British Navy to let women serve on submarines for first time

“A leaked memo,however,revealed that military bosses have dismissed these concerns and are planning to lift the ban,” the Daily Mail reports.

According to the paper,the memo was sent to Navy bosses by the office of the Fleet’s deputy chief of staff.

“The Navy Board is wholeheartedly committed to the principle of giving women the same opportunity as men,” the letter said.

“The Royal Navy must be able to draw on the widest pool of talent available if it is to maintain its competitive operational advantage,” it added.

Women,who make up 3,400 of the Navy’s 36,000 personnel,have served on surface warships since 1990.

But the final hurdle to allowing female submariners has been concerns that the bodies of women,especially those who are pregnant,could be affected by the reactors on subs,which are now all nuclear-powered.

But a study by the Institute of Naval Medicine has now concluded there is no risk.

A Navy source said that the letter clearly shows they are planning to get rid of this ban,maybe as early as next year.

If the Royal Navy allows the move,only mine-clearance diving units and the Royal Marines would be closed to women in the Armed Forces.