Cornerstone No. 186, page 19
but as a Fifth Engineer, signing on the British-India Steam Navigation Company steam turbine liner on 14th April 1927. Then followed twelve years away from the‘ briny’ which saw her in administration – and conflict, with the Board of Trade, whose custodians repeatedly failed her application for the post of Chief Engineer because( as they admitted later) she was a woman. In 1939 war was inevitable so VD applied to return to sea as a Second Engineer. Despite her good service on liners of two of the most prestigious companies in the Merchant Navy, and glowing references from numerous superior officers, all her many applications were declined and she signed on aboard the aforementioned.
A life on the ocean waves was to follow and foreign lands beckoned, in the shape( and ship) of, registered in Cyprus and in need of a second engineer. After clashing with the 3rd engineer, Drummond left the ship – a somewhat fortuitous move as was sunk by enemy action one month later. Victoria’ s vessels also numbered the and( thankfully) the during active service in WWII plus, in peacetime, the and for the so you will perceive that her maritime experience stretched far and wide.
In a career spanning 40 years Drummond made 49 ocean-going voyages. As you have read, she persevered with her career through hardship and some discrimination, doing the hard physical work of the engine room and managing the engine room crew – a position demanding maritime knowledge, selfconfidence and a perception of the male psyche. She also had to endure prejudice and discrimination from some of her immediate‘ superiors’. However, she won acceptance and support from most of her fellow-officers and nearuniversal support and loyalty from crewmen.
Victoria Drummond died on Christmas Day 1978, and now lies at Megginch Castle beside her parents and sisters. Her biography,
, was written by her niece, Cherry Drummond, 16th Baroness Strange. She is commemorated by a Victoria Drummond Room at the Institute of Marine Engineers headquarters in London and if you want personally to check on Miss Drummond visit the University of Abertay in Dundee where she trained, studying maths and engineering( at the time it was the Dundee Institute of Technology) and where there is a plaque commemorating her achievements.