On this day, the first squadron of British fighting ships arrived in India.
They formed what was then called the Honourable East India Company’s Marine. The force was responsible for the protection of the East India Company’s trade in western India, the Gulf of Cambay and the river mouths of the Tapti and Narmada, especially against the Portuguese.
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The force would go on to look after British interests in the Arabian, Persian and Indian coastlines.
The East India Company took over Bombay on September 27, 1668, following which the Honourable East India Company’s Marine was also put in charge of the protection of trade off Bombay.