"[1] One of these early exhibitions, Sea Power, gained the patronage of King George VI and was opened by Winston Churchill.
[1] No activity took place immediately because of the outbreak of World War II, and it was not until 1946 that the Society's inaugural exhibition was mounted in the Guildhall Art Gallery at the invitation of the City of London Corporation.
In 1966, Queen Elizabeth II granted assent for the title of "The Royal Society of Marine Artists".
The location for the annual exhibitions was changed to the Mall Galleries in 1981, when building works prevented use of the Guildhall.
It is also one of the nine member societies that form the Federation of British Artists, which is based in and administers the Mall Galleries, next to Trafalgar Square.