Female British Sailor Says She Knew Risks of Navy Life

Just hours before she was seized by the Iranians along with the 14 other British naval personnel now being held hostage, Faye Turney spoke of the inherent dangers of military life.

In an interview with a television crew on board the type 22 frigate Cornwall, Leading Seaman Turney, a 26-year-old mother of one, said she was "under no illusions" about the risks. "My parents made sure that I was under no illusions — that I could go to war at any time," she told the British Broadcasting Corp. "That is the choice I made.

"Sometimes, it can be a bit like a cruise being in the navy. But you have to have at the back of your head that you might be called upon, and when you do, you've just got to deal with it and get on with it." Mrs. Turney, the only female among the hostages, describes herself as a woman in a man's world who carries out her duties as well as any of her male colleagues.

She is a sea survival specialist trained to deal with emergency situations.

In another recent interview, she said: "I absolutely love my job because we're all so close-knit. You can't sit back just because you're a girl.

"I love the satisfaction of being able to walk away from a job and know that I've coped and completed the task just as well as a man would have done it."

Mrs. Turney is married to Adam, a petty officer, who works as an instructor at HMS Raleigh, the Navy's main training base at Plymouth where the couple live. They married in 2002 and have a three-year-old daughter, Molly. Mr. Turney was at home yesterday on compassionate leave waiting for news.

His wife set her heart on a career in the Navy from an early age. After training at HMS Raleigh she was transferred to a land-based job in Portsmouth.

She was promoted to leading seaman and trained in sea survival techniques and maintaining survival and safety equipment and rigging.

She was the pilot on one of two boats intercepted at gunpoint by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards last week while on patrol off the coast of Iraq.

Yesterday, her parents spoke of their distress at her capture. In a statement released through the Ministry of Defense, they said: "While we understand the media interest in the ongoing incident involving Faye, this remains a very distressing time for us and our family.

"We are grateful for the support shown to us by all personnel involved and appreciate it, but would request that our privacy is respected."

Mrs. Turney is the youngest of five children and grew up in Shrewsbury.

Neighbors said the family were about to move to bring up their daughter, Molly, in the countryside.

One said: "They are always so happy and dedicated to their work. They have a lovely little girl and want to move out of the city to somewhere with more countryside for Molly to grow up in. Everyone here is desperately worried and wants a happy outcome as soon as possible."