To date, I know of several female captains, all commanding very respectable ships, and one the largest ship of its type in the world. Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina, deeply respected by me, is considered the first woman captain in the world, although in fact it is unlikely - it is enough to recall Grace O'Neil (Barky), the most famous filibuster woman from Ireland, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st. Probably, Anna Ivanovna can be safely called the first female captain of the 20th century. Anna Ivanovna once said that her personal opinion is that there is no place for a woman on ships, especially on a bridge. But let's not forget that even with the relatively recent past, the middle of the last century, much in the sea and the world has dramatically changed, so modern women prove to us with considerable success that there is a place for a woman on ships, in any position.
The largest livestock ship in the world is headed by a woman
April 16, 2008 - Siba Ships appointed the captain of her largest livestock ship, concurrently and the largest ship of this type in the world, Stella Deneb, woman - Laura Pinasco.
Laura brought Stella Deneb to Fremantle, Australia, her first voyage and first ship as a captain. She is only 30 years old, she got a job at Siba Ships in 2006 as a first mate.
Laura from Genoa, at sea since 1997. She received her captain's diploma in 2003.
Laura has worked on LNG carriers and livestock carriers, and was an XO before captaincy at Stella Deneb, notably on a record-breaking head voyage last year when Stella Deneb loaded an A$11.5 million shipment in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. , assigned to Indonesia and Malaysia.
20,060 cattle and 2,564 sheep and goats were taken on board. It took 28 railway trains to deliver them to the port. Loading and transportation were carried out under the careful supervision of the veterinary services and met the highest standards.
Men and strangers are not allowed to enter - the only ship in the world completely managed by women
December 23-29, 2007 - container ship Horizon Navigator(gross 28212, built 1972, US flag, owned by HORIZON LINES LLC) 2360 TEU of Horizon Lines were captured by women.
All navigators and the captain are women. Captain Robin Espinoza, first mate Sam Pirtle, 2nd assistant Julie Duchi. All the rest of the total crew of 25 men are men. Women fell onto the bridge of a container ship, according to the company, quite by accident, during a union competition. Espinoza is extremely surprised - for the first time in 10 years she works in a crew with other women, not to mention navigators. The International Organization of Captains, Navigators and Pilots in Honolulu says it is 10% female, down from 30 years ago to just 1%.
The women are amazing, to say the least. Robin Espinoza and Sam Pirtle are schoolmates. They studied together at the Merchant Marine Academy. Sam also has a diploma as a sea captain. Julie Duchi became a sailor later than her captain and chief officer, but sailors-navigators will understand and appreciate her hobby (in our times, alas and alas, this is a hobby, although without knowing a sextant, you will never become a real navigator) - “I'm probably one of the few boatmasters who uses a sextant to locate, just for fun!”
Robin Espinoza has been in the Navy for a quarter of a century. When she first began her maritime career, a woman in the US Navy was a rarity. For the first ten years of work on ships, Robin had to work in crews that consisted entirely of men. Robin, Sam and Julie love their profession very much, but when many weeks separate you from your native shore, it can be sad. Robin Espinoza, 49, says: “I really miss my husband and 18-year-old daughter.” Her age, Sam Pearl, never met someone with whom she could start a family. “I meet men,” she says, who want a woman to look after them all the time. And for me, my career is a part of myself, I can’t even for a moment admit that something could prevent me from going to sea. ”
Julie Duci, who is 46 years old, just loves the sea, and simply cannot imagine that there are other, more worthy or interesting professions in the world.
Details about the glorious command staff of Horizon Navigator, and photos, were sent to me by a children's writer, a former sailor, Vladimir Novikov, for which many thanks to him!
The world's first female captain of a mega liner
May 13-19, 2007 - Royal Caribbean International appointed captain of a cruise ship Monarch of the Seas woman, swedish Karin Star-Janson.
Monarch of the Seas is a liner of the first, so to speak, rank, gross 73937, 14 decks, 2400 passengers, 850 crew, built in 1991. That is, it belongs to the category of the largest liners in the world.
The Swedish woman became the first woman in the world to receive the position of captain on vessels of this type and size.
She has been with the company since 1997, first as a navigator on the Viking Serenade and Nordic Empress, then as an XO on the Vision of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas, then as a backup captain on Brilliance of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas. Her whole life is connected with the sea, higher education, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, bachelor's degree in navigation. She currently holds a diploma allowing her to command ships of any type and size.
First female Belgian captain
And the first female LPG tanker captain...
Tanker LPG Libramont (DWT 29328, length 180 m, beam 29 m, draft 10.4m, built in 2006 Korea OKRO, flag Belgium, owner EXMAR SHIPPING) was accepted by the customer in May 2006 at the OKRO shipyards, a woman took command of the vessel, the first female captain of Belgium and, apparently, the first female captain of a gas carrier tanker.
In 2006, Rogge was 32 years old, two years since she received her captain's diploma. That's all that is known about her.
Sergey Zhurkin, a reader of the site, told me about it, for which many thanks to him.
Norwegian pilot
Pictured is Marianne Ingebrigsten, April 9, 2008, after receiving her pilot's certificate, Norway. At the age of 34, she became the second female pilot in Norway, and this, unfortunately, is all that is known about her.
Russian female captains
Information about Lyudmila Tebryaeva was sent to me by a site reader Sergey Gorchakov, for which I thank him very much. I dug as much as I could and found information about two other women in Russia who are captains.
Lyudmila Tibryaeva - ice captain
Our Russian female captain, Lyudmila Tibryaeva, is, and it seems safe to say, the only female captain in the world with Arctic sailing experience.
In 2007, Lyudmila Tebryaeva celebrated three dates at once - 40 years of work in the shipping company, 20 years as a captain, 60 years since her birth. In 1987, Lyudmila Tibryaeva became a sea captain. She is a member of the International Association of Sea Captains. For outstanding achievements, she was awarded in 1998 the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, second degree. Today, her portrait in a uniform tunic against the backdrop of a ship adorns the Museum of the Arctic. Lyudmila Tibryaeva received the badge "Captain of a long voyage" number 1851. In the 60s, Lyudmila from Kazakhstan came to Murmansk. And on January 24, 1967, 19-year-old Luda went on her first voyage on the icebreaker Kapitan Belousov. In the summer, a part-time student went to Leningrad to take a session, and the icebreaker went to the Arctic. She made her way to the minister to get permission to enter the nautical school. Lyudmila also had a successful family life, which is rare for sailors in general, and even more so for women who continue to swim.
Alevtina Alexandrova - captain in the Sakhalin Shipping Company In 2001 she turned 60 years old. Alevtina Alexandrova came to Sakhalin in 1946 with her parents, and even in her school years she began to write letters to nautical schools, and then to the ministries and personally to N.S. Khrushchev, with a request to be allowed to study at the nautical school. At the age of less than 16, A. Alexandrova became a cadet at the Nevelsk Naval School. A decisive role in her fate was played by the captain of the ship "Alexander Baranov" Viktor Dmitrenko, with whom the navigator girl was practicing. Then Alevtina got a job at the Sakhalin Shipping Company and worked there all her life.
Valentina Reutova - captain of a fishing vessel She is 45 years old, she seems to have become the captain of a fishing vessel in Kamchatka, that's all I know.
Girls rule
He goes to the fleet and youth, and letters to the president or minister are no longer required. Last year, for example, I gave a note about a graduate of Moscow State University. adm. G.I. Nevelskoy. On February 9, 2007, the Maritime University gave a start in life to the future captain Natalya Belokonskaya. She is the first girl in the new century - a graduate of the Faculty of Navigation. Moreover - Natalia is an excellent student! Future captain? Natalya Belokonskaya, a graduate of the Far Eastern Higher Medical School (Moscow State University), is getting a diploma, and Olya Smirnova is working as a helmsman on the river m/v "Vasily Chapaev".
North America's first female captain dies
On March 9, 2009, North America's first certified female merchant marine captain, Molly Carney, known as Molly Cool, died at the age of 93 in Canada. She graduated as a captain in 1939 at the age of 23 and sailed between Alma, New Brunswick and Boston for 5 years. It was then that in the Merchant Shipping Code of Canada, the Canadian Shipping Act was changed at the word "captain" "he" to "he / she". Pictured is Molly Carney in 1939 after receiving her captain's diploma.
Rapoport Berta Yakovlevna was born in the city of Odessa on May 15, 1914. Father Rapoport Yakov Grigorievich is a carpenter. Mother Rapoport Rashel Aronovna is a housewife.
In 1922 she entered the school, which she graduated in 1928. In 1926 she was admitted to the Komsomol. In 1928 she entered the Odessa Maritime College at the navigational department. The practice took place on the sailboat "Tovarishch", a training vessel of the Odessa Maritime College. She graduated from a technical school in 1931 and received a diploma as a sea navigator. Since February 1, 1932, the 4th assistant to the captain on the ship "Batum-Soviet". In 1933, the 3rd assistant captain on the youth-Komsomol ship "Kuban". Since October 1934, the 2nd assistant to the captain on the steamer Katayama. From February 5, 1936, he was the senior assistant to the captain of the steamer Katayama.
In 1936, thanks to the newspapers, the entire Union knew about the first mate Berta Rapoport! Yes that there - and Europe too! When her steamship Katayama landed in London, a crowd gathered to welcome her. Everyone was interested to look at the woman-senior mate. The next day, in one of the English newspapers, an article appeared "The world's first woman sailor." The article described in detail her appearance, clothes, eye color, hair and even manicure. Then already, and then, all the years, the sailors called her "our legendary Berta."
October 17, 1938 was a fateful day for Rapoport. "Katayama" went with a cargo of wheat from Mariupol to Liverpool. At that time, the ships of the Spanish fascists patrolled the Mediterranean Sea. - A warship approached the ship, they signaled from it: “Stop immediately. Otherwise, you will be shot!” - says Arkady Khasin. The captain stopped moving.
By dawn, on the orders of the Francoists, the Soviet ship headed for the Spanish island of Mallorca. With the arrival at the port of Palma, almost the entire crew, together with the captain, was sent to a concentration camp. Berta and five sailors remained on the ship - a boatswain, two sailors, a machinist and a fireman. Leaving, the captain said to Bertha: “My powers are transferred to you. Hold on. Don't give in to provocations." The next morning, at the command of Rapoport, the flag of the USSR was raised on the stern flagpole. The Nazis wanted to disrupt, but Berta said: “While we remain on board, you will not dare to touch our flag. The deck of the steamer is the territory of my Motherland, the USSR!”...
As a result, the rest of the team was sent to a concentration camp. Berta Yakovlevna was taken to the women's prison. At night, the Soviet sailor was summoned for interrogation, where she was accused of supplying weapons to the Spanish Republicans. During interrogation, she lost consciousness from a strong blow. I woke up in a cell. The dull days of prison dragged on. The food was disgusting. A slop bucket was used for washing. They rarely took them for walks, and Berta Yakovlevna was deprived of them altogether - a special regime was applied to her. And she went on a hunger strike.
The head of the prison himself came to her. He was extremely polite and promised that if Bertha stopped the hunger strike, more favorable conditions would be created for her. But she refused.
At night, Berta Yakovlevna was transferred to a concentration camp. For 8 months she lived in a barracks behind barbed wire. And when the long-awaited day of liberation came, almost the entire concentration camp came to say goodbye to her. The Spanish women even gave her a bouquet of wildflowers. For the first time in many months of captivity, she could not hold back her tears ...
In 1935, in Hamburg, the Chinook steamship acquired by him was transferred to the Soviet Union. The very fact of such a transfer was not extraordinary, despite the fact that by that time the National Socialists had been in power in Germany for two years.
But the experienced "sea wolves", of which there were plenty in Hamburg, were struck to the core by the personality of the Russian captain, who arrived to receive the ship.
The captain arrived in Hamburg wearing a gray overcoat, light-coloured shoes, and a coquettish blue silk hat. The captain was 27 years old, but everyone who saw him believed that he was five years younger. Or rather, she, for the captain's name was Anna Shchetinina.
A few days later, all the newspapers of the world wrote about this girl. It was an incredible event - never before in the world has a woman become a sea captain. Her first flight was closely monitored, but Captain Shchetinina confidently led the Chinook along the route Hamburg - Odessa - Singapore - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, dispelling both all doubts about her professional suitability and all superstitions associated with a woman's stay on the ship.
Port of Hamburg, 1930s. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Letter of happiness
She was born on February 26, 1908 at the Okeanskaya station near Vladivostok, so the sea was next to her from the first days of her life.
But she really “fell ill” at the age of 16, after traveling on a steamer at the mouth of the Amur, where her father worked part-time in the fishery.
The girl's intention to become a sailor was taken by her relatives as a youthful whim, but with Anya everything turned out to be serious. So seriously that she wrote a letter to the head of the Vladivostok Naval School with a request to accept her for study.
The letter turned out to be so convincing that the head of the “seafarer” invited Anya to a personal conversation. The conversation consisted in the fact that the experienced sailor explained to the girl that the maritime profession is difficult, not at all feminine, and, despite Ani's enthusiasm, it is better for her to give up her intention.
But Anna was not embarrassed by all his arguments, finally the boss waved his hand - take exams and study if you do.
So in 1925, Anna Shchetinina became a student of the navigational department of the Vladivostok "seafarer".
Order of Merit and Port in Load
It was hard, unbearably hard work, in which no one made allowance for the fact that she was a woman. On the contrary, many were waiting for it to give up, break down. But she only clenched her teeth, along with other "midshipmen", performing the duties of a deck sailor.
In 1929, a 21-year-old graduate of the school was sent to the disposal of the Joint-Stock Kamchatka Society, where for six years she went from a sailor to a first mate.
In 1935, the leadership recognized that 27-year-old Anna Shchetinina is a high-class professional and can be a sea captain. And then there was the same flight on the Chinook, when newspapers around the world wrote about it.
But she came to the fleet not for the sake of momentary glory, not for the sake of proving something to someone. She came to do the hard work that she enjoyed more than anything else.
In 1936, the Chinook under the command of Captain Shchetinina was trapped in the heavy ice of the Sea of Okhotsk. A critical situation that not every male captain can handle successfully. Captain Shchetinina coped - after 11 days, the Chinook escaped from captivity without significant damage.
For exemplary work during voyages in the difficult conditions of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk, Anna Shchetinina was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in the same 1936.
In 1938, on her 30th birthday, she received an unexpected "gift" - the appointment of the head of the Vladivostok fishing port. As a matter of fact, at that time there was no fishing port in Vladivostok - Captain Shchetinina was supposed to create it. It seems that upstairs by that time they realized that a woman captain can be entrusted with the most difficult tasks with a calm soul. Anna did not disappoint - after six months the fishing port began to function in full.
Anna Shchetinina reading a book in her cabin, 1935 Photo: RIA Novosti
Diplomatic embarrassment
Captain Shchetinina continued to improve, in the same 1938 she entered the Leningrad Institute of Water Transport at the navigational faculty. Having the right to attend lectures freely, she completed 4 courses in two and a half years.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a female captain ended up in the Baltic, where, under a hail of German bombs and German submarine attacks, she supplied the army in the Baltic states, and then evacuated the civilian population from Tallinn. In 1941, many Soviet ships and brave sailors perished in the Baltic, but Captain Shchetinina turned out to be too tough for the Nazis.
In the autumn of 1941, she was returned to the Far East. Captain Shchetinina is entrusted with flights to deliver military cargo across the Pacific Ocean from the United States and Canada.
The female captain attracts increased attention across the ocean, and she has to attend official receptions to strengthen international ties. Here, in addition to difficult marine science, one has to master no less difficult diplomatic etiquette.
Many influential people, “useful for our state,” as the diplomats who took care of Anna said, wanted to meet Mrs. Shchetinina.
Anna was introduced to officials, and she was told their names. Once, while talking with one of her new acquaintances in Canada, she innocently asked him to rename himself, because she had forgotten his name.
After the reception, the Soviet diplomat gave Anna a “dressing down” - from the point of view of diplomatic etiquette, this was a gross oversight.
As Anna Ivanovna later recalled, after listening to the remarks, she returned to the ship, locked herself in the cabin and ... burst into tears.
But, pulling herself together, she began to intensively train her memory - for faces, names and surnames. And soon the Navy was talking about the amazing memory of Captain Shchetinina ...
No discounts or concessions
In August 1945, the female captain took part in the war with Japan - her ship, as part of the VKMA-3 convoy, participated in the transfer of the 264th Infantry Division to South Sakhalin, occupied by the Japanese.
In 1947, having returned to the Baltic to complete her studies at the Leningrad Institute of Water Transport, she again participates in an event related to the war. The ship "Dmitry Mendeleev" under her command delivered to Leningrad the statues stolen by the Nazis from Petrodvorets during the occupation.
Until 1949, she worked in the Baltic Shipping Company as the captain of the Dniester, Pskov, Askold, Beloostrov, and Mendeleev ships. As before, no one made discounts to her - when in the fog near the island of Senar "Mendeleev" under her command sat on a reef, Anna Shchetinina was demoted for a year.
In 1949, Captain Shchetinina began to pass on experience to the young - she became a teacher at the Leningrad Higher Marine Engineering School. In 1951, Anna Shchetinina became a senior lecturer, and then the dean of the navigation faculty.
In 1960, Associate Professor Shchetinina returned to her homeland, to Vladivostok, becoming an Associate Professor of the Department of Marine Engineering at the Vladivostok Higher Marine Engineering School.
She worked a lot with young people, wrote books, headed the Primorsky branch of the Geographical Society of the USSR. About herself, Anna Shchetinina said: “I went through the whole difficult path of a sailor from beginning to end. And if I am now the captain of a large ocean ship, then each of my subordinates knows that I did not come from the foam of the sea!
Shchetinin in 1939. Photo: RIA Novosti / Dmitry Debabov
From Brezhnev to Australian captains
Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina earned the respect of sailors all over the world, but not officials of her native country. Surprisingly, the first female sea captain in the world was not awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor for a long time. Natalia Kissa and Valentina Orlikova, who became sea captains after Anna Shchetinina, had already been awarded, and her candidacy was rejected under various pretexts.
One day, an irritated official said: “Why are you exposing your captain? I have a woman in line - the director of the institute and a woman - a well-known cotton grower! You would also introduce the world's first carriage driver ... "
Justice triumphed in 1978, when, in a roundabout way, the award case of Anna Shchetinina got to head of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev. The aging and sick general secretary, after all, has not yet gone so far out of his mind as an official who compared the world's first female captain with a carriage driver, and approved the assignment of the title of Hero of Socialist Labor to Anna Shchetinina.
The famous Australian club of captains, the Rotary Club, which has existed for more than a century, had a firm rule - never invite women to its membership. This holy commandment was changed for the sake of a Russian female captain, who was given the floor at the forum of captains.
Captain Shchetinina was destined for a long life. When Anna Ivanovna turned 90, she was given a special congratulation on behalf of all the captains of Europe and America.
Honor of the city, honor of the captain ...
When girls who wanted to connect life with the sea came to her and asked for her advice, the answer sounded unexpected for many - the world's first female captain believed that her example was rather an exception, not a role model, and the maritime profession was far away not the most feminine...
But those who really cannot live without the sea need to overcome all difficulties, not feel sorry for themselves, as the young Anya Shchetinina once did.
Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina passed away on September 25, 1999 and was buried at the Marine Cemetery in Vladivostok.
In October 2006, the cape of the coast of the Amur Bay of the Sea of Japan was named after Anna Shchetinina.
In 2010, Vladivostok was awarded the honorary title "City of Military Glory". In honor of this event, a memorial stele was erected in the city two years later. The bas-relief of the stela depicts Anna Shchetinina and the Jean Zhores steamship, on which during the war years she made voyages to the USA and Canada, transporting goods so necessary to the front ...
"Sea Wolves" in Hamburg in 1935. were in extreme amazement when a woman captain arrived from Soviet Russia to take over the new steamer "Chinook", the former "Hohenfels". The world press was buzzing.
She was then 27 years old, but according to the engineer Lomnitsky, our representative in Hamburg, she looked at least 5 years younger.
Anna Ivanovna was born in 1908. at Okeanskaya station. The sea lapped not far from her house and beckoned her from childhood, but in order to fulfill her dream and achieve something in the harsh male world of sailors, she had to become not just the best, an order of magnitude better. And she became the best.
After graduating from the navigational department of the maritime technical school, she is sent to where she begins her career as a simple sailor, at 24 she is a navigator, at 27 she is a captain, in just 6 years of work.
She commanded the "Chinook" until 1938. In the harsh stormy waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. She managed to become famous again when in 1936 the ship was trapped in ice captivity by heavy ice.
Only thanks to the resourcefulness of the captain, who did not leave the captain's bridge for the entire time of the ice captivity, and the well-coordinated work of the team, they were able to get out of it without damaging the ship. This was done at the cost of a titanic effort, while they almost ran out of food and water.
The first steamship of captain Anna Shchetininay "Chinook"
And in 1938, she was instructed to create the Vladivostok fishing port almost from scratch. This is 30 years old. She also coped with this task brilliantly, in just six months. At the same time, she enters the Institute of Water Transport in Leningrad, successfully completes 4 courses in 2.5 years, and then the war began.
She was sent to the Baltic Fleet, where, under fierce shelling and continuous bombing, she took out the population of Tallinn, transported food and weapons for the army, cruising the Gulf of Finland.
Then again the Far Eastern Shipping Company and a new task - trips across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Canada and the USA. During the war, ships under her command crossed the ocean 17 times, she also had a chance to participate in the rescue of the steamer "Valery Chkalov".
Many glorious deeds on account of Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina, she commanded large ocean liners and taught first in Leningrad at the Higher Engineering Naval School, then she was the dean of the faculty of navigators at the Far East Higher Marine Engineering School. adm. Nevelskoy in Vladivostok.
Now it is the Maritime State University. adm. Nevelskoy.
She was the organizer of the "club of captains" in Vladivostok and the chairman of the jury at tourist song festivals, which, with her active participation, grew into the famous in the Far East festival of author's song "Primorskie strings", she wrote books about the sea and textbooks for cadets.
Her merits were highly appreciated by captains abroad, for her sake the well-known Australian club of captains "Rotary Club" changed the age-old tradition and not only invited a woman to their club, but also gave her the floor at the forum of captains.
And during the celebration of the 90th anniversary of Anna Ivanovna, she was presented with a congratulation on behalf of the captains of Europe and America.
Anna Shetinina - Hero of Socialist Labor, Honorary Resident of Vladivostok, Honorary Worker of the Navy, Member of the Writers' Union of Russia, Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of the USSR, Member of the Committee of Soviet Women, Honorary Member of the Association of Far Eastern Captains in London, etc., the irrepressible energy of this woman, her heroism was highly appreciated in her homeland - 2 orders of Lenin, orders of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, the Red Banner, the Red Banner of Labor and many medals.
Anna Ivanovna passed away at the age of 91 and was buried at the sea cemetery in Vladivostok. The city has not forgotten this amazing woman.
At the Maritime University, where she taught, a museum of her memory was created, a cape on the Shkota Peninsula was named after her, not far from the house where she lived, a square named after her was laid out, etc.
Then other female captains came, but she was the first.
She spoke about herself
I went through the whole difficult path of a sailor from beginning to end. And if I am now the captain of a large ocean ship, then each of my subordinates knows that I did not come from the foam of the sea!
Based on materials from Tonina Olga Igorevna:-http://samlib.ru/t/tonina_o_i/ussr_navy_women_002.shtml
Molly Carney, North America's first certified female merchant marine captain
Are they or not - women in the Navy? On the one hand, it’s 2016, when women are absolutely everywhere, no matter how traditionally masculine this or that occupation is considered. On the other hand, the navy is extremely conservative in this matter, and the adage “a woman on a ship is in trouble” still instills superstitious fear in the hearts of sailors. “The maritime profession is not a woman’s business,” the retrogrades sneer contemptuously. "You yourself are women!" the feminists scream. So that you can figure out for yourself who is right, we offer you a selection of interesting facts.
– According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), there are 1.25 million seafarers in the world. Women among them are only 1-2%, but this number is growing. In the cruise sector, their number increases to 17-18%. In general, most of the women in the Navy work on passenger ships - ferries and liners. The cargo fleet accounts for only 6% of sailors.
- In 1562, the King of Denmark Frederick II issued a decree, which, in particular, contained the following wording: “Women and pigs are forbidden access to His Majesty's ships; if they are found on the ship, they should immediately be thrown overboard. His Gallant Majesty was not alone in his opinion - 150 years later, Emperor Peter I, who created the Russian navy from scratch, adhered to the same rules.
– Anna Shchetinina is considered to be the first female sea captain in the world. Starting as a simple sailor, she became a captain at the age of 27. It was 1935 outside. Anna became famous all over the world with her first voyage, guiding the cargo steamer "Chavycha" from Hamburg through Odessa and Singapore to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. For many years she drove ships of the Baltic Shipping Company, rose to the rank of head of the port and dean of the navigation faculty. Known for the saying "There is no place for a woman on a bridge!" - in her case, rather paradoxical.
- Not all countries are equally willing to send women to work in the navy. 51.2% of seafarers are from Western Europe and the USA, 23.6% from Eastern Europe, 9.8% from Latin America and Africa, 13.7% from East Asia, and only 1.7% from South Asia and the Middle East. This is due to the fact that in Eastern countries the attitude towards women is more conservative than in Western countries. The Spanish-speaking countries are not far from the east. “Barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen” is a well-known proverb in Latin America.
– In July 2009, a Turkish bulk carrierHorizon-1, owned by Horizon Maritime Trading, was captured by Somali pirates. The crew of the bulk carrier included a female navigator, 24-year-old Aysan Akbey. The pirates showed gallantry worthy of filibusters of the 17th century - they allowed her to call her relatives in Turkey when and how much she wished. The girl refused, saying that she did not need privileges, and she would call home at the same time when other crew members were allowed to.
- The world's first female ice drift captain is Russian Lyudmila Tibryaeva. She became a sea captain in 1987 when she was forty years old. One of the first to sail from Europe to Japan by the North Sea route was the Tiksi icebreaking transport vessel. At forty-one, she got married and almost abandoned the sea at the request of her husband, but on reflection, she continued her career. It is recognized that the marriage was very happy. “The boss must be able to spare the pride of his subordinates,” Lyudmila is sure. “Women are good captains because they know how to spare the vanity of men.”
– In December 2007 aboard an American container shipHorizon Navigator, owned by Horizon Lines, personnel changes were made. As a result, a unique situation has developed: the entire senior command staff turned out to be female. Captain Roberta Espinoza, Chief Officer Samantha Pirtle and Second Officer Julie Duchi took charge of the vessel. In their submission was 23 crew members - all men. All three women took positions by chance, following the results of a trade union competition. “For the first time I worked in a crew where there are women besides me,” admitted Roberta Espinoza. By the way, at the time of taking over as captainHorizon NavigatorRoberta had an 18-year-old daughter, whose upbringing she successfully combined with a maritime career.
– In 2008, a woman became the captain of the largest livestock ship in the world. The ship is calledStella Deneband is owned by the Australian company Siba Ships. When Laura Pinasco took the captain's bridgeStella DenebShe was only thirty years old. However, she received her captain's diploma five years earlier. “Delivering the first batch of livestock was a real challenge,” recalls Laura. “There were more than twenty thousand heads of cattle in the party, plus two thousand sheep. Loading was like hell. We took them to Malaysia and Indonesia. No one in the world has as many passengers on board as I do.”
- The most democratic attitude towards women sailors is in the USA, but even there, until 1974, only men were allowed to enter nautical educational institutions. Now, among the cadets of American naval schools and academies, there are 10-12% of girls. “Many girls just don’t know that they, too, can go to the sailor,” says American and ex-Captain Sherry Hickman. “Otherwise, this percentage would be much higher.”
– In 2014, the incredible happened: in the United States, a woman became a real admiral, with four stars on each shoulder, and even vice commander of naval operations for the entire country's navy. We are talking about African-American Michelle Howard - now she is officially considered a woman who has risen to the highest rank in the Navy. Michelle has a turbulent military background. Have you seen the movie Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks? So, it was Michelle who once rescued the real Phillips from the hands of Somali pirates.
- The first female naval commander in history - Queen Artemisia, ruler of Helicarnassus. At the battle of Salamis in 480 BC. e. she fought on the side of the Persians and led a whole flotilla. It is on the account of the brave Artemisia that the famous exclamation of the Persian king Xerxes, who followed the course of the battle, is attributed: “Today women were men, and men were women!” However, Artemisia brought misfortune to the fleet of Xerxes - it was defeated. Which turned out to be a great happiness for Europe, where there are now so many sailors: if it were not for the victory of the Greeks at Salamis, it would not have been on the map for a long time.
– In 2007, Royal Caribbean appointed Sweden's Karin Star-Jansson as cruise ship captainMonarch of the Seas, one of the largest liners in the world. Prior to this, women had not occupied the bridge of ships of this class and size, and even more so did not take responsibility for the lives of 2,400 passengers and 850 crew members. What is there: Swede Paula Wallenberg, compatriot Karin, commands a submarine in her homeland!
To the unprejudiced eye, it is clear that there are more women in the Navy than not. Better or worse, they cope with their duties than men, it is too early to judge. Those mentioned above are probably doing better, otherwise they would not have been allowed to take the helm, or the bridge, or even scrub the deck at all. Pioneers always have to be head and shoulders above others. When there will be more women in the Navy, when will we seeusual, not the legendary female captain when it comes toaverage a female admiral, then it will be possible to compare who is doing better. However, the need for such a comparison by that time will disappear.
