Hull Technician 3rd Class Donna Tobias was one of the first women to become a Navy deep sea diver in 1975. She asked her recruiter about becoming a diver when she enlisted in the Navy in 1974 and was told“no way, women can’t get in.” Undeterred, she chose hull technician as her rating because she liked the physical labor and knew it would teach her a useful skill. While she worked as a shipfitter, Tobias undertook the lengthy process of acquiring a dive school waiver that would allow her to circumvent the gender restriction then in place. Tobias became the first woman to graduate from the Navy Deep Sea Diving School. She was not granted sea duty orders due to being a woman, so her first duty was becoming an instructor at the Submarine Escape Training Tank at Submarine Naval Base in New London, Connecticut. Tobias was involved in search and salvage operations in Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, and participated in the sinking of a World War II ship to construct an artificial reef in Chesapeake Bay. She served for eight years.

Last Updated: 29 March 2023