Naval Museum

The Naval Museum, a comprehensive guide to study the glory of maritime power flourished along the margins of the Indian Ocean, is situated inside the historic Naval Dockyard, Trincomalee. It is also believed that King Parakramabahu 1(reined 1153 – 1186) had used this place as a garrison to send his armies to invade the Pandyan state in India and set out a naval force to retaliate against Burmese. Besides having rich treasure of artifacts and antiques nature has endowed the Naval Museum with enchanting scenic beauty too. The collection consists of maps, uniform, boats, rafts and arms and ammunition of inestimable historic value representing cannons, machine-guns, rifles and Tommy guns, guns of Royal Artillery and medical items. The showpiece of the museum is the battery of six – inch guns targeting any threat enters through the narrow entrance of the bay. Even today they can be moved by a just

They are remarkably nested and fortified. The great engineering feats that were used to build underground tunnels built to replenish and store ammunition sometimes surpassed those of the present. The building, Hood Tower that today houses the museum was once a guard point to carry out commands given by the Regional Commander of the British Royal Navy in India and it was named after Admiral Sir Samuel Hood who served here during the WW II. One can get a panoramic view of the Trincomalee harbour from top of the tower and it is the best place to observe the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars. Among the collection uniform, boats, rafts, arms and ammunition, and submarines captured from the LTTE Sea Tigers are also displayed. A visit to the Naval Museum is not to be missed for its complete priceless maritime treasures of the Sri Lanka’s naval history from its pre-historic dawning to the present day.