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Navy yet to find woman to join nuclear submarine commander training program

22 June 2024 , 22:26
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Despite a ban on females serving on subs being lifted in 2011, not a single woman has been enrolled on the course
Despite a ban on females serving on subs being lifted in 2011, not a single woman has been enrolled on the course

THE Navy has yet to find a woman to join its gruelling submarine commander training programme.

The course is known as The Perisher and is said to be one of the most rigorous and challenging in the world.

HMS Vanguard enters her base on the River Clyde, Scotland eiqrtikiqurprw
HMS Vanguard enters her base on the River Clyde, ScotlandCredit: PA
A total of 1,201 men have passed the gruelling course since it began in 1917
A total of 1,201 men have passed the gruelling course since it began in 1917Credit: PA

But despite a ban on females serving on subs being lifted in 2011, not a single woman has been enrolled on the course.

A total of 1,201 men have passed the course since it began in 1917,  the Ministry of Defence  says.

But it admits that it has yet to find a single female to  take the five-month course, let alone to get through it.

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There are about 200 women in the Royal Navy with just a handful serving on submarines, which carry the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

The commander course has a high failure rate with officers not given a second chance at rejoining the programme.

Much of The Perisher takes place in classrooms and simulators ashore.

Trainees must learn  how to deal with any situation they could face.

 But they are rigorously monitored and, if they are not  good enough, they do not proceed to the  sea phase.

In that final part, trainees take turns commanding a nuclear submarine.

Stephen Moyes

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