text: More than 25 women have been airlifted from Royal Navy ships because of pregnancy. One ship - HMS Ocean – even had five pregnant sailors removed in emergency 'medevacs' during the last nine years, a Freedom of Information request revealed. And at least one woman was airlifted from HMS Illustrious, which was nicknamed 'HMS Lusty' by the crew before it was decommissioned last year. More than 25 women have been airlifted from Royal Navy ships because of pregnancy, including at least one woman from HMS Illustrious (above), which was nicknamed 'HMS Lusty' by the crew before it was decommissioned last year . Eighteen other ships - including HMS Dragon, HMS Enterprise and HMS Richmond - had emergency evacuations, data obtained by The Sun showed. A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed there was a strict 'no touching' rule in place at sea, which suggests the women conceived before boarding the ships or during leave. The data comes nine months after commander Sarah West, the first woman to captain a Royal Navy warship, was flown back to the UK following claims she had a sexual relationship with a member of her crew. An unnamed captain was appointed in her place and a military investigation was launched into the 42-year-old's conduct. A Ministry of Defence spokesman confirmed there was a strict 'no touching' rule in place at sea, which suggests the women conceived before boarding the ships or during leave (stock image above) Navy sources said Ms West left HMS Portland for ‘personal reasons’. The Ministry of Defence would not confirm what these reasons were or what action she would face. Women have been serving on Royal Navy ships since 1990 and in 2014 around 9 per cent of personnel were female. Last May three women made history by becoming the first female submariners to serve in the Royal Navy. Nearly 100 female British soldiers were sent home from Afghanistan after finding out they were pregnant. Ninety-nine servicewomen on operations were flown back to the UK between January 2006 and December 2013, a Freedom of Information request revealed. Sixteen women were removed from Afghanistan in 2013 due to pregnancy while 18 were sent home in 2011, the data showed. A further 102 women were evacuated from Iraq. Strict military rules ban mothers-to-be from serving in war zones. The women were flown back on flights usually reserved for injured troops and the true figure could be higher if others travelled via routine flights. Troops are reminded by senior officers to check they are not pregnant before they fly to the front line - but are not made to do pregnancy tests. Most of the babies would have been conceived before the mother left the UK but a small number of women may have become pregnant on tour. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said at the time: 'The small numbers of personnel who discover that they are pregnant on operations are returned at the first convenient opportunity.'
target: HMS Ocean had five women removed in nine years, according to new data .
  At least one sailor airlifted from HMS Illustrious, nicknamed 'HMS Lusty'
  MoD spokesman confirmed there was a strict 'no touching' rule in place .