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This chapter investigates the attack of British-born black seamen. One of the most troubled periods in the history of British black people was the year following the First World War. Disturbances in Liverpool, Cardiff and London involved black seamen. The 1919 riots mobilised and politicised black people living in Britain. The war had expanded to the black population in Cardiff. In Liverpool, black seamen were being thrown out of their lodgings into the streets. These seamen were also largely dependent on the fortunes of the British shipping industry. Claude McKay wrote to fight against continuing injustices towards him during his two years in Britain. An extract from a poem written by McKay shows the patriotic feeling of many colonial black sailors of the time.

This chapter looks at the lives of the black sailors during the Second World War. During the war, press reports favoured black seamen. Examples of personal bravery exhibited by individual black seamen are then reviewed. It is shown that the black community in Liverpool suffered in the Second World War. Frequently, heroism by seafarers of African descent was conducted in an anonymous and individual capacity. In 1946, an all-black crew protested on SS Princesa in reponse to appalling conditions. Their case was supported by the National Union of Seamen. Moreover, racial discrimination was prominent during the Second World War. The contribution of seamen of African descent to Pan-African feeling would result in the independence of the British colonies.

This chapter analyses global conflict of black seafarers. There had been an increasing number of negative comments towards these seafarers. Life had generally not been easy for black seamen in Britain even before First World War. As employment for seamen became more difficult, it got worse. Seamen from British colonies also had a role in the global conflict. Pseudo-scientific racism offered a significant ingredient for British imperial theory. Government legislation contributed to the troubles received by black sailors and their families. However, the bravery of black seafarers beside their fellow British mariners was formally acknowledged during the year following the conclusion of the First World War. Although they acquired official recognition in the poorer sections of British society, black sailortowns in the major ports were to come increasingly under pressure in the years following the war.

It has been demonstrated in this book that seafarers of the African Diaspora have served British interests from at least the reign of the Tudors up to the present day. The black seafarers in Britain have served and have frequently performed their duties with bravery and stoicism as a ubiquitous and often apparently invisible presence on British ships. They have felt many difficulties in the course of their long history of British service. Together with the slave trade, the employment of seafarers of African descent undoubtedly brought about a far wider distribution of people of the African Diaspora. It can appear that black seamen on British ships were more than a mere a peripheral force within the British Royal and mercantile navies.

This chapter is concerned with the question of crew division. In particular, the significance of rank is covered. The rank of post captain was an obsolete alternative form of captain in the Royal Navy. For black sailors, their employment on sailing ships was generally of the lowest in the pecking order: servants, stewards, cooks and cabin boys. Nevertheless, examples are given of John Perkins and Jacob Christian, who attained recognition and rank in the late eighteenth century. In general, seafarers were bonded as members of the united group of the sea.

This chapter evaluates the position of black seamen after the demise of the British Empire. Events on the African continent were on course to deprive Britain of a direct source of seafarers of African descent. The newly independent West African countries considered their own issues of naval defence. Following the Second World War, changes in attitudes towards black people were slowly developing. The attitudes towards black seafarers enhanced in the 1960s and 1970s. Merchant shipping declined in status throughout the twentieth century, striking British seafarers of all races hard. Finally, the chapter talks about how Neville Bryce was the Navy's first black ‘chief of boat’. He became Lieutenant Commander in the British Senior Service and a Member of the British Empire.

This chapter describes the British slave trade. The slave trade directly or indirectly led to the initial interaction between Africans and the British Navy. The trade was a ready source of future black sailors, both free and un-free. In the years of the British slave trade, many other un-free black sailors would serve Britain in their master's name. Enslaved seafarers of African descent would take up many roles and become known as a valuable asset to Britain's navy. There was no shortage of black seamen ready to provide their services to ships' captains whenever needed. There was a demand for able-bodied seamen throughout the entire period of the British slave trade. Against the backdrop of the slave trade, the British Empire was growing into the greatest melange of different cultures, races and languages since the Roman era.