SLNS Gajabahu
Encyclopedia
SLNS Gajabahu (Gajabahu former king of Sri Lanka) was a River class frigate
River class frigate
The River class frigate was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic....
of the Sri Lanka Navy. She has since been converted to a training ship for the Naval & Maritime Academy, Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
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History
Formally HMCS Hallowell (K666) of the Royal Canadian NavyRoyal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
, she was built for service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
after which she was sold to the Israeli Navy in 1949 as Misnak.
Purchased from the Israeli Navy in 1958—3 years after another River class frigate, HMCyS Mahasena—she was commissioned as HMCyS Gajabahu into the Royal Ceylon Navy. She participated in many flag-showing missions in various countries, including a cruise to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Gajabahu also took part in many international naval exercises.
Following the failed military coups d'état in 1962 in which the former Captain of the Navy
Commander of the Navy (Sri Lanka)
The Commander of the Navy is the professional head of the Sri Lanka Navy. The current Commander of the Navy is Vice Admiral D.W.S. Dissanayake...
(as the Commander of the Navy was known then) was implicated, the government undertook a program of downsizing the military. As a result, Gajabahu became the flag ship of the fleet and only major warship of the Royal Ceylon Navy after HMCyS Mahasena & HMCyS Parakram were sold off and SLNS Vijaya was lost in a storm. During the 1971 Insurrection she could not be deployed to sea since her crew were dispatched for ground duty due to personnel shortages. HMCyS Gajabahu was renamed SLNS Gajabahu when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. In the 1980s she was taken out of active service to be converted to a training ship for the Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
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