Trincomalee Harbour – One of Best Natural Harbours

Hi guys, hope you are doing well. Today I will take you to kind of a different place, a harbour. You might wonder how a harbour can be an attraction. Obviously this harbour is a natural and tourist attraction. It is Trincomalee Harbour.

Trincomalee Harbour

Trincomalee is a town situated on the Eastern side of the island. Trincomalee Harbour is an amazing natural harbour. It is claimed to be one of world’s best and largest natural harbours.

A natural harbor is a landform where a part of a body of water is protected and deep enough to furnish anchorage. Many such harbors are rias. Natural harbors have long been of great strategic naval and economic importance, and many great cities of the world are located on them. Having a protected harbor reduces or eliminates the need for breakwaters as it will result in calmer waves inside the harbor.

Wikipedia

Trincomalee Harbour is placed on a geographically and strategically important place. Its strategical importance has made several nations to war against each other to capture the place. Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the English have ruled the place time to time, but English were the ones to hold it for a long period.

Trincomalee Harbour

Presently, Trincomalee Harbour is under Sri Lanka Port Authority. A Sri Lanka Navy camp is situated at the harbour, and they are responsible for the security of the harbour. Today it a hub for tourism, agriculture, commercial and financial sectors. Hundreds or thousands of ships use the harbour daily. If you would like to visit the place, you can’t just go in there. You have to get prior approvals to enter the place.

A Ride Around Trincomalee Harbour

I got a chance to ride around the harbour in a passenger boat. The view is really amazing.

Trincomalee Harbour

 

Trincomalee Harbour
Dora Boats of SL Navy. They are always stand by.
Fishermen in Trincomalee Harbour
Fishermen in Trincomalee Harbour

Fishermen

 

Trincomalee Harbour

According to Wikipedia, water area of Trincomalee Harbour is 4,000 acres and the land area is 13,000 acres. The width of the main entrance to the harbour is 500m wide. Some factories can also be seen placed inside the harbour.

Naval Museum

Another major attraction you will come across in Trincomalee Harbour is the Naval Museum situated there. An enormous history of naval activities of Sri Lanka rests there. It is situated on the high grounds of the harbour. Old weapons, equipment, remains of ships, old British bunkers and storage, etc. can be seen there.

Heavy Weapons
Heavy Weapons that were attached to battle ships and boats
Old Artillery
Skeleton of a Whale
Skeleton of a Whale
Engine of a Ship
Engine of a Ship
Turbine of a Ship
Turbine of a Ship
Engine of a Ship
Engine of a Ship
Old Artillery at Trincomalee Harbour
Old Artillery at Trincomalee Harbour

This was the most important and heavily trusted upon weapon of British Army. There are three of them. Those are situated on the high ground of the harbour, and all of them are aimed at the main entrance of the harbour. So the British can observe each and every ship that comes in, and if it is an enemy ship, these Artilleries would have been fired.

Trincomalee Harbour
View of the main entrance from the artillery site.

British have had storage underground to store the shells for Artilleries, and conveyor belts had been used to take the shells up. When they leave the island, they have destroyed those belts and most of the equipment so no one can use them again.

Underground Weapon Depository
Underground Weapon Depository

What you can see in the corner of above image is the said mechanism to take the shells up. These weapons are of the British army.

Trincomalee Harbour
Speed Boat
Old Radar
An Old Radar
Belongings of LTTE Terrorists
Weapons of LTTE Terrorists
Belongings of LTTE Terrorists
Belongings of LTTE Terrorists

There are many more things to sea here. Both the harbour and the museum are highly recommended to visit. But as I told you again earlier also, you can’t just go in there. You have to take prior approvals if you would like to visit.

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So that is about the Trincomalee Harbour. If you need to know more of the place just leave a comment below. I am more than happy to help. See you in the next article.

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