Trial's End

The court-martial, scrupulously conducted, had heard evidence for six weeks. Last week it announced its verdict: the 50 Negro sailors accused of mutiny at the Mare Island naval depot (TIME, Oct. 2), were guilty. Neither. the extent of their guilt nor the sentence was announced. Until the findings have been transcribed in longhand (Navy regulations) and sent to Washington for review, even the 50 would not know their fate.

News of the "guilty" verdict--in the first such mutiny trial in U.S. Navy history--brought charges from Negroes that Negro sailors were victims of discrimination and a demand for an investigation of circumstances leading up to the case. The 50 had refused and persisted in refusing to load ammunition after an explosion of two munition ships had killed 327 persons at nearby Port Chicago, where the 50 had formerly been based. Navy officers sternly insisted that such conduct could not be tolerated in wartime, no matter what the excuse.

The Navy had already tried 207 other Negro sailormen and found them guilty of disobeying orders on the same rebellious occasion. Unlike the 50, the 207 had not persisted in their refusal to load explosives. Punishments (also unannounced) were undoubtedly lighter.

To five Negro bluejackets who had behaved with exceptional courage during the Port Chicago disaster, Rear Admiral Carleton H. Wright last week awarded Navy and Marine Corps medals.

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