Indian Navy

In 1830 the Bombay Marine was renamed the Indian Navy, based at Bombay. The Indian Navy, a combatant force, co-operated with the Royal Navy in policing Asian waters and also carried out regular marine surveys. In 1863 it was disbanded and replaced by two non-combatant marine services based in Bombay and Bengal respectively. In 1877 it was decided to combine the Bombay and Bengal Marines into a new combatant service entitled HM Indian Marine, with Western (Bombay) and Eastern (Calcutta) Divisions - HM Indian Marine was renamed the Royal Indian Marine in 1892 and the Royal Indian Navy in 1934.

FIBIS resources

• Officers of the Bombay Marine - 1802
• Officers of the Bombay Marine - 1830
• Officers of the Indian Navy 1858-1863
• India Navy Pension Fund & Family Details, from the British Library records :Indian Navy Fund: Family Register, compiled c 1855 with additions IOR/L/AG/23/18/2 and Indian Navy Fund: Family Register, compiled Jun 1864 with additions IOR/L/AG/23/18/3.

These records are also available, with images, on the findmypast website.

India Office records at the British Library

FIBIS Chairman Peter Bailey wrote the following about officers in the Second World War, but his advice is generally applicable:

"Generally speaking the Personal Files of those who served as officers in the RIN during the Second World War, are to be found in the India Office Records at the British Library under Catalogue Number L/MIL/16/10 et sequ. However, since there is some chance that the persons concerned may still be alive, you may have to show proof that you are the person concerned or that they are no longer with us and that you are directly related to them. Some records of service for Seamen as well as officers may be available in L/MIL/16/1-9 which cover the period c1840-1947 and an index is available on the open shelves.

Records of leave and duty pay from 1886-1950 are to be found in L/AG/20/13 and leave accounts and records of the payment of gratuities for officers released in the UK from 1945-47 may be found in L/AG/20/13/37-45. Finally, records of service pensions paid to retired officers in the UK from 1886-1968 are in L/AG/21/21 or L/AG/21/11"

Military Department Records

• Royal Indian Marine and Royal Indian Navy IOR/L/MIL/16 c1840 - c1947.
• Departmental Papers IOR/L/MIL/7
  • Naval cadetships IOR/L/MIL/7/1345-1348 1881-1904
  • Royal Indian Marine: confidential reports on officers and engineers IOR/L/MIL/7/2208-2215 1889-1919
  • Indian Marine: appointment of Assistant Engineers IOR/L/MIL/7/4105-4136 1879-1916
  • Director of Royal Indian Marine: appointment of etc IOR/L/MIL/7/11211-11235 1876-1943
  • Royal Indian Marine and Royal Indian Navy: appointment of officers IOR/L/MIL/7/15381-15502 1878-1942
• Military Department Library IOR/L/MIL/17/9 1870-1948. Includes publications on the Bombay/Indian Marine/Navy such as Navy Lists; Orders; Circulars; Notifications; Instructions; Regulations; Troop and Transport Service and Administrative miscellanea.

Indian Navy 1838-1859 are available, with images, on the findmypast website.

Marine Department Records

• Marine Miscellaneous Records IOR/L/MAR/C 1600-1879. These records include “personnel records of the Company's maritime service (at all levels of employment, but including particularly the appointment and services of commanders and mates of East Indiamen), the Bombay Marine, the Indian Navy, and the Bengal Pilot Service”.

Bombay Marine and Pilot Service Appointments 1822-1832 are available, with images, on the findmypast website.

Second World War

• Hans Houterman & Jeroen Koppes’ World War II unit histories and officers includes
  • Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Officers 1939-1945
  • Royal Indian Naval Reserve (RINR) Officers 1939-1945
  • Royal Indian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RINVR) Officers 1939-1945
  • Burma Naval Volunteer Reserve (BRNVR) Officers 1939-1945

Medal Rolls

Free downloads of the Naval Medal Rolls are available from the National Archives website, or the same information is available on the pay website Ancestry. See the page Medal Rolls for details.

Marine Survey of India

The Marine Survey Department was established as a separate Department in 1874. Previously this work was carried out by naval officers.

Related articles

• Royal Navy
• Bengal Pilot Service
• Bombay Marine
• Ships of the Bombay Marine and Indian Navy

External Links

• Indian Navy Bharat Rakshak including
  • Indian Naval History
• Indian Navy: Naval History including
  • Chapter 1: A Peep into our Maritime Past from Blueprint To Bluewater: The Indian Navy 1951 – 65 by Rear Admiral Satyindra Singh AVSM, (Retd.)
• Details of the 3 volume China Medal Roll 1856-60 by K.J. Asplin Savannah Publications London 2004 from The Asplin Military History Resources. Includes Volume 1: Royal Navy including Indian Marine, which is described in this link. Available to buy through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop. It appears that this volume should be available at the British Library (legal deposit requirement) but it does not appear in the British Library catalogue. Also see 2nd China War
• Naval-History.net includes various information relating to Indian Navy during WW1 and subsequent years including Royal Indian Navy Ship Histories, Convoy Escort Movements, Casualty Lists 1939-1947
• "Military meals and mutinies" Blog by Vikram Doctor, December 12, 2012 The Economic Times. Mentions the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny in 1946.
• Slideshow: A peek into India's enduring maritime history Photographs by K.K. Mustafah. The Southern Naval Command’s Maritime Museum, located at Fort Kochi, hosts a variety of exhibits tracing the origin and evolution of the Indian Navy. The Hindu May 21, 2013
• Great War Forum

Historical Books Online

• History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863) Volume 1 by Charles Rathbone Low 1877. Covers the period 1613-1830. Volume 2. Covers the period 1831-1863
• ‪The Shannon's Brigade in India‬: ‪being some account of Sir William Peel's Naval Brigade in the Indian Campaign of 1857-1858‬ by Edmund Hope Verney, Lieut. R.N. 1862 ‪Google Books
• General Report on the Operations of the Marine Survey of India from the commencement in 1874, to the end of the Official Year 1874-75 by Commander A Dundas Taylor (late I N) 1876 Archive.org
• The Royal Indian Navy 1939-1945 by Instructor Lieutenant D.J.E. Collins, B.A.L.T. Indian Navy. 1964. Part of the series Official History of the Indian Armed Forces In the Second World War by the Combined Inter-Services Historical Section (India & Pakistan). From "HyperWar: World War II on the World Wide Web"
• General Report on the Operations of the Marine Survey of India from the commencement in 1874, to the end of the Official Year 1874-75 by Commander A Dundas Taylor (late I N) 1876 Archive.org