Women to serve on HM Submarines
Discussion
Defence Secretary said:
Women are to be allowed to serve on submarines for the first time in the Royal Navy's history, the Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond announced today.
The decision comes following an 18-month review conducted by the Royal Navy looking at the legal, operational, health, social, technical and financial issues of allowing women to serve on submarines.
Women had previously been excluded from submariner roles due to concerns about higher levels of carbon dioxide in a submarine atmosphere being a risk to female health. But recent research by the Institute of Naval Medicine showed that these risks were unfounded and that there were no medical reasons for excluding women from service on submarines.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:
"I am pleased that women will now have the same opportunity to serve on board our submarines, carrying out vital tasks maintaining Britain's defences around the clock, across the world.
"The Royal Navy has always been at the forefront of innovation, and this decision represents another step in its distinguished tradition of recognising the contribution of its people and making the very best use of the talent from which it can recruit."
The first female submariners are expected to take up their posts towards the end of 2013. Initially this will be a small number of female officers - volunteers who will begin training next year for service on the Vanguard Class of Trident submarines. The first female ratings will be recruited and trained from 2014.
Women will also be able to serve on Astute Class submarines from 2016 when the necessary modifications to on-board accommodation have been made.
The Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, said:
"Our primary objective in the Royal Navy is maintaining our operational effectiveness both now and in the future.
"This carefully considered decision will allow the Submarine Service to draw on the widest range of talent and skills of our people - those in service and those yet to join. It will therefore enable us to further consolidate our operational success, and it will give our women the same opportunities as men to enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding career in the Submarine Service."
Currently, more than nine per cent of Royal Navy personnel are female, approximately 3,420. Women have been serving on board Royal Navy ships since 1990.
Good or bad?The decision comes following an 18-month review conducted by the Royal Navy looking at the legal, operational, health, social, technical and financial issues of allowing women to serve on submarines.
Women had previously been excluded from submariner roles due to concerns about higher levels of carbon dioxide in a submarine atmosphere being a risk to female health. But recent research by the Institute of Naval Medicine showed that these risks were unfounded and that there were no medical reasons for excluding women from service on submarines.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said:
"I am pleased that women will now have the same opportunity to serve on board our submarines, carrying out vital tasks maintaining Britain's defences around the clock, across the world.
"The Royal Navy has always been at the forefront of innovation, and this decision represents another step in its distinguished tradition of recognising the contribution of its people and making the very best use of the talent from which it can recruit."
The first female submariners are expected to take up their posts towards the end of 2013. Initially this will be a small number of female officers - volunteers who will begin training next year for service on the Vanguard Class of Trident submarines. The first female ratings will be recruited and trained from 2014.
Women will also be able to serve on Astute Class submarines from 2016 when the necessary modifications to on-board accommodation have been made.
The Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, said:
"Our primary objective in the Royal Navy is maintaining our operational effectiveness both now and in the future.
"This carefully considered decision will allow the Submarine Service to draw on the widest range of talent and skills of our people - those in service and those yet to join. It will therefore enable us to further consolidate our operational success, and it will give our women the same opportunities as men to enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding career in the Submarine Service."
Currently, more than nine per cent of Royal Navy personnel are female, approximately 3,420. Women have been serving on board Royal Navy ships since 1990.
12 weeks underwater with 150 smelly men is bad enough, can't imagine what women smell like after days at a time without showering (and no deodorant after a shower anyway)
I do wonder what changes need to be made to the accommodation? I know women are a different shape but typically in the domestic house they seem to be able to cope with the same fixtures and fittings. Although they do use 1,000,000,000 sheets of bog roll an hour.... 
Increased toiletry storage requirement?
Increased toiletry storage requirement?I presume they will have some requirement about being on the pill to prevent the need for ..um.. feminine hygiene products – which I presume could get tricky in a cramped submarine.
Although – that may be nonsense – there's plenty of icky stuff produced by chaps that needs to be dealt with.
I would guess there may be some need to create separate bathrooms – or at least install a switchable panel to show if it's empty, or occupied by male or female so they don't walk in on each other.
Although – that may be nonsense – there's plenty of icky stuff produced by chaps that needs to be dealt with.
I would guess there may be some need to create separate bathrooms – or at least install a switchable panel to show if it's empty, or occupied by male or female so they don't walk in on each other.
Munter said:
I do wonder what changes need to be made to the accommodation? I know women are a different shape but typically in the domestic house they seem to be able to cope with the same fixtures and fittings. Although they do use 1,000,000,000 sheets of bog roll an hour.... Increased toiletry storage requirement?
Don't know about them 'iccle Astute class, but on the V boats there is a 12-man bunkspace called the Senior Rates Upper Bunk Space which has it's own shower and trap (bog). Guess they would use this for the wrens and kick the old farts who used to sleep there into the other bunkspaces. Good luck getting rid of the smell of piss and cabbage though! Increased toiletry storage requirement?
Munter said:
I do wonder what changes need to be made to the accommodation? I know women are a different shape but typically in the domestic house they seem to be able to cope with the same fixtures and fittings. Although they do use 1,000,000,000 sheets of bog roll an hour.... Increased toiletry storage requirement?
The average split-tail needs ten acres of toweling after a shower, where they going to store that? Increased toiletry storage requirement?Snowboy said:
I presume they will have some requirement about being on the pill to prevent the need for ..um.. feminine hygiene products – which I presume could get tricky in a cramped submarine.
The pill won't remove that need. It would have been possible but there were worries it would f
k up their bodies too much.
+Tension 
+One+Trident+Missile = 
When we designing Astute we asked whether this was a possibility when defining the Target Audience Description and were told there would be no chance of women serving.They have to do something though as the lads I worked with at the time - current S, T, and V boat back afties - all were of the view that morale was poor and that numbers were getting critical, and this was 5 or 6 years ago. Perhaps permitting women will help with the resource shortage.
Good help any women who do get their dolphins though, submarines make marines look like choir boys when it comes to drinking and sexual depravity when ashore.
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