Royal Indian Navy (
RIN) was the naval force of
British India and the
Dominion of India. Along with the
Presidency armies, later the
Indian Army, and from 1932 the
Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
From its origins in 1612 as the
East India Company's Marine, the Navy underwent various changes, including changes to its name. Over time it was named the
Bombay Marine (1686), the
Bombay Marine Corps (1829), the
Indian Navy (1830),
Her Majesty's Indian Navy (1858), the
Bombay and Bengal Marine (1863), the
Indian Defence Force (1871),
Her Majesty's Indian Marine (1877) and the
Royal Indian Marine (1892). It was finally named as the
Royal Indian Navy in 1934. However, it remained a relatively small force until the
Second World War, when it was greatly expanded.
The
East India Company was established in 1599, and it began to create a fleet of fighting ships in 1612, soon after Captain Thomas Best defeated the
Portuguese at the
Battle of Swally. This led the Company to build a port and to establish a small navy based at
Suvali, In
Surat,
Gujarat, to protect its trade routes. The Company named the force the 'Honourable East India Company's Marine', and the first fighting ships arrived on 5 September 1612.
[1]
This force protected
merchant shipping off the
Gulf of Cambay and the rivers
Tapti and
Narmada. The ships also helped map the coastlines of India, Persia and Arabia.
[2]During the 17th century, the small naval fleet consisted of a few English warships and a large number of locally built gunboats of two types,
ghurabs and
gallivats, crewed by local fishermen. The larger
ghurabs were heavy, shallow-draft gunboats of 300 tons (
bm) each, and carried six 9 to 12-pounder guns; the smaller
gallivats were about 70 tons (bm) each and carried six 2 to 4-pounder guns.
[3] In 1635, the East India Company established a shipyard at
Surat, where they built four pinnaces and a few larger vessels to supplement their fleet.
[4]
In 1686, with most of the English commerce moving to
Bombay, the force was renamed the "Bombay Marine".
[1] This force fought the
Marathas and the Sidis and took part in the
Anglo-Burmese Wars. While it recruited Indian sailors extensively, it had no Indian commissioned officers.
[2]
Commodore William James was appointed to command the Marine in 1751. On 2 April 1755, commanding the Bombay Marine's ship
Protector, he attacked the
Maratha fortress of
Tulaji Angre at
Severndroog between
Bombay and
Goa. James had instructions only to blockade the stronghold, but he was able to get close enough to bombard and destroy it.
[2]
In February 1756, the Marine supported the capture of Gheriah (
Vijaydurg Fort) by
Robert Clive and Admiral Watson, and was active in skirmishes against the French, helping to consolidate the British position in India.
[2] In 1809, a fleet of 12 ships of the Marine bombarded the city of
Ras al-Khaimah, a pirate stronghold, in an unsuccessful attempt to quell Arab piracy. A subsequent mission in 1819 with 11 vessels proved successful in blockading the city for four days, after which the tribal chieftain surrendered. In 1829, the "Bombay Marine" received the additional name of "Corps", and also received its first steam-powered vessel in that year, the SS
Hugh Lindsay of 411 tons. Steaming from Bombay on 20 March 1830,
Hugh Lindsay reached Suez after 21 days under steam, at an average speed of six knots
In 1830, the Bombay Marine was renamed the "Indian Navy". The British capture of
Aden increased its commitments, leading to the creation of the "Indus Flotilla". The Navy then took part in the
First Opium War of 1840.
[2] By 1845, the Indian Navy had completed the conversion from sail to steam.
[6]
In 1848, an Indian Navy contingent of 100 ratings and seven officers took part in the
Siege of Multan during the
Anglo-Sikh War.
[7]In 1852, at the outset of the
Second Anglo-Burmese War, ships of Her Majesty's Indian Navy joined a
Royal Navy force under the command of
Admiral Charles Austen to assist
General Godwin in the capture of
Martaban and
Rangoon.
[8]
Her Majesty's Indian Navy resumed the name "Bombay Marine" from 1863 to 1877, when it was renamed "Her Majesty's Indian Marine" (HMIM). The Marine then had two divisions; an Eastern Division at
Calcutta and a Western Division at Bombay.
In recognition of its fighting services, HMIM was given the title of "Royal Indian Marine" in 1892. By this time it consisted of over fifty vessels.
[9] In 1905, the service was described as having "Government vessels engaged in troop-ship, surveying, police or revenue duties in the East Indies".
[10]
When mines were detected off the coasts of Bombay and Aden, during the
First World War, the Royal Indian Marine went into action with a fleet of
minesweepers, patrol vessels and troop carriers. Besides patrolling, the Marine ferried troops and carried war stores from India to
Mesopotamia (now
Iraq),
Egypt and
East Africa.
The first Indian to be granted a commission was Engineer Sub-Lieutenant D. N. Mukherji, who joined the Royal Indian Marine as an officer on 6 January 1923
1934 the Royal Indian Marine changed its name, with the enactment of the Indian Navy (Discipline) Act of 1934. The Royal Indian Navy was formally inaugurated on 2 October 1934, at Bombay.
[12] Its ships carried the prefix
HMIS, for His Majesty's Indian Ship.
[13]
At the start of the
Second World War, the Royal Indian Navy was small, with only eight warships. The onset of the war led to an expansion in vessels and personnel described by one writer as "phenomenal". During the War, the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service was established, for the first time giving women a role in the navy, although they did not serve on board its ships.
[12]
The
sloops HMIS Sutlej and
HMIS Jumna played a role in
Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of
Sicily.
[14]
Following India's independence in 1947 and the ensuing partition, the Royal Indian Navy was divided between the newly independent
Union of India and
Dominion of Pakistan, and the Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee divided the ships and men of the Royal Indian Navy between India and Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.
The committee allocated to the Royal Pakistan Navy" (RPN) three of the seven active
sloops,
HMIS Godaveri,
HMIS Hindustan and
HMIS Narbada, four of the ten serviceable
minesweepers, two
frigates, two
naval trawlers, four harbour launches and a number of
harbour defence motor launches. 358 personnel, and 180 officers, most of whom were Muslims or Europeans, volunteered to transfer to the RPN. India retained the remainder of the RIN's assets and personnel, and many British officers opted to continue serving in the RIN