Seafaring Women Through History

‘Jo Stanley has fearlessly explored the depths of maritime history, discovering treasures along the way. Read this book and find out why.’ – Marcus Rediker, author of The Slave Ship: A Human History

Traditionally, a woman’s place was never on stormy seas. But actually thousands of dancers, purserettes, doctors, stewardesses, captains and conductresses have taken to the waves on everything from floating palaces to battered windjammers.

Their daring story is barely known, even by today’s seawomen. From before the 1750s, women fancying an oceangoing life had either to disguise themselves as cabin ‘boys’ or acquire a co-operative husband with a ship attached. Early pioneers faced superstition and discrimination in the briny ‘monasteries’.

Today women captain cruise ships as big as towns and work at the highest level in the global maritime industry; indeed, the first woman vice-admiral in the UK was appointed as recently as 2025. This comprehensive exploration views the Merchant Navy alongside the Royal Navy and showcases the unremitting resolve of generations of seagoing women.

Using a wide variety of interviews and sources, and fully updated to reflect the lives of and opportunities for women today, Seafaring Women Through History vividly reveals the incredible journey across time taken by these brave and lively women salts.