A Royal Navy officer from Bradford dubbed the “Mother of the Navy” has received a rare honour by being made an Honorary Member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.

Serving on HMS Argyll, Lieutenant Jeannine Cooley – the only woman on board the frigate – received the membership during the ship’s stopover in Lagos, Nigeria.

During the visit, a small delegation from the ship took part in a Chatham House Conference on Maritime Security in West Africa, hosted by the Institute.

Lieutenant Cooley, 34, was part of the team and at the end of discussions on piracy, drug-smuggling and people trafficking she was awarded the honorary membership by the Institute’s Director General Professor Bola A Akinterinwa.

“I’m just a normal Bradford girl doing my job as part of Argyll’s crew and working alongside our African partners in the fight against illegal maritime activity,” she said.

“I’m really honoured and privileged to have been awarded such a prestigious membership and never expected it.”

Argyll is one of few ships in the Royal Navy which still has not had the necessary upgrade to staff a full complement of female sailors.

A gathering of Nigerian Naval Officers, who visited the ship, found it surprising that Argyll had only one female onboard and jovially labelled Lt Cooley the “Mother of the Navy”.

Lt Cooley is responsible for directing a team of operators to find, track and, if needs be, destroy ‘contacts’ in the air, on the surface and underwater.

Lt Cooley joined the Navy in 2002 and is no stranger to operations having previously served in HMS Iron Duke and HMS Richmond conducting counter narcotics patrols in the Caribbean and counter piracy operations around the Gulf of Aden.

She lives in Portsmouth with her partner Jennifer, having moved from Bradford after joining the Royal Navy.

The former Tong Upper School pupil chose a career in the navy at an early age having joined the Bradford Sea Cadet Unit TS AURORA aged 12.