the passengers accepted having a woman engineer. A few of the women passengers passed demeaning remarks at her. When Anchises usual Second Engineer was taken ill his position was covered by an extra Second, Mr Howard, who Drummond says "persecuted" her. Drummond was friends with the usual Second Engineer, Malcolm Quayle, who supported her career, was her escort for social events ashore and whom she called her "protector". The pair had prickly tempers, for which Drummond nicknamed Quayle "hedgehog" and he nicknamed her "Kate", after Katherina in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Quayle was married and had two children, and Drummond was emphatic that there was never any impropriety between them. However, when in 1924 she wanted to take her exams to become a Second Engineer, she unwisely wrote to her manager at Blue Funnel, Mr Freeman, suggesting that Quayle be promoted to Chief Engineer and she could be his Second. This gave Freeman the damaging impression that Quayle and Drummond were having an affair. Drummond left Anchises and Blue Funnel in April 1924. Mulbera Drummond began study for her Second Engineer's qualification. In October 1926 she obtained her Second Engineer's Certificate becoming Britain's first certificated woman marine engineer. However, after qualifying, she was able to find work only as a Fifth Engineer, signing on the British-India Steam Navigation Company steam turbine liner on 14 April 1927. She served on the ship until 4 December 1928, completing one voyage to East Africa and four to India and Ceylon. Aboard Mulbera Drummond was again accepted by nearly all the ship's company. The exception was the Second Engineer, Mr Lamb, who on Drummond's first day aboard told her that he didn't want her there. Drummond said Lamb often shouted at her, occasionally swore at her and thus wore her down. Drummond privately nicknamed Lamb the Tiger Cat or just "The Tiger". On occasion she also encountered passengers who initially did not believe a woman could be a marine engineer. Drummond won them round by competently doing her job. In port in Aden on 11 May 1928 Drummond received an air mail letter telling her that aboard her former ship Anchises on 13 April her friend Malcolm Quayle had died. The letter gave no details of what had happened and she found out none until some time thereafter. 12 years ashore From about 1919 Drummond's sister Jean ran the Queen Victoria