The Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS) was the naval section of the

Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) The Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) (WAC(I)) was created in March 1942, out of the Women's Auxiliary Service (Burma). By the end of the Second World War, it had recruited 11,500 women. Personnel Moina Imam, chief petty officer from Bihar, was amon ...

(WAC(I)). It was established during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a branch of the

Royal Indian Navy The 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 Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. Fr ...

Origin

The induction of women in the

(RIN) began with the wives of RIN officers in service in the port city of Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

), before extending to other Indian ports. They were first employed in 1939, at the onset of the

, with the purpose of assisting in decoding secret messages. The

(WAC(I)) was created in 1942. The WAC(I) were first employed in the RIN in June 1943 at Bombay, following a call for a more organised women's service of the RIN earlier that year. In September 1943 Lieutenant Colonel

Margaret Isobel Cooper Margaret Isobel Cooper (12 October 1915 – 7 December 2015), later known as Peggy Skipwith, was a British military officer who was Chief Officer and deputy director of the Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS) during the Second Worl ...

became regional commander responsible for recruiting women in Indian naval offices. The appointment of six cypher officers and 239 auxillaries proved a success and thereafter all Indian ports began to employ WAC(I) members. 78 officers and 713 auxillaries were employed by November 1943. By early 1944 the WAC(I) Naval Wing, Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS), was created and

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

John Henry Godfrey Admiral John Henry Godfrey CB (10 July 1888 – 29 August 1970) was an officer of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy, specialising in navigation. Ian Fleming is said to have based James Bond's boss, " M", on Godfrey. Life and career Godfr ...

, then

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

commanding the RIN, appointed Cooper as its Chief Officer and Deputy Director.

Recruitment

WRINS had its own distinct uniform. It corresponded with the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

(WRNS). Signals auxillaries were trained at HMIS ''Talwar'' and along with officers, were housed in hostels at Bombay,

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, and

Vishakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museum, ...

. In 1945, recruitment reached target and direct employment of officers mostly ceased. According to Godfrey, most of those recruited to WRINS were Indian so that by the end of 1945 "43% of the officers and 77% of the Wrins were Indian, and among the junior officers 80% were Indian".

Visit to the UK

Cooper and Second Officer

Kalyani Sen use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

visited the UK between April and July 1945, when they visited A.T.S. establishments and learnt the WRNS ways of training and administartion.

Gallery

File:Commonwealth Forces in India IND4410.jpg, WRINS, 1945.

Moina Imam Moina Lillian Imam, later Moina Furlong (9 April 1924 - 7 March 1988), was chief petty officer from Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th large ...

second from left. File:Commonwealth Forces in India IND4427.jpg, WRINS in sari File:The Women Auxiliary Corps (India) - 01.jpg, WRINS: Two types of uniform File:The Women Auxiliary Corps (India) - 02.jpg, WRINS at allied victory celebrations in Delhi, India. 4-9 March 1946

References

External links