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As a woman serving in today’s Royal Navy and as a history graduate, it is a pleasure to commend this book depicting our rich female maritime history. This remarkable anthology is the work of children from two Plymouths – our Devonian Ocean City here in the UK and the city which inhabits the site of the first Pilgrim settlement in Massachusetts, USA. The strong and mutually beneficial ties that Plymouth (UK) maintains with our American cousins is nicely reflected in this project, as they are in the work to bring the Mayflower 400 celebrations together on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean in 2020.

I have been particularly struck by how this centenary has provided the chance to look at this important chapter in Plymouth’s past from different perspectives – in this case from the experience of the women involved, brought to life through the writings and drawings of the next generation.

My own seafaring career began in 1993 at the gates of Britannia Royal Naval College. I followed in the footsteps of members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the WRNS, who recently celebrated their own Centenary having been established in 1918. Today’s fully integrated Royal Navy is a diverse and inclusive Service, where every form of employment is open to anyone regardless of their gender, social background, ethnicity, religious views or sexual orientation. Over my career women have proved themselves, as Regulars and Reserves, at sea in the surface fleet and onboard our Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships, in the air in the Fleet Air Arm and under the sea in the Submarine Service. They are now training to become Royal Marine Commandos. I am proud to stand among so many pioneering women and the highly professional men with which we serve to protect our nation’s interests.

I hope this book will contribute further to our understanding of the contribution women have made and continue to make to our maritime heritage.

Commodore Ellie Ablett MBE MA Royal Navy.

Commodore Ablett read Modern History at Somerville College, Oxford and joined the Royal Navy in 1993 among the first wave of women joining the Service after its amalgamation with the Women’s Royal Naval Service and is one of the most senior women in the Navy.