Kishore121: New New Entry - done

2025-12-31T00:12:22Z

New New Entry - done

New page

{{Short description|Military unit in British India (1944–47)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name =Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service
| native_name =
| image =Chief Officer Margaret L Cooper, Deputy Director of the Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS), with Second Officer Kalyani Sen, WRINS at Rosyth during their two month study visit to Britain.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =Second Officer [[Kalyani Sen]] (left) and Chief Officer [[Margaret Isobel Cooper]] (right) at [[Rosyth]] June 1945
| dates = 
| disbanded =
| country = [[British India]]
| allegiance ={{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British India]] (1944–1947)
| branch =[[Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)]]<br>{{navy|British India}}<br>{{navy|United Kingdom}}
| type =
| role = 
| size =
| command_structure =
| garrison =
| garrison_label =
| nickname = WRINS
| patron =
| motto =
| colors = 
| colors_label = 
| march =
| mascot =
| anniversaries =
| equipment =
| equipment_label =
| battles =[[Second World War]]
| battles_label =
| decorations =
| battle_honours =
| battle_honours_label =
| flying_hours =
| website =

| current_commander =
| commander1 =
| commander1_label =
| commander2 =
| commander2_label =
| commander3 =
| commander3_label =
| commander4 =
| commander4_label =
| commander5 =
| commander5_label =
| commander6 =
| commander6_label =
| commander7 =
| commander7_label =
| commander8 =
| commander8_label =
| commander9 =
| commander9_label =
| notable_commanders =

| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_label =
| identification_symbol_2 =
| identification_symbol_2_label =
| identification_symbol_3 =
| identification_symbol_3_label =
| identification_symbol_4 =
| identification_symbol_4_label =
| identification_symbol_5 =
| identification_symbol_5_label =
| identification_symbol_6 =
| identification_symbol_6_label =

| aircraft_attack =
| aircraft_bomber =
| aircraft_electronic =
| aircraft_fighter =
| aircraft_helicopter =
| aircraft_helicopter_attack =
| aircraft_helicopter_cargo =
| aircraft_helicopter_multirole =
| aircraft_helicopter_observation =
| aircraft_helicopter_trainer =
| aircraft_helicopter_utility =
| aircraft_interceptor =
| aircraft_patrol =
| aircraft_recon =
| aircraft_trainer =
| aircraft_transport =
| aircraft_tanker =
| aircraft_general =
}}
The '''Women’s Royal Indian Naval Service''' (WRINS) was the naval section of the [[Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)]] (WAC(I)). It was established during the [[Second World War]] as a branch of the [[Royal Indian Navy]].

==Origin==
The induction of women in the [[Royal Indian Navy]] (RIN) began with the wives of RIN officers in service in the port city of Bombay (now [[Mumbai]]), before extending to other Indian ports.<ref name=Mohanan2020>{{Cite book |last=Mohanan |first=Kalesh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nPqzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT94 |title=The Royal Indian Navy: Trajectories, Transformations and the Transfer of Power |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-55495-5 |location=Abingdon, Oxford |pages=94–96 |language=en}}</ref> They were first employed in 1939, at the onset of the [[Second World War]], with the purpose of assisting in decoding secret messages.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> The [[Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)]] (WAC(I)) was created in 1942.<ref name=Harfield2005>{{cite journal |last1=Harfield |first1=Alan |title=The Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) |journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research |date=2005 |volume=83 |issue=335 |pages=243–254 |jstor=44231211 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44231211 |issn=0037-9700|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Singh1992>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Satyindra |title=Blueprint to Bluewater, the Indian Navy, 1951–65 |date=1992 |publisher=Lancer Publishers |isbn=978-81-7062-148-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PLeQ8sM06kC&pg=PA30|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> In September 1943 Lieutenant Colonel [[Margaret Isobel Cooper]] became regional commander responsible for recruiting women in Indian naval offices.<ref name=Vitali2020>{{cite journal |last1=Vitali |first1=Valentina |title=The Women's Royal Indian Naval Service: picturing India's new woman |journal=Women's History Review |date=9 November 2020 |volume=29 |issue=7 |pages=1114–1148 |doi=10.1080/09612025.2019.1674468 |s2cid=210364785 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612025.2019.1674468 |issn=0961-2025|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The appointment of six cypher officers and 239 auxiliaries proved a success and thereafter all Indian ports began to employ WAC(I) members.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> 78 officers and 713 auxiliaries were employed by November 1943.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> By early 1944 the WAC(I) Naval Wing, Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS), was created and [[Admiral (United Kingdom)|Admiral]] [[John Henry Godfrey]], then [[flag officer]] commanding the RIN, appointed Cooper as its Chief Officer and Deputy Director.<ref name=Mohanan2020/><ref name=Vitali2020/>

==Recruitment==
WRINS had its own distinct uniform.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> It corresponded with the [[Women's Royal Naval Service]] (WRNS).<ref name=Harfield2005/> Signals auxiliaries were trained at [[HMIS Talwar|HMIS ''Talwar'']] and along with officers, were housed in hostels at Bombay, [[Chittagong]], [[Cochin]], and [[Vishakhapatnam]].<ref name=Mohanan2020/> In 1945, recruitment reached target and direct employment of officers mostly ceased.<ref name=Mohanan2020/> 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".<ref name=Vitali2020/>

==Visit to the UK==
Cooper and Second Officer [[Kalyani Sen]] visited the UK between April and July 1945, when they visited [[Auxiliary Territorial Service|A.T.S. establishments]] and learnt the WRNS ways of training and administration.<ref name=Mohanan2020/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Commonwealth Forces in India IND4410.jpg|WRINS, 1945. [[Moina Imam]] 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
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=J. T. S. |title=The Royal Indian Navy |journal=Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society |date=1 January 1945 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=68–79 |doi=10.1080/03068374508731156 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03068374508731156?journalCode=raaf19 |issn=0035-8789|url-access=subscription}}
*{{cite book |title=The Indian Listener: Vol. XI. No. 1. (22nd December 1945) |date=22 December 1945 |publisher=All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7fkDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |language=en}}
*{{Cite web |title=Collection: The Papers of Admiral John Henry Godfrey {{!}} ArchiveSearch |url=https://archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk/repositories/9/resources/1581|website=archivesearch.lib.cam.ac.uk}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|CnIBWSFDFFY|Women's Royal Indian Naval Service (WRINS)}}
* {{cite web |title=Women's Royal Indian Naval Service established during WW2 |url=https://wrens.org.uk/womens-royal-indian-naval-service-established-during-ww2/ |website=Association of Wrens |access-date=8 January 2023 |date=30 December 2019}}

[[Category:Naval history of World War II]]
[[Category:All-female military units and formations]]
[[Category:Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Indian women in World War II]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1944]]
[[Category:Indian women in war]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1947]]

Women's Royal Indian Naval Service - Revision history

Kishore121: New New Entry - done