However, the SS Tofua I completed its lastPacificIslandrun in 1932 and other ships, like the SS Monowai II and the Niagara, took over the circuit for a few years untilNew Zealand’s Union Steamship Company’sMV Matuamade its maiden voyage toTonga, Samoa andFijiin August-September of 1936...
Given the pervasive prejudice among white officers and enlisted men, black men sought out their own company as much as possible. Such a pattern of association derived largely from the rating structure, but enlistment patterns and prewar associations also played a part. A surviving photograph of USS...