Women's Royal Naval Service
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The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
's
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. First formed in 1917 for the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, remaining active until integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993. WRNS included cooks,
clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...
s, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors,
electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...
s, air mechanics, ground transport vehicle drivers and motorcycle dispatch riders.


History


First World War

The WRNS was formed in 1917 during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. On 10 October 1918, nineteen-year-old Josephine Carr from Cork became the first Wren to die on active service, when her ship, the RMS ''Leinster'' was
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
ed. By the end of the war the service had 5,500 members, 500 of them officers. In addition, 2,867 Wrens, 46 officers and 2,821 other ranks who had previously supported the
Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...
chose to be transferred to the RAF
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
. The WRNS was disbanded in 1919.


Second World War

At the beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Vera Laughton Mathews was appointed as the director of the re-formed WRNS in 1939 with Ethel (Angela) Goodenough as her deputy. The WRNS had an expanded list of allowable activities, including flying transport planes. At its peak in 1944 it had 75,000 active servicewomen. During the war 102 WRNS members were
killed in action Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
and 22
wounded in action Wounded in action (WIA) describes combatants who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during wartime, but have not been killed. Typically, it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing ...
.Stephen Roskill: "''Royal Navy - Britische Seekriegsgeschichte 1939-1945''", page 403 One of the
slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...
s used in recruitment posters was "Join the Wrens and free a man for the Fleet". Wrens were prominent as support staff at the
Government Code and Cypher School The Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) was a British signals intelligence agency set up in 1919. During the First World War, the British Army and Royal Navy had separate signals intelligence agencies, MI1b and NID25 (initially known as R ...
at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
; they were the direct operators of the
bombe The bombe () was an Electromechanics, electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma machine, Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The United States Navy, US Navy and United Sta ...
s and Colossus used to break Axis codes and cyphers.


Post-war era

The WRNS remained in existence after the end of the war although Mathews retired in 1947 and Goodenough had died the year before. In the 1970s it became obvious that equal pay for women and the need to remove sexual discrimination meant that the WRNS and the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
would become one organisation. The key change was that women would become subject to the
Naval Discipline Act 1957 The Naval Discipline Act 1957 ( 5 & 6 Eliz. 2. c. 53) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom governing discipline in the Royal Navy. It governed courts-martial and criminal penalties for crimes committed by officers and ratings of ...
. Vonla McBride, who had experience in
human resource management Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize e ...
, became the Director of the WRNS in 1976, and members of the WRNS were subject to the same discipline as men by the next year. In October 1990, during the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, HMS ''Brilliant'' carried the first women officially to serve on an operational warship. That same year, Chief Officer Pippa Duncan became the first WRNS officer to command a Royal Navy shore establishment. The WRNS was finally integrated into the Royal Navy in 1993, when women were allowed to serve on board navy vessels as full members of the crew. Female sailors are still informally known by the nicknames "wrens" or "Jennies" ("Jenny Wrens") in naval slang. Before 1993, all women in the Royal Navy were members of the WRNS except
nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
s, 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. A series of exhibits on the history of the WRNS are part of the Western Approaches Museum in Liverpool.


Ranks and insignia

The WRNS had its own ranking system, which it retained until amalgamation into the Royal Navy in 1993.


Officers


Enlisted

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.


Uniforms

From 1939, Wren uniform, designed by leading British fashion designer Edward Molyneux, 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. In tropical areas these had a white cover. All insignia, including
cap badge A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as ...
s and non-substantive (trade) badges, were blue.


List of directors

* 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, 1961–1964 * Commandant Dame Margaret Drummond, 1964–1967 * Commandant Dame Marion Kettlewell, 1967–1970 * 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


See also

*
Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...
* Eswyn Lyster * National Association of Training Corps for Girls * Operation Outward * Women in the World Wars * Women's Royal Air Force (World War One) *
Women's Auxiliary Air Force The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), whose members were referred to as WAAFs (), was the female auxiliary of the British Royal Air Force during the World War II, Second World War. Established in 1939, WAAF numbers exceeded 181,000 at its peak ...
* Women's Royal Air Force *
Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992 except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chap ...
* Military ranks of women's services in WWII


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * * *


Memoirs

* * * * Patricia Davies (cryptographer) co-wrote ''Codebreaking Sisters.'' Patricia and Jean Owtram (2020) London: Mirror Books. ISBN 9781913406059


External links


Search and download the WW1 records of those who served in the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) from The National Archives.



Women in the Royal Navy today
Archived Page
Association of Wrens
at ''World War II unit histories & officers'' {{Authority control WRENs Naval history of World War II All-female military units and formations British women in World War II Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 1993