Navy is sailing into new waters

FOR hundreds of years, the only "she" at sea in the Royal Navy was usually the vessel itself.

But that all changed with the news this week of the appointment of the first female commander of an operational warship, confirming women’s worth in the senior service

Lieutenant Charlotte Atkinson is the new commander of HMS Brecon, leading a ship’s company of 44 officers and ratings on the 750 tonne vessel.

Her appointment comes 14 years after the Royal Navy first allowed women to go to sea on equal terms with their male counterparts.

Lt Atkinson, 33, who likes to be known as "Charlie", has just completed her first operation as commander of the Brecon, patrolling the coastline of Northern Ireland as part of the UK defence force’s anti- terrorism measures.

Speaking on the Brecon at its home base at HMS Clyde at Faslane yesterday, she said that she was delighted to become the first woman to achieve such a distinction in a frontline role. "To be in charge of a warship is the most challenging and exciting job I think there is to officers in the navy," she said.

"It is a great honour and a real privilege to be selected to command. I believe I am the first of many women who will do this."

With women making up just 9 per cent of the 41,300 staff of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines, there is no doubt that Lt Atkinson has beaten the odds to get to the top.

However, she said yesterday that she hoped her appointment would serve as an illustration that women in today’s navy enjoy career opportunities equal to those of their male counterparts.

She said: "I’d like to say to other women that if they want a career in the navy they should go for it. The opportunities are there for you.

"When the women officers were training, it was exactly the same as for the men. I have never felt that I have been deprived of opportunities I wanted to take in any way."

However, Lt Atkinson is aware that, as the first woman to command an operational warship, she is subject to a scrutiny never faced by male officers.

"There is an element of knowing you are the first, and I want to prove women are totally capable of doing these jobs. And when further women get these posts, there will not be the press attention we have now."

Lt Atkinson joined the navy in 1994, after graduating from the University of Wales at Swansea with a BSc in geography and topographic science. She was assisted in her studies by the Royal Navy Bursary Scheme.

After attending the Britannia Royal Naval College, she spent two and half years on the coastline of the UK, before being posted to the Falkland Islands on South Atlantic Patrol duties.

Qualified in hydrographic and meteorological studies, Lt Atkinson has worked as a both a meteorological and a navigating officer, conducting oceanographic survey operations in the Mediterranean. She has recently come back from two years in New Zealand, where she was the Royal Navy’s hydrographic exchange officer. She took command of the Brecon shortly after her return.

Although seven other women have taken charge of command vessels attached to university Royal Navy units, which are used to train student recruits with crews of around five, Lt Atkinson is the first woman to take command of a fully operational, frontline vessel.

As a child growing up in Dorset, Lt Atkinson dreamed of a career in the Royal Navy. Her ambition grew out of day trips to air shows at Yeovilton air and naval base, in Somerset, with her father, who was a former navy air traffic controller.

She said: "I saw all these people running around in uniforms doing very exciting jobs, and I knew I wanted to be part of that.

"The job has certainly lived up to my expectations."

She is now in charge of 34 officers and ratings, along with a complement of ten Royal Marines.

The Hunt Class vessel makes three-week forays into the waters off Northern Ireland, conducting stop and search operations on merchant vessels.

She said: "I’m the commanding officer of the ship so I am in charge of the ship whilst we are away at sea, all the decision-making, keeping reports and overseeing the safety of all personnel on board."

Despite being the only woman on board, Lt Atkinson says she does not miss female conversation and has no problems with cross-gender banter. "I have an excellent crew, and they do a wonderful job.

"The men respect you for the job you do - whether you are a woman or a man does not come in to it."