 These first black women to serve in the navy were 16 Yeomen (F)—the total would rise to 24—from some of "Washington's elite black families" who "worked in the Muster Roll division at Washington's Navy Yard..." All women in the navy were released from active duty after the end of the war.World War II again brought the need for additional personnel.The Navy organized to recruit women into a separate women's auxiliary, labeled Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES).