USS PC-1264 was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was one of only two U.S. Navy ships to have a predominantly African-American enlisted complement during the war, the other being the . PC-1264 was in service for less than two years, but the performance of her crew—and of USS Masons—led the U.S. Navy to reevaluate its perception of African Americans as members of the fleet. Although sold for scrapping, the ship remains at the Donjon Marine Yard in Rossville, Staten Island. Career USS PC-1264 was laid down at Consolidated Shipbuilding Company in Morris Heights, New York, on 7 October 1943 and launched on 28 November 1943. PC-1264 was a United States Navy . This patrol class of submarine chaser was intended to intercept and destroy German U-boats stationed off the coast of the United States. Less expensive and faster to build than destroyers or even destroyer escorts, and requiring smaller crews, they quickly filled an important need for coastal convoy protection and anti-submarine warfare. PC-1264 was commissioned in April 1944 and decommissioned in February 1946, serving a little less than 22 months as a U.S. Navy fighting ship. Segregated ships On 9 December 1941, the NAACP sent a telegram to Frank Knox, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, asking that African Americans be accepted into the navy in other than the messman branch. This request was refused. A 17 December letter from the NAACP to President Roosevelt resulted in the president turning the matter over to Mark Ethridge, chairman of the Fair Employment Practices Committee. This committee also received a negative response from the Navy Department. The president then sent a note to Secretary Knox stating: I think that with all the Navy activities, BUNAV might find something that colored enlistees could do in addition to the rating of messman. The navy's General Board, the group charged with the formulation of navy policy, countered with a suggestion that African Americans either be enlisted as messmen, or, "...if this proved not feasible," for general service. The problem was that the navy believed that integrated units would disrupt discipline aboard ships, entirely ignoring the fact that integrated crews had worked successfully aboard U.S. Navy ships during the American Civil War. The president responded, agreeing that "...to go the whole way in one fell swoop would seriously impair the general average efficiency of the Navy," but still felt