Fort Hammenhiel (; ) is a

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

built around a small island between the islands of

Kayts Kayts ('','' ), is one of the important small island off the coast of the Jaffna Peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. There are a number of other villages within the Kayts Island such as Allaippiddi, Mankumpan, Velanai, Saravanai, Puliyankoodal ...

and Karaitivu of

Jaffna Peninsula The Jaffna Peninsula (, or ) is a region in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the capital city of the province, Jaffna, and comprises much of the former land mass of the medieval Jaffna Kingdom. The peninsula was historically ...

in Northern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

History

The Portuguese built the fort, to guard the entrance to the Jaffna peninsula, in the mid 17th century of quarried

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

naming it Fortaleza do Caes (Fort Royal). The

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, under the command of Captains Cornelies Reb, Piester Waset and N. van der Reede, captured the fort in March 1658 and subsequently renamed it Hammenhiel (Heel of the Ham), as they considered that shape of Ceylon resembled a smoked ham and the fort was located at the point where the shank bone projects. The Dutch rebuilt the fort in 1680, constructing a stone breakwater, filling in the hollow ramparts, replacing the upper floor with a stone vault and building a brick lined reservoir to the north of the fort. The prison has nine large

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

s to store

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...

. The Dutch maintained a garrison of about thirty soldiers under the charge of a Lieutenant or Ensign. The British used the fort firstly as a maximum security prison and then as an infectious diseases hospital. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, on orders from

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

, Camp Hammenhiel was established in late 1944 to start a “Special Operations Group" under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Humphry Tollemache Major general (United Kingdom), Major-General Sir Humphry Thomas Tollemache, 6th Baronet, (10 August 1897 – 30 March 1990) was a Royal Marines officer. Early life and career Tollemache was the son of Sir Lyonel Tollemache, 4th Baronet and He ...

. Mountbatten himself visited the camp in November 1944 with Tollemache.

Notable inmates

In 1971

Rohana Wijeweera Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera (; 14 July 1943 – 13 November 1989), better known as Rohana Wijeweera, was a Sri Lankan Marxist–Leninist political activist, revolutionary, and founder of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ). W ...

, founder leader of the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; , PLF) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 JVP ins ...

, was detained in the fort after his arrest. It was later used to house other prisoners of the abortive 1971 JVP insurrection. Those detained included

Upatissa Gamanayake Don Upatissa Gamanayake (; 17 October 1948 – 13 November 1989), also known by his alias Dias Mudalali, was a Sri Lankan politician and the deputy leader of the Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during the 1987–1989 insurrection. Not a prominen ...

, Lionel Bopage, Podi Athula (Victor Ivan), Loku Athula (N. Jayasinghe), Prof.

Jayadeva Uyangoda Jayadeva Uyangoda (born 13 September 1950) is a Sri Lankan political scientist. He is a constitutional expert in Sri Lanka. Jayadewa Uyangoda was a leftist student leader and a member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) movement in the 1970 ...

and

Mahinda Wijesekara Mahinda Wijesekera is a Sri Lankan politician, former Fisheries cabinet minister and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. In 2001, Wijesekara left the President Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga (; ; bor ...

(who was to later to become a minister).

Later use

Having plenty of space and the proper location to detain prisoners, it was used thereafter by the

Sri Lanka Navy The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) (; ) is the navy, naval arm of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is classed as the country's most vital defence force due to its island geography. It is responsible for the maritime defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its ...

to detain sailors accused of wrongdoings. Now it has been transformed into a tourist hotel run by the

References

Hammenhiel Hammenhiel Military installations in Northern Province, Sri Lanka Hammenhiel Sri Lanka Navy Archaeological protected monuments in Jaffna District Buildings and structures associated with the Dutch East India Company {{SriLanka-struct-stub

History

Notable inmates

Later use

See also

References