| Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard | |
|---|---|
| Trincomalee,Eastern Province in Sri Lanka | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Naval Base |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Controlled by | Sri Lanka Navy |
| Location | |
  Sri Lanka Navy Dockyard Location of SLN Dockyard in Sri Lanka | |
| Coordinates | 8°33′08.5″N81°14′16.6″E / 8.552361°N 81.237944°E /8.552361; 81.237944 |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1948 – present |
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) Dockyard is the largestnaval base of theSri Lanka Navy and a major shipyard located inTrincomalee,Sri Lanka. Established by theBritish as theRoyal Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee, it was home to theEast Indies Station of theRoyal Navy duringWorld War II. Since the withdrawal of the Royal Navy, theRoyal Ceylon Navy took over the dockyard. It became the home base of the RCyN fleet, and today it is home to theEastern Naval Command and theNaval and Maritime Academy of the Sri Lanka Navy.[1]
Trincomalee is a natural deep-water harbour that has attracted seafarers likeMarco Polo,Ptolemy and traders from China and East Asia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a sea port since the days of the ancient Sri Lankan Kings. The earliest known reference to the port of Gokanna is found in theMahavamsa stating that in the 5th century BC, whenKing 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. KingParakramabahu 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 theIndian Ocean, Trincomalee was occupied by thePortuguese,Dutch,French and finally by theBritish who used the natural harbour extensively. The Portuguese built a fort to control the area and the Dutch expanded and built another to protect the harbour. The largest of these isFort Fredrick built in 1624 by the Portuguese and exchanged hands until the British took over it in 1795. The smallerFort 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 acoaling station in Trincomalee as part of their large network of support bases throughout the empire. This was the begin of a permanent Royal Navyshore establishment in Trinco.
With the beginning of the 20th century size of theRoyal Naval Dockyard of Trincomalee grew as the facilities were increased during and afterWorld War I. A largetank farm was built close to the dockyard storefuel 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 theRoyal Naval Hospital Trincomalee was established within the yard.
In 1920, the British began deployingcoastal artillery on theOstenburg ridge, which was within the dockyard to protect the entrance to the Trincomalee harbor which had now become a major Royal Navy base in thefar east. Mounted on the ridge was a battery of threeBL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns manned by the personal of Coastal Regiments of theRoyal Artillery. At same time the first purpose-builtmilitary airfield was built across the harbor, near the China Bay. TheRoyal Air Force station ofRAF China Bay was soon operational to provide air defense to Trincomalee.
With the outset ofWorld War II, Trincomalee's defences were boosted the installation of twoBL 9.2 inch Mk IX–X guns and anti-aircraft batteries manned by the Royal Artillery and theCeylon Garrison Artillery. With the fall ofSingapore, Trincomalee dockyard home port for the newly formedEastern Fleet under the command of Admiral SirJames Somerville. Although he found good facilities, the inadequate air defenses prompted Somerville to move the fleet to a secret base inAddu Atoll.
WithChuichi Nagumo'sIndian Ocean raid in April 1942 these fears were born out. Following theEaster Sunday Raid onColombo on 9 April, the Japanese attacked the dockyard at Trincomalee.HMS Hermes, HMASVampire and theFlower-classcorvetteHMS Hollyhock were sunk. HMSHermes 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 12Fairey Swordfish Mk Is of 814 Naval Air Squadron, disembarked. A Japanese reconnaissance plane spottedHermes off Batticaloa, and 70 Japanese bombers attacked the defencelessHermes forty times. The carrier sank with the loss of 307 sailors.
The RAF lost at least eight Hurricanes and the FAA oneFairey 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 ofThe 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 byHNLMS Tromp) and practice refuelling at sea procedures. They then rendezvoused withUnited States Navy Task Force 58.5, comprisingUSS 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 stationHMS Highflyer was established in Trincomalee.
The Royal Navy presence in Ceylon came to an end in 1956, when Prime MinisterS. W. R. D. Bandaranaike requested the removal of all British service personnel from the island. The dockyard was taken over by theRoyal Ceylon Navy and became the home port for its newly established fleet.
DuringBlack July andSri Lankan civil war, many sailors from this base rioted and destroyed property around the base.[3]
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