Reflections on a unique maritime career

Captain Barbara Campbell is a legend in the sail training sector and a role model for women seeking to rise through the Merchant Navy ranks to master. Her experience and wisdom will soon be captured for posterity as part of a new oral history project run by Rewriting Women into Maritime History.

However, we also have a special interest in her story at Nautilus, because Capt Campbell was one of our first female members. Amy Field caught up with her for a conversation about trade union and maritime matters

Barbara Campbell's seafaring journey began in 1975, when she joined P&O Steam Navigation Company as a cadet. At the time, very few companies were willing to take on women. 'I knew that some were, but not many,' she recalls. 'P&O took on three of us at the same time. We were the first.' The trio stuck together through two four-month voyages, forging friendships that remain close to this day.

She went on to work onboard cargo ships and then with P&O Cruises, where she rose to third officer and then second officer, completing both her Mate's and Master's certificates. Later she joined P&O Scottish Ferries, running from Aberdeen to Orkney and Shetland. The work was steady but tough, especially in the long, dark North Sea winters. 'Every winter I said, "I'm never doing another", but I always did.'

'The most amazing job'

It was during those ferry years, with a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off schedule, that she first volunteered as an STCW-qualified crew member with the Sail Training Association. The experience changed the course of her career. She soon joined the Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST) as an employed mate on its inclusive tall ships Lord Nelson and Tenacious.

These square-rigged vessels were specially designed to enable disabled and able-bodied crew to sail side by side, with up to 40% of the 'voyage crew' (people paying for a working holiday) having a disability.

'When I first became mate on Lord Nelson, I thought, this is the most amazing job,' Capt Campbell says.

'I loved working with all the different crews, the volunteers, the rigging, the planning of watches. I never thought I'd be captain, but when I became one, I really got into it. I loved the role.'

Her time with the JST included one of her proudest achievements: a two-year circumnavigation of the globe.

'That was full of challenges, and the most amazing memories,' she says. 'Sailing around the world on a square-rigger is something I'll never forget.'

'Just the way it was'

Being a woman in a male-dominated industry inevitably brought its own tests. 'When there's a woman on the bridge and somebody comes up, even if there's a male cadet or a junior officer, they'll presume that person is in charge,' Capt Campbell explains. 'It's not really an obstacle, it's just the way it was.'

Over time, she saw more women enter the industry, and on some voyages she even commanded with an all-female deck team: mate, second mate and bosun. 'That was amazing.'

'Somebody at your back'

Throughout her career, Capt Campbell has remained a firm believer in the collective strength of union membership. She joined Nautilus's predecessor union in the 1970s and has kept up her membership ever since – even now that she has retired. 'I always felt it was important to have somebody at your back, some support if things went wrong,' she says.

She once served as a Nautilus lay representative, supporting fellow members on her own vessel, and has attended several Union events over the years.

In 2015 she was presented with the Nautilus Victoria Drummond Award. Named after the first woman to become a chief engineer in the British Merchant Navy, the Award is the Union's way of honouring an outstanding female member,

Other industry recognition includes being awarded the UK's Merchant Navy Medal in 2007 and becoming a Younger Brother of Trinity House in 2005 in appreciation of her knowledge and expertise in square rig sailing and sail training.

 'I never thought of myself as a pioneer'

Capt Campbell says she never set out to be a pioneer, though many others see her as one. Her advice to young women considering a career at sea is simple: 'Get a proper cadetship in the Merchant Navy. I see people trying to start out with the sail training or yachting route, and that's fine for some, but in the Merchant Navy, your training and sea time are all paid for. It's much easier than trying to do it on your own.'

As the industry works to improve diversity and inclusion, Capt Campbell believes there is still more to be done to support women who want to combine a career at sea with family life. But she has also seen many examples of women who have returned to sea after having children and thrived. 'It depends on the person, really, and what they want out of it,' she observes – and it's thanks to female forerunners such as herself that today's maritime women now have that choice.