[Stealhead]

According to "Silent Victory" Stewards where either black or Filipino their primary job was to serve the officers meals and prepare their uniforms,serve them coffee though on a sub they would also go around when the boat was at general quarters and give water and sandwiches to any hungry crewman.There would always be at least one cook and two or three stewards.

Everyone on a submarine stood watch usually on a rotational pattern.According to "Silent Victory" it was a believed that blacks had better night vision so the black stewards usually stood watch at night.

I do not think during the war that all sub crew members had to go through specific submarine training either Stewards,Cooks,Pharmacist Mates,and Corpsmen, typically did not receive any specific submarine training prior to being assigned to a sub it was OJT for them.In fact during the war many sub crewman did not fully qualify like they do today or as they would have prior to the war.There simply was not enough time to go through peace time training lengths even for complex jobs on subs.By 1943 they even accelerated submarine officers training.

Cooks not where the lowest man on totem pole though that accolade would go to the youngest and newest enlisted man.A cook might have served in the Navy for many years and have achieved rank in that time span.They also where not usually black or Filipino many where white.

The treatment of black and Filipino sailors varied greatly in the Navy but so far as I can tell on most submarines they where treated with respect for example fellow sub crewman would take photos with black and Filipino crew mates something that did not happen very often on surface ships.They where an equal part of the crew in the submarine force.

In most every book written by sub commanders after the war it is very clear that they had great respect for the stewards.On a sub they also fought manning guns and in other vital roles.Perhaps on a surface ship they where seen as merely servants but not on most subs.