HMS trincomaleeTrincomalee, 1817 - present
trincomaleeTrincomalee served on the Pacific Station from 1853-56, but its fame was rich enough that a fourteen-year
restoration project finds it preserved today in Hartlepool, England, where it is a
tourist attraction.1 Physically, it was impressive: a 24-gun, 1,312-tonne frigate sailing ship built of
Malabar teak at Mumbai—2then Bombay—under the supervision of master shipbuilder Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia.3
It is mentioned in several despatches, most notably perhaps in its capacity as an
imposing presence during what Douglas describes as a very large assemblage of the native tribes
at Victoria, who were, in his view, well armed and equipped for war.
This same despatch goes on to report that, in light of Douglas's concerns, Captain
Houstoun, commander at the time, agreed to waylay the trincomaleeTrincomalee's eventual departure for San Francisco until the threat of hostilities subsided.
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Placenames (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 603.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. HMS Trincomalee 1817, HMS Trincomalee—Construction, HMS Trincomalee Trust.