The founding committee consisted of Roger Nailer (Chairman), Dr Richard Osborne (Secretary), Arnold Hague, Dr Ian Buxton, Jim Colledge and Richard Pagan. As the NSC’s work increased the membership was increased to include Tom Adams, John Freestone, Doug Kinghorn and Dave Sowdon while Arnold Hague became Chairman in the mid-1980s until replaced by the David K. Brown in the early 1990s. The passage of time led to John English, Andrew Smith, and Brian Hargreaves joining the NSC as replacements. In May 2000 Dave Sowdon replaced Richard Osborne as NSC Secretary following the latter’s assumption of the Society’s Chairmanship.
In July 2002 the World Ship Society became a limited liability company with a new constitution. Under the terms of the latter, the NSC became the Naval Committee with the following responsibilities:
- Prepare, initiate and supervise projects on naval research.
- To expand and codify the Society’s naval data.
- To preview all Society naval publications.
- To supervise/manage the naval content of Marine News.
- To advise on naval aspects of all other Society operations.
- To produce the quarterly journal Warships.
- To expand and catalogue the Naval component of the World Ship Photo Library.
- To develop and maintain links with like-minded Naval organisations.
- To organise and run an annual Naval meeting.
- To catalogue, maintain and disseminate the Society’s naval archives, held at Chatham.
The Current structure of the committee is :
| Tom Adams Mark Brady | Organiser of the Annual Naval Meeting |
| Dr Ian Buxton | Society Vice President and Chairman of the Society’s Archive Digitisation Committee |
| John English | |
| Stephen Hacker | |
| Dennis Maccoy | Chairman |
| Roy Metcalfe | |
| Steve Thomas | Editor, WARSHIPS |