Hoods Tower Museum
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(June 2020) |
 Nameboard of the Hoods Tower Museum | |
| Location | Trincomalee,Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Type | Military |
TheHoods Tower Museum(Tamil:குட் கோபுர நூதனசாலை,romanized:Kuṭ Kōpura Nūtaṉacālai;Sinhala:ත්රිකුණාමලය නාවික කෞතුකාගාරයTrikuṇāmalaya Nāvika Kautukāgāraya) is anaval museumof theSri Lanka NavyinTrincomalee.It is located at Ostenburg, in the Trincomalee peninsula on a high ridge overlooking the entrance to the inner harbor of Trincomalee within theSLN Dockyard.The museum gains its name from theHoods Tower,an observation tower named afterVice-AdmiralSir Samuel Hood,Commander of theEast Indies Station.[citation needed]
Fort Ostenburg
[edit]The location derives its name from theFort Ostenburg,a small fort built at the entrance to the inner harbour of Trincomalee by theDutchand later surrendered to the British 1795.[1]It has been called "the most powerfully gunned fort in Ceylon" with strong batteries at sea level and many guns on the ridge above them. However little of it remains today, mainly due to the constriction of coastal artillery placements by the British since the 1920 in the Ostenburg ridge.
Coastal artillery
[edit]
In 1920, the British began deployingcoastal artilleryon the Ostenburg ridge to protect the entrance to the Trincomalee harbor which had become a majorRoyal Navybase in theFar East.Mounted on the ridge was a battery of threeBL 6 inch Mk VII naval gunswithincasematesand with individual underground ammunition stores. TwoBL 9.2 inch Mk IX gunswere also added.Fire control towerwas constructed which commands a 360 degree view of the area and was used for directing artillery along with concrete quarters that were built for the gun crews. With the outbreak ofWorld War II,the coastal batteries in Trincomalee manned by the 6th Coast Regiment,Royal Artilleryand the 2nd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment,Ceylon Garrison Artillerywas deployed for its protection. With the departure of the Royal Navy from Trincomalee in 1956, the operation of the guns were taken over by the 2nd (Volunteer) Coastal Artillery / Anti-Aircraft Regiment,Ceylon Artillery.The coastal artillerybatterieswere decommissioned in 1962.[2][3]
Museum
[edit]Some of the guns are maintained in functional level for symbolic reasons by theSri Lanka Navy.In the 1990s the navy developed the location into a naval museum with many artifacts. Much of the museum itself is housed in ground level and undergroundcasementsbuilt duringWorld War II.House here is a collection of weapons, equipment and weapon systems used by the navy.Prizes of waron display include capturedSea Tigerattack crafts, suicide crafts andLTTEweapons, including an all terrain vehicle that was used by Charles Anthony.[citation needed]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Seton-Karr, Walter Scott (1865)."Monday, 14th September 1795".Selections from Calcutta Gazettes of the Years 1789, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797.Vol. 2. Calcutta: O.T. Cutter, Military Orphan Press. pp. 161–164.Retrieved21 April2022.
We lose no time in announcing the complete success of the expedition against Trincomalé. Official accounts were received this morning of the surrender of Trincomalé on the 26th, and of Fort Oostenburg on the 31st ultimo; a salute was fired from Fort William on the occasion.
- ^Somasundaram, Jayantha."Britain's strategic base in Ceylon World War II".Island.Retrieved25 May2020.
- ^Maurice-Jones, Colonel K. W. (19 April 2012).The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army.Andrews UK Limited.ISBN9781781491157.
External links
[edit]| Ancient Forts |   | |
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| Colonial Forts | ||
Less or no contribution/renovation works of Dutch are marked by†symbol under "Portuguese Forts", and others are considered as Dutch forts too. | ||
