qualified.[16-67]

[Footnote 16-67: For a public expression of these
sentiments see, for example, Ltr, Capt R. B. Ellis,
Policy Control Br, BuPers, to President of
Birmingham, Ala., Branch, NAACP, 30 Mar 50, Pers 66
MM, GenRecsNav.]

What the Navy's explanation failed to mention was that the rise and
decline in the Navy's black strength during the 1950's was intimately
related to the number of group IV enlistees being forced on the
services under the provisions of the Defense Department's program (p. 416)
for the qualitative distribution of manpower. Each service was
required to accept 24 percent of all recruits in grou