SLN Dockyard

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Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard
Trincomalee, Eastern Province in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard is located in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard
Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard
Location of SLN Dockyard in Sri Lanka
Coordinates8°33′08.5″N 81°14′16.6″E / 8.552361°N 81.237944°E / 8.552361; 81.237944
TypeNaval Base
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
Controlled bySri Lanka Navy
Site history
In use1948 – present

Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dockyard is the largest

Royal Ceylon Navy took over dockyard. It became the home base of the RCyN fleet and today it is home to the Eastern Naval Command and the Naval and Maritime Academy of the Sri Lanka Navy.[1]

History

Navy House official residence of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, located in SLN Dockyard

Trincomalee is a natural deep-water harbour that has attracted seafarers like

King Vijaya who having failed to convince his brother to come to Sri Lanka as his successor, got down his youngest son Panduvasdeva, who landed at Gokanna and was subsequently enthroned at Upatissagama. King Parakramabahu I used Gokanna (Trincomalee) as his eastern port, to launch a successful invasion of Burma in the 12th century.[2]

During the colonial expansion into the

Fort Ostenburg
was built on top of Ostenburg ridge at the entrance to the inner harbour of Trincomalee.

The British used Trincomalee has an anchorage for Royal Navy ships in the Indian Ocean. With switch to steam powered ships from the age of sailing, the Royal Navy established a

shore establishment
in Trinco.

With the beginning of the 20th century size of the Royal Naval Dockyard of Trincomalee grew as the facilities were increased during and after World War I. A large tank farm was built close to the dockyard store fuel oil of any size fleet, along with dry docks and maintenance facilities to support any ship of the Royal Navy. Due to the increase in personnel on shore and from visiting ships the Royal Naval Hospital Trincomalee was established within the yard.

In 1920, the British began deploying

RAF China Bay
was soon operational to provide air defense to Trincomalee.

With the out set of

Addu Atoll
.

With

Chuichi Nagumo's Indian Ocean raid in April 1942 these fears were born out. Following the Easter Sunday Raid on Colombo on 9 April, the Japanese attacked the dockyard at Trincomalee. HMS Hermes, HMAS Vampire and the Flower-class corvette HMS Hollyhock were sunk. HMS Hermes was undergoing repairs in Trincomalee harbour in April 1942. As a result of the advance warning of the impending attack by the Japanese, Hermes left Trincomalee, minus the 12 Fairey Swordfish
Mk Is of 814 Naval Air Squadron, disembarked. A Japanese reconnaissance plane spotted Hermes off Batticaloa, and 70 Japanese bombers attacked the defenceless Hermes forty times. The carrier sank with the loss of 307 sailors.

The RAF lost at least eight Hurricanes and the FAA one Fairey Fulmar. The Japanese lost five bombers and six fighters, one in a suicide attack on the Trincomalee fuel tanks. Seven hundred people lost their lives in the attack on Trincomalee. According to eye witness Michael Tomlinson (author of The Most Dangerous Moment and RAF Station Intelligence Officer at Ratmalana and later at China Bay in Trincomalee), one Japanese flyer deliberately crashed his plane into one of the giant fuel tanks just north of China Bay aerodrome.

The Eastern Fleet return to Trincomalee in late 1942. Operation Diplomat, a training exercise, took place in late March 1944. The objective was for the fleet to rendezvous with a group of tankers (escorted by HNLMS Tromp) and practice refuelling at sea procedures. They then rendezvoused with United States Navy Task Force 58.5, comprising USS Saratoga and three destroyers, and returned to Trincomalee on 31 March. The U.S. task force had been detached to the Indian Ocean to bolster local air defences and also to impart necessary procedures to FAA aircrew, which was done over two or three days' intensive activity at sea. Sources for the dates of return to Trincomalee and the joint US/UK training differ. In 1944, a wireless station HMS Highflyer was established in Trincomalee.

The Royal Navy presence in Ceylon came to an end in 1956, when Prime Minister

Royal Ceylon Navy
and became the home port for its newly established fleet.

During

Sri Lankan civil war, many sailors from this base rioted and destroyed property around the base.[3]

Units

Gallery

  • SLN Dockyard Trincomalee
  • United States Marine Corps landing craft air cushion onto the Naval and Maritime Academy beach during a theatre security cooperation exchange with the Sri Lanka Navy.
    United States Marine Corps landing craft air cushion onto the Naval and Maritime Academy beach during a theatre security cooperation exchange with the Sri Lanka Navy.
  • US Navy USS Pearl Harbor in SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee.
    US Navy USS Pearl Harbor in SLN Dockyard, Trincomalee.
  • The S-class British submarine HMS Sibyl in harbour at Trincomalee, Ceylon.
    The S-class British submarine HMS Sibyl in harbour at Trincomalee, Ceylon.

See also

References

  1. ^ Defence Secretary rewards winners of Year Five Scholarship
  2. ^ Sumana Saparamadu (4 March 2007). "Trincomalee". amazinglanka.com. Retrieved 30 April 2011.
  3. ISBN 81-7991-199-3
    .

External links
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