That's how you park a warship! Extraordinary social media row breaks out after sexist remark is aimed at 'parking skills' of Navy commanding officer's wife
A Royal Navy captain has hit back at sexists who made a jibe on Twitter over his wife's abilities to 'park' a 60m minesweeper warship.
Rich Harris, who is the commanding officer on board HMS Raleigh, posted a video of his wife Claire deftly berthing the ship she commands in a tweet that has since gone viral.
Captain Harris said he posted the video in response to a sexist remark about women drivers, however he did not reveal exactly what the remark was.
He wrote online: “A while ago, in a response to a tweet about my wife driving her warship, somebody made a comment about women drivers.
"This is my wife berthing her ship between a container ship and destroyer.
A while ago, in a response to a tweet about my wife driving her warship, somebody made a comment about women drivers. This is my wife berthing her ship between a container ship and a destroyer. No tankers, no fuss, not easy (video speeded up for ease). pic.twitter.com/yylVCLT9af
— Rich Harris (@pusserinwales) October 17, 2018
“No tankers, no fuss, not easy.”
The sped up footage shows the commanding officer neatly slotting HMS Ledbury between the two ships.
It has since had over 4,800 retweets and 20,000 likes on Twitter.
It has prompted many people to congratulate the commanding officer on her "excellent" parking skills. Other women flooded Twitter to share their experiences about being the butt of jokes about “women drivers.”
One woman wrote: “I’m a lady who can drive a cattle rig better than most guys, so I hear all the jokes, surprised exclamations and insults too.
"I can only imagine how hard it is to berth a warship.”
I’ve been sailing since before I could walk and that is a damn smooth parking job.
— 👑Erika Bloodaxe 👑 (@RebelGirl1323) October 17, 2018
Laini Taylor said: “My dad was a US Navy Captain and did that too. I’m thrilled to know there are women driving ships these days.”
Does she get a lower insurance premium than blokes who drive the same kind of ship? Probably should.
— UrsulaWJ (@UrsulaWJ) October 18, 2018
If ever there was a #ThisGirlCan moment! Amazing and a huge inspiration to young girls everywhere. I am totally showing my daughter (17) this, thank you and BZ.
— Nick Hewitt (@NickHewitt4) October 18, 2018
While Julie Collins wrote: “it’s fantastic that you publicly admire your talented wife. I can’t help feeling sad though that it’s still seen as amazing that a woman might be able to be excellent in a demanding job that requires high level practical and leadership skills.”
In a previous life I was the Jetty Management WO1 at HMNB Clyde. Having berthed many Hunt Class vessels I can confirm that the manoeuvre shown here is no mean feat. #Respect
— Richard Wall (@writinblues) October 18, 2018
Claire is commanding officer of HMS Ledbury, a Hunt-class mine countermeasure vessel. It was commissioned on 11 June 1981.
Mr Harris is a commanding officer of HMS Raleigh. It's the largest Royal Navy training establishment in the South West.
He resides in Portsmouth with his wife Claire where they share hobbies of watching rugby and playing golf, according to the Royal Navy website.
This year, the Royal Navy was named in The Times Top 50 employers for women as a leader on workplace gender equality.