Page 22 - MDSL Final

MARITIME DOCTRINE OF SRI LANKA
The Dutch went on to fight the Dutch–Portuguese War, which resulted in
the Dutch victory. This war occurred because the King of Kandy invited
the Dutch to get rid of the Portuguese. Dutch rule in Sri Lanka was done
though the Dutch East India Company, a trading company established
in 1602 primarily to protect Dutch trade benefits in the Indian Ocean.
Although the Dutch first controlled only the coastal lands, the Dutch
gradually pushed inland, occupying considerable territory in Southern,
Southwestern and Western Sri Lanka. In 1665, they extended to the East
coast and thus controlled most of the cinnamon-growing lands and the
points of exit and entry on the island.

During the well-known Napoleonic Wars, fearing the French’s control
of the Netherlands would mean that Sri Lanka would be a French
country, the British took over the country in 1796, automatically naming
‘Zeylan’ to ‘Ceylon’. In 1802, by the Treaty of Ameins, which temporarily
ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom
during the French Revolutionary Wars, the Dutch part of the island was
bestowed to the British, which then the island became an official crown
British colony. In 1803, the British invaded the Kingdom of Kandy in the
1st war of Kandyan War. In 1815, the 2nd Kandyan War resulted in Sri
Lanka ending of the independence.

Due to fears of impending war increased the idea of establishing a
Volunteer Naval Force emerged. As a result, Navy created for Ceylon
and manned by residents of the country, came into being in 1937. In

1937 the Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force (CNVF) was established by CNVF
Ordinance No. 1 of 1937. After World War II, CNVF was absorbed into
the Royal Navy as, Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR). After
gaining independence from British rule, a nucleus of 100 officers and
men were ready to form the Regular Navy. On 09th December 1950 the
Navy Act was enacted (Act No. 34 of 1950) and the Royal Ceylon Navy
was formed. In 1972, with the introduction of new constitution the Royal
Ceylon Navy was renamed as the Sri Lanka Navy.

The CNVF/CRNVR had originally been conceived as a mainly sea-going
force to be deployed in territorial waters only. However, bigger ships
joined the fleet, CRNVR ships and men being deployed beyond Ceylon’s

4 To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea