guardian.co.uk,
Martin Wainwright, Monday 8 August 2011
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| The Royal Navy has appointed the first female warship commander in its history. Lt Commander Sarah West, above, will take command of the frigate HMS Portland in 2012. Photograph: Ben Sutton/PA |
For most of its five century history, the Royal Navy saw fit to allow women to serve only as carved figureheads or by lending their names to military vessels. But now the navy is set to hand command of a frontline warship to a female officer for the first time.
Lt
Commander Sarah West is to graduate in time for her 40th birthday from the
mine-hunting and coastal defence "minnows" of the service to a
frigate more powerful than the whole of Lord Nelson's fleet.
She will
take command in April of HMS Portland, whose arsenal has been used in anger
against Somali pirates and cocaine smugglers in the Caribbean.
West, an
expert in underwater warfare and large-scale naval planning, took a law degree
on top of her university maths honours while serving in the Middle East.
She is also
the first woman to achieve the rank of commander, a promotion due at the end of
the year and only a step away from captain and then the various categories of
admiral.
She earned
the appointment by showing "leadership, confidence, moral courage, sound
judgment and excellent people skills" since joining up in 1995, five years
after the five centuries-old ban on women was rescinded.
Her
training on HMS Battleaxe armoured her against inevitable quips at the first
generation of navy women, and her previous command of four smaller vessels will
help the challenge of Portland, a Type 32 frigate with 185 crew. She has earned
praise for mastery of ships' weapons systems and skilled work on mine clearance
off Iraq.
Earlier
this year she led the 40-strong crew of minehunter HMS Shoreham through the
West Sussex port of the same name to receive its official freedom. Bayonets
were fixed, colours flown and drums beaten and West described her "pride
at exercising this ancient right in our favourite town".
She was
born and educated in Lincolnshire, like her fellow shatterer of ancient glass
ceilings, Lady Thatcher, and studied maths at the University of Hertfordshire
before taking a warfare officer course at Britannia Royal Naval College.
Signs of a
high-flying career developed in her successful role in planning international
exercises, including periods at naval headquarters co-ordinating operations in
the Balkans at the time of Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008.
This
followed a major logistical role in the evacuation of 4,600 UK citizens and
others from Lebanon in 2006, and a spell co-ordinating the navy's contribution
to operations in Iraq.
A spokesman
for the Royal Navy said that other women were achieving senior ranks in good
numbers as well as joining the service at all levels.
On average,
women form between 15% and 20% of ships' crews and are only barred from posts
in the Royal Marine Commandos, mine clearance involving diving, and submarines.
The submarine ban is currently under review and is expected to be eased.
"This
appointment is good news," the spokesman said. "The Royal Navy is
committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for all its personnel to enjoy
challenging, fulfilling and rewarding careers."
Historic
attitudes to women's place in society were reinforced at sea by superstitions
about bad luck, problems of space and fears of sexual licence.
Questions
about courage and skill were harder to raise, given heroic archetypes such as
Grace Darling, the lifeboat pioneer, and a boatload of successful pirates from
Anne Bonny to Lady Killigrew and Grace O'Malley, whose crew of 200 men was even
larger than HMS Portland's.
The
mercantile marine also pipped the Royal Navy last year by announcing the
appointment of its first woman captain, Inger Klein Olsen, to the Cunard cruise
liner Queen Victoria.
Her first
job was to sail it into dry dock for a refit but she then set sail with a full
complement of guests.
The
Ministry of Defence said that West would be commenting nearer the time of her
appointment to the frigate.
Meanwhile a
contributor to the women seafarer's forum of the website gCaptain offers her
experience of leading a ship: "It was like having a lot of brothers who
are fun to be around but also can be really annoying at times."
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