HMS Trincomalee
HMS Trincomalee is a 46-gun Leda-class frigate built for the Royal Navy by the East India Company at Bombay Dockyard and launched on 12 October 1817.[1][2] She represents the only surviving example of her class, constructed primarily from durable teak wood sourced locally, which contributed to her exceptional longevity as a wooden sailing warship.[3]
Trincomalee served under the Royal Navy's White Ensign for nearly 80 years in roles including policing, convoy protection, and exploration across global waters, covering over 100,000 miles without engaging in combat.[4][5] In 1897, she was sold and repurposed as the training ship Foudroyant, operating for a further nine decades until retirement in 1986, after which extensive restoration efforts preserved her as Britain's oldest warship still afloat and a museum exhibit at Hartlepool under the National Museum of the Royal Navy.[4][5] Her survival exemplifies the engineering prowess of early 19th-century shipbuilding, particularly the use of Indian teak in Royal Navy vessels during the post-Napoleonic era.[3]