Our history

The organisation that came to be known as the Royal Institute of Navigation was formed on 12 March 1947, following the example of the US Institute of navigation, and inspired by a sense of the important part navigation had played in winning the Second World War. In the immediate post-war period, the ingenuity that had flourished in the art and science of navigation during the conflict continued to gather pace, and the Institute of Navigation was created to give practitioners and researchers from the many varied fields of navigation, as well as interested amateurs and hobbyists, an environment to learn, to share experiences, and to promote navigational knowledge in all its forms.

The Institute had support from several noted navigation celebrities of the day - at its launch Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the Astronomer-Royal, was sworn in as President, with support from Air Chief Marshall Sir John Slessor (Deputy Chief of the Air Staff) and Sir Robert Watson-Wyatt, the inventor of radar, as Vice-Presidents. The Institute's first Executive Secretary (later to be renamed Director) was prolific maritime navigator Michael Richey, and it was he who, in 1948, took it upon himself to launch the Journal of Navigation, for decades the Institute's major information-sharing tool about the latest developments or the practical business of navigation.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Institute broadened its outlook from pure navigation issues to address safety issues, and in doing so, forged new and valuable relationships with other leading European organisations and formed working parties with them to address the important navigational and safety issues of the day, finding a role for itself beyond the narrow confines of pure navigation.

In 1972, to coincide with its 25th year of existence, the Institute of Navigation became the Royal Institute of Navigation, following recognition by Her Majesty the Queen.

Throughout the 1970s, the working parties began to publish reports on navigation and safety issues, covered disparate topics from the importance of traffic separation and collision prevention in the maritime environment to fuel reserves in aircraft. As the Institute's focus broadened, it began to organise conferences to discuss these issues, on both a national and a western European level.

But navigation itself had not stood still. First the development of LORAN, and then in 1978, the launch of the first GPS satellite, threatened to overwhelm the very idea of needing a Royal Institute of Navigation, as position-finding became a relatively automatic - and automated - function. However, the broad church of the RIN ensured it not only survived, but fund a way to thrive in the new era of satellite navigation. In 1984, a 'Way Ahead Group' appointed by the RIN Council recommended several crucial additions to its profile, including the creation of Special Interest Groups and the launch of a populist newsletter. This later became Navigation News. It was also during the early 1980s that the Institute broadened its focus again to include animal navigation in its remit, and moved to proactively recruit younger members. These moves, allied to a determination to embrace global satellite navigation systems and information technology as important elements in modern navigation, helped the RIN evolve into a 21st century organisation, with a broad range of support and interests. Between 1984-1994, the Institute ran a series of larger European conferences and added more and more Special Interest Groups to its portfolio, including the Land Navigation and Location Group and the Navigation on Foot Group, to reflect the growth in popularity of navigation hobbies such as geocaching, hillwalking and orienteering. The creation of a range of competitions helped the Institute attract younger members and, more recently, we have added significant numbers of university students to the membership.

The process of evolution continues. In 2002, the RIN made its first appearance on the internet, and its website has been consistently popular ever since as a source of news for everyone with an interest in navigation. In 2004, the RIN Council began investigating ways to provide members with legal protection. Three years later, to mark its 60th anniversary in 2007, the Institute changed its status once again, as it had to mark its 25th. It gained a Royal Charter, becoming an 'incorporated body' just after the stroke of midnight on January 1 2007. In the wake of the change, the Institute has undertaken a complete rebranding, developing a new logo for the 21st century and a new website to serve members and visitors as an electronic 'version' of the Institute itself.

The first 60 years of the RIN have taken it far from its original starting point. But while the means of achievement may be different, the Institute's aims remain the same today as they were in 1947, and the strength to evolve still remains embodied in those members who play an active part in its governance. To shape the RIN of tomorrow, join or get involved today.