The British East India Company was established in 1612. In 1612 Captain Thomas Best encountered and defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Swally. This encounter and piracy forced the British East India Company to build a port and establish a small navy based at a small village Suvali, near Surat, Gujarat to protect commerce. The Honourable East India Company's Marine was thus formed by the arrival of fighting ships led by Captain Best during the 10th voyage of the Company on 5 September 1612.

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.

edit Expansion

A Punjabi seaman of the Royal Indian Navy holding twin Lewis Guns, in the Mediterranean (1943), during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Sailors of the Indian Navy breaching the Delhi gates during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.Although Bombay (now Mumbai) had been ceded to the British by the Portuguese in 1662, they physically took possession of the island on 8 February 1665, only to pass it on to the East India Company on 27 September 1668. As a consequence, the East India Company's Marine also became responsible for the protection of trade off Bombay.

In 1686 with British trade now concentrated off Bombay (Mumbai) the marine was renamed the Bombay Marine. The marine was involved in fighting against the Marathas and the Sidis and participated in the Burma War of 1824.

In 1830, the Bombay Marine was renamed Her Majesty's Indian Navy. The capture of Aden increased its commitments and fought in the China War of 1840.

Her Majesty's Indian Navy was renamed back to the Bombay Marine from 1863 to 1877, then becoming Her Majesty's Indian Marine. The Marine had two divisions; the Eastern Division of Calcutta and the Western Division at Bombay.

In recognition of the services rendered during various campaigns, Her Majesty's Indian Marine was renamed as the Royal Indian Marine in 1892, by which time it consisted of over 50 vessels. 1

Engineer Sub Lieutenant D.N. Mukerji became the first Indian to be commissioned into the Royal Indian Marines (RIM), 6 January 1928. The first few officers commissioned in the Royal Indian Navy were recipients of the "King's Commission", and those commissioned thus considered themselves a cut above later officers.

The Indian sloop HMIS Sutlej played a key role in Operation Husky.In 1934 the Royal Indian Marine was reorganised into the Royal Indian Navy (RIN). At the start of the Second World War it was very small and had eight warships, though this increased during the war. In the war, the Royal Indian Navy sloops ‘Sutlej’ and ‘Jumna’ played a key role in Operation Husky – the invasion of Sicily.2

Bombay Marine1613-1830

Indian Navy1830-1863

Royal Indian Marine/Navy 1877-1948