Phil Beacall
"It must be accepted as a princ"
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Status: Offline | First woman to command a warship took post yesterday
Up she rises:
The first female commander of a major Royal Navy warship took up her post yesterday.
Commander Sarah West, 40, will join the Type 23 frigate HMS Portland in Rosyth, Fife.
"Taking command of HMS Portland is definitely the highlight of my 16 years in the Navy," said Cdr West, from Middlesex.
"It is a challenge that I am fully trained for and ready to undertake.
"I am very proud to be taking command of a Type 23 frigate, which is an extremely flexible warship, and I’m looking forward to taking HMS Portland on operations with a professional and focused team."
The ship will return to its Devonport base later this year to prepare for its next operation.
Women have served at sea since 1990. They will be able to serve on submarines from 2013.
In another milestone for the Royal Navy, Commander Sue Moore, 43, recently became the first woman to command a squadron of minor war vessels, the First Patrol Boat Squadron (1PBS), based in Portsmouth.
Cmdr Moore, from Bath, and Cmdr West have a combined 36 years of experience in the Navy.
Their achievements include deployments ranging from the Gulf to the Balkans to counter-narcotics patrols in the Caribbean.
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