Seafaring Women Through 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.

About the Author

Dr Jo Stanley is an internationally renowned expert on gender and the sea, including women pirates, Wrens, and camp male crew. From a Liverpool seafaring family, since the 1970s she has been producing a wide range of books, and journal articles, exhibitions, and podcasts, as well as doing TV and radio. Her next studies are daring WWII passengers, waterfront sex-suppliers, and stowaway gals.

Praise for Seafaring Women Through History

'impressive research spanning the last 250 years'
– Yachting Monthly

'Jo Stanley has written again a thought-provoking, challenging, critical but popular book on seagoing women. This inclusive, passionate, and well-researched story is a must-have for everyone interested in maritime history, gender, sex and power. You will be amazed after reading this book!'
– Dr Sari Maenpää, Keeper, The Maritime Museum of Finland

'A lively miscellany of female seafaring experiences that challenge entrenched gender patterns, and which will provoke scholarly interest for generations to come.'
– Joan Druett, New Zealand, author of Petticoat Whalers and She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea

'This enthralling book brings to light the lives and experiences of women at sea over several centuries.'
– Dr Anna Davin, historian

'This book stands out for its vivid examples, global sweep, and exceptional range of topics. We meet cross-dressing pirates, but also the 'floatographers' and 'acrobatettes' aboard 20C cruise ships. Jo Stanley asks the hard questions about gender at sea and what emerges is an exuberant tale of challenges, heartbreaks, and triumphs.'
– Professor Isaac Land, Indiana State University

'A must read, packed with important information and wonderful stories of adventurous women in an international context.'
– Professor Diane Kirkby, Melbourne University, Voices From the Ships

'This rich and well-woven maritime tapestry delights the reader and honours the thrilling history of past and present British women seafarers.'
– Dr Merja-Liisa Hinkkanen, Universities of Helsinki, Turku and Tampere

'Jo Stanley has made yet another signal contribution to maritime history with this compulsively readable book, filled with fascinating and sensitively told stories of real women at sea over some 300 epic years, and offering much insight and significant new information as well.'
– Professor Lisa Norling, University of Minnesota, author of New England Women and the Whalefishery, 1720-1870

'When I went to sea, we were two women on board of a crew of 21. This was already unusual. Shipping is still seen as a man's world, but it's not, entirely, as Jo's delightful and illuminating book shows.'
– Rose George, author of Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Brings You 90% of Everything

'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

'This is a breath-taking account of women serving at sea in a variety of capacities over several centuries. More than this, it is a story of bravery and silent resolve. It tells of women who have faced discomfort, discrimination, harassment, violence, and abuse to silently pursue their ambitions and dreams. It is about human strength of character and tremendous, largely unnoticed, courage. It is immensely powerful and uplifting and resonates strongly with the contemporary experiences of women seafarers. Like the best of historical work it adds to our understanding of the present as much as it does of the past.'
– Professor Helen Sampson, Director, Seafarers International Research Centre