 was responsible for manning posts, provided with equipment, all round the coasts of the United Kingdom and along every navigable river and waterway, to spot the mines as they drop, to record and report their positions, so that the traffic lanes may be kept open for the safe passage of the shipping upon which our very existence depends.In 1962, it was transformed into the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, intended as a short-notice response force to help disperse shipping in British ports in case of a nuclear strike.The ensign of the Royal Naval Mine Watching Service was granted in 1953 by royal warrant.