The Mason crew often found the battles at home to be tougher than facing German submarines.

They regularly had to fight white sailors from other US ships. Many times, they were arrested by military police for "impersonating" rated US Navy seamen. (It seems their existence was a well-kept secret!)

But possibly the worst incident was in May, 1945, when incredibly, the Mason was forced to turn her guns on fellow Americans to end a racist incident that threatened to turn into a full-scale brawl.

Electrician's Mate Third Class Winfrey Roberts tells the story:

"The worst incident of racism I remember was in Charleston. We were in port, and some USO girls came aboard to dance on the fantail. They were entertaining on the ship. When they came aboard the ship, the white shipyard workers tried to charge up the gangplank and take the girls off. The captain had us man our battle stations, and we turned the guns on them. That stopped it.

Really though, we didn't need the guns. We could have taken them one by one!"

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