tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2889546505060895080.post4924518366672562096..comments2023-09-18T02:25:53.458-07:00Comments on Gender and the sea: First women on US submarinesDr Jo Stanley, FRHistS.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16615448959846276053noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2889546505060895080.post-30154219176181056252010-05-30T04:03:50.032-07:002010-05-30T04:03:50.032-07:00That's fascinating, DB. Thanks. I think the Na...That's fascinating, DB. Thanks. I think the Navy's point about pregnancy is fine IF the pregnancy is advanced or known to be problematic, and when it's a very senstive mission far from home. But all human beings have the potential to fail suddenly in health. <br /><br />The point is, if you're very pregnant, you stay home. <br /><br />This stress of pregnancy posits it as A. automatically a health problem. B. Something that will happen a lot, to all women.Dr Jo Stanley, FRHistS.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16615448959846276053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2889546505060895080.post-19662851793040053782010-05-30T03:47:06.135-07:002010-05-30T03:47:06.135-07:00I'm a cadet in the UK's CCF (Combined Cade...I'm a cadet in the UK's CCF (Combined Cadet Force), and in the last year have visited two RN submarines: HMS Victorious, which carries part of our Trident system, and HMS Torbay, which is nuclear-powered but carries 'only' convenional weapons.<br /><br />When on board Torbay, we were told that the T-class were in fact built to accomodate female personnel, since one of the blocks of sleeping accomodation is effectively en-suite. The problem, they said, was the risk of pregnancy on board: it would require evacuating the mother off the boat, which would place the boat at risk and remove the advantage of being covert to begin with. On a submarine you have to be understandably over-cautious about your ability to accomodate anyone on board: although we were only staying for a few hours, the first thing we were told was where we would sleep if they couldn't make it back to shore. The women in the visiting group would have had officers' (ie, more private) bunks.<br /><br />It's interesting that the US are ahead of us in having women submariners, despite their heel-dragging over DADT.DBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12647915645461660549noreply@blogger.com