LONDON -- British defense secretary Philip Hammond announced Thursday an end to the ban on women serving on Royal Navy submarines.
The decision follows an 18-month study of the legal, operational, health and financial issues of lifting the ban. Research by the Institute of Naval Medicine concluded there was no medical reason for keeping the ban in place.
Hammond said female officers will begin serving on board Vanguard class nuclear-powered submarines toward the end of 2013. In 2015, women will be able to serve on the new Astute class submarines. Women have served on board Royal Navy ships since 1990.
"Operational effectiveness has to remain the watchword for everything we do, and we will continue to learn from our experience," Hammond said in a keynote speech to the Royal United Services Institute in London.
He added, "We will change and adapt with the evidence and the circumstances. We will value our history and tradition -- but we will not be slaves to them."
The US Navy will begin allowing its first female submariners on board by the end of the year.
