Among her many journalistic exploits, Clare Hollingworth (Obituary, 11 January) should be credited with a notable feminist victory over the Ministry of Defence. I was among a group of correspondents invited for a trip on HMS Dreadnought, Britain’s first nuclear submarine, soon after it was commissioned in 1963. An invitation to Clare, who was also newly launched as a defence correspondent, ran into trouble when Dreadnought crew insisted that women were never allowed aboard submarines because they brought bad luck.
As I recall, the issue was discussed at a senior admiralty level before Clare was allowed to join us. Her only concession was to wear trousers when she climbed aboard.
Alexander MacLeod
London
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