HMS ''Trincomalee'' is a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

sailing frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

built shortly after the end of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. She is now restored as a museum ship afloat in the

National Museum of the Royal Navy The National Museum of the Royal Navy was created in early 2009 to act as a single non-departmental public body for the museums of the Royal Navy. With venues across the United Kingdom, the museums detail the history of the Royal Navy operating o ...

, Hartlepool,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

1812–1847

''Trincomalee'' is one of two surviving British frigates of her era—her near-sister (of the modified ''Leda'' class) is now a museum ship in Dundee. After being ordered on 30 October 1812, ''Trincomalee'' was built in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, by the

Wadia family The Wadia family is a Parsi family from Surat, India currently based in Mumbai, India. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as ship-builders serving the British East India Company as the latter established its sway over India. During t ...

of shipwrights in

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

, due to oak shortages in Britain as a result of shipbuilding drives for the Napoleonic Wars. The ship was named ''Trincomalee'' after the 1782

Battle of Trincomalee A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

off the Ceylon ( Sri Lanka) port of that name. Work on the Trincomalee began in May 1816. Ceremonially an engraved silver nail was hammered into the ship's keel by the master shipbuilder

Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia ( 1754–1821), was an Indian Shipbuider and member of the Wadia family The Wadia family is a Parsi family from Surat, India currently based in Mumbai, India. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as ship-b ...

, this being considered vital for the ship's well-being, according to

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

tradition. With a construction cost of £23,000 (approximately £2,015,000 in 2020), ''Trincomalee'' was launched on 12 October 1817. Commander Philip Henry Bridges sailed her to

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, where she arrived on 30 April 1819, with a journey costing £6,600. During the maiden voyage the ship arrived at Saint Helena on 24 January 1819, where she stayed for 6 days, leaving with an additional passenger, a surgeon who had attended

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

Longwood House Longwood House is a mansion in St. Helena and the final residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, the former Emperor of the French, during his exile on the island of Saint Helena, from 10 December 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821. History Longwoo ...

on the island, Mr John Stokoe. After being fitted out at a further cost of £2,400, ''Trincomalee'' was placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

until 1845, when she was re-armed with fewer guns giving greater firepower, had her stern reshaped and was reclassified as a sixth-rate spar-decked corvette.

1847–1857

''Trincomalee'' departed from Portsmouth in 1847 and remained in service for ten years, serving on the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

and

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

station. During her time, she was to help quell riots in Haiti and stop a threatened invasion of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, and serve on anti-

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

patrol. In 1849, she was despatched to Newfoundland and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

before being recalled to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

in 1850. In 1852 she sailed to join the

Pacific Squadron The Pacific Squadron was part of the United States Navy squadron stationed in the Pacific Ocean in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially with no United States ports in the Pacific, they operated out of storeships which provided naval s ...

on the west coast of America.

TS ''Foudroyant''

''Trincomalee'' finished her Royal Navy service as a training ship, but was placed in

again in 1895 and sold for scrap two years later on 19 May 1897. She was then purchased by entrepreneur George Wheatley Cobb, restored, and renamed ''Foudroyant'' in honour of , his earlier ship that had been wrecked in 1897. She was used in conjunction with as an accommodation ship, a training ship, and a holiday ship based in Falmouth then

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. She remained in service until 1986, after which she was again restored and renamed back to ''Trincomalee'' in 1992.

Later years

Now listed as part of the

National Historic Fleet The National Historic Fleet is a list of historic ships and vessels located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register. National Historic Ships UK is an advisory body which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media ...

, following her recent restoration ''Trincomalee'' has become the centrepiece of the

based in Hartlepool. ''Trincomalee'' holds the distinction of being the oldest British warship still afloat as , although 52 years her senior, is in dry dock. Until his death in 1929, the Falmouth-based painter

Henry Scott Tuke Henry Scott Tuke (12 June 1858 – 13 March 1929), was an English visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is best known for his paintings of nude boys and you ...

used the ship and its trainees as subject matter.

Gallery

File:HMS Trincomalee at Hartlepool 2010 (800x600).jpg File:H.M.S. Trincomalee, Hartlepool Maritime Experience - geograph.org.uk - 1605081.jpg File:H.M.S. Trincomalee, Hartlepool Maritime Experience - geograph.org.uk - 1604019.jpg File:H.M.S. Trincomalee, Hartlepool Maritime Experience - geograph.org.uk - 1605098.jpg File:Captains cabin HMS Trincomalee geograph.org.uk 1605087 e0de772e-by-Ian-Petticrew.jpg File:Her Majesty's Ships Amphitrite and Trincomalee Beating out of San Francisco on Sepr 23rd 1854 RMG PY0799.jpg, ''Trincomalee'' beating out of San Francisco on 23 Sept 1854

References

External links

HMS ''Trincomalee'' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trincomalee Frigates of the Royal Navy Museum ships in the United Kingdom Museums in County Durham Tall ships of the United Kingdom 1817 ships Leda-class frigates Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet British ships built in India