Women's Royal Naval Service
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.
Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, and electricians, and a small number of air mechanics during the Second World War. It was formed in 1917 during the First World War, and by the end of the war had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. It was disbanded in 1919.
It was revived in 1939 at the beginning the Second World War, with an expanded list of allowable activities, including flying transport planes. At its peak in 1944 it had 75,000 people. During the war there were 100 deaths. One of the slogans used in recruiting posters was "Join the Wrens -- free a man for the fleet."
It remained in existence after the war and was finally integrated into the regular Royal Navy in 1993. Women sailors are however still known as wrens in naval slang.
Before 1993, all women in the Royal Navy were members of the WRNS except nurses, who joined (and still join) Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service, and medical and dental officers, who were commissioned directly into the Royal Navy, held RN ranks, and wore WRNS uniform with gold RN insignia.
Contents |
[edit] Ranks and uniform
The WRNS had its own ranking system, which it retained until amalgamation into the Royal Navy in 1993.
| 1917–1919 ranks | 1939–1993 ranks | |||
| Officers | Ratings | Commissioned Officers | ||
| WRNS rank | WRNS rank | Equivalent RN rank | WRNS rank | Equivalent RN rank |
| Assistant Principal | Ordinary Wren | Ordinary Seaman | Third Officer | Sub-Lieutenant |
| Deputy Principal | Wren | Able Seaman | Second Officer | Lieutenant |
| Principal | Leading Wren | Leading Seaman | First Officer | Lieutenant-Commander |
| Deputy Divisional Director | Petty Officer Wren | Petty Officer | Chief Officer | Commander |
| Divisional Director | Chief Wren | Chief Petty Officer | Superintendent | Captain |
| Deputy Assistant Director | Commandant/Director[1] | Commodore/Rear-Admiral | ||
| Assistant Director | Chief Commandant/Commandant[2] | Rear-Admiral | ||
| Deputy Director | ||||
| Director | ||||
Ratings' titles were suffixed with their trade (e.g. Leading Wren Cook, Chief Wren Telegraphist).
Wrens wore the same rank insignia as their male equivalents, but in blue instead of gold. The "curls" atop officers' rank stripes were diamond-shaped instead of circular.
Wren uniform consisted of a double-breasted jacket and skirt, with shirt and tie, for all ranks (although similar working dress to the men could also be worn). Junior Ratings wore hats similar to those of their male counterparts (although with a more sloping top). Senior Ratings (Petty Officers and above) and officers wore tricorne hats with a white cover. All insignia, including cap badges and non-substantive (trade) badges, was blue.
[edit] List of Directors WRNS
- Dame Katharine Furse, 1917–1919
- Dame Vera Laughton Mathews, 1939–1946
- Dame Jocelyn Woollcombe, 1946–1950
- Commandant Dame Mary Lloyd, 1950–1954
- Commandant Dame Nancy Robertson, 1954–1958
- Commandant Dame Elizabeth Hoyer-Millar, 1958–1960
- Commandant Dame Jean Davies, 1960–1964
- Commandant Dame Margaret Drummond, 1964–1966
- Commandant Dame Marion Kettlewell, 1966–1970
- Commandant Daphne Blundell, 1970–1973
- Commandant Mary Talbot, 1973–1976
- Commandant Vonla McBride, 1976–1979
- Commandant Elizabeth Craig-McFeely, 1979–1982
- Commandant Patricia Swallow, 1982–1985
- Commandant Marjorie Fletcher, 1985–1988
- Commandant Anthea Larken, 1988–1991
- Commandant Anne Spencer, 1991–1993
[edit] Deaths
Nineteen-year-old Josephine Carr was one of three Wrens from Cork, Ireland who were travelling together on the RMS Leinster from Dublin to Holyhead on 10 October 1918. Carr became the first Wren to die on active service when the ship was torpedoed. Her body was never recovered.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Until 1951, Director was both a position and a rank. In 1951, the rank of Commandant was introduced for the officer holding the position of Director. Director equated to Rear-Admiral until 1946, when it was reduced to Commodore. In common with RN Commodores, after 1946 Director/Commandant was only an appointment and not a true rank and the Directors continued to hold the substantive rank of Superintendent.
- ^ Honorary rank held by a member of the Royal Family. Until 1951, the position was called Commandant, but was renamed in that year due to the introduction of Commandant as the rank for the Director WRNS. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent was Commandant, and later Chief Commandant, from 1940 until her death in 1968. She was succeeded by Princess Anne, who held the appointment from 1974 until 1993, when she became Chief Commandant for Women, Royal Navy; she now holds the honorary rank of Vice-Admiral.
