14 DAY TRIAL // Three female lieutenants have made history by becoming the first women to serve as submariners in the Royal Navy. Maxine Stiles, Alexandra Olsson and Penny Thackray are the first females submariners to be appointed in the Submarine Service in its 110-year history.
According to the Herald Scotland, the three women officers have joined the Vanguard-class nuclear submarine HMS Vigilant of the Royal Navy for months of specialized training. They all successfully passed their final exams and earned their “Dolphins” – the badge worn by qualified submariners.
Now that they have been appointed as submariners, they will embark on different nuclear operations as part of their careers in the Submarine Service.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said, “This is not only a huge personal achievement for these three outstanding officers, as they take up their new roles supporting the ultimate safeguard of our national security, but also an historic moment for the Royal Navy and our armed forces.”
Mr. Hammond was the one to lift the ban on women joining the service three years ago. Previously, women were unable to serve on submarines due to concerns that the higher levels of carbon dioxide could carry risks to their health, but an independent review later found that only pregnant women should not serve, so the ban was lifted in December 2011.
Following this historic moment, other female officers will start training later this year with the prospect of serving on Vanguard-class and Astute-class submarines beginning with 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Lieutenant Maxine Stiles, 29, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Gtr Manchester, will reportedly stay on board as a logistics officer.
“It’s very intense and very challenging but that’s what makes it so rewarding. [...] As long as you can do your job I don’t think they cared whether you were male or female,” she said of the training and the way she was treated by the 165 male members of the crew.
On the other hand, Lt Olsson Alexandra Olsson, 26, from Tranmere, decided to study to be a Deputy Weapons Engineering Officer, while Lt Thackray, 39, from West Yorks, will become an Education Officer.
Describing the experience of working on a submarine, Olsson said, “I felt like a little sister to 165 brothers. You live as a very strange family. Once we got qualified they were glad for us the same way they had been glad for hundreds of submariners before. At the end of the day manpower is a big thing for the Navy, [but] as long as you can do the job, it doesn't matter.”