#1. The Trincomalee Wormhole.
This was meant to be a short note about the HMS Trincomalee. It was pretty much on this date that back in 1816, Master shipbuilder Jamsedjee Bomanjee Wadia engraved silver nail into the keel of the HMS Trincomalee at the city’s Duncan dock.
Now, the Trincomalee, was built as a “Leda Class” Frigate, but unlike the other vessels of her class (Built in UK) built of Oak, the Trincomalee was made of Malabar teak. Astonishingly, 204 years on, the Trincomalee is the oldest British warship still afloat and has more than 60% of her woodwork still intact.
The story of Trincomalee is amazing in itself. It saw action in the Caribbean, quelled a riot in Haiti ( though that sounds a bit like the US liberating the middle east), saved Cuba from invasion and took part in the Anti-Slavery actions in the Atlantic.
However, the story of its origins itself throws up so many interesting questions. Why is Malabar teak such a superior wood? What was a Wadia ( who are the current family behind Bombay Dyeing) doing in a shipyard? What’s the story of shipbuilding in Mumbai and India?
It’s fascinating to know that the Trincomalee was to go on the blocks in 1814 but the plans for the vessel were lost when the HMS Java was sunk in action by the USS Constitution off Brazil. This delayed the next set of plans to come over from UK by two years before construction could begin in 1816.
Why were the two warships fighting in 1812? And more importantly, what was the HMS Java doing in Brazil when making its way from Portsmouth to Bombay?
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4 年Fascinating stuff Anuj Velankar! ????
Master Mariner with command experience and a non-practising Solicitor. Independent Maritime Consultant.
4 年Fascinating. I don’t know what HMS Java might have been doing in Brazil (if indeed she was in Brazil rather than off its coast). However, for a sailing ship travelling from Portsmouth to Bombay, sailing via the coast of Brazil or thereabouts would have been a customary route - influenced, dictated even, by the prevailing winds and currents of the Atlantic.
Specialist in professional indemnity insurance to the marine, transport and energy sectors.
4 年Very interesting Anuj. Are you going to do further research and answer the questions you pose?