History of the Sri Lanka Navy

Cutting its teeth on the Port Commission tugs Samson and Goliath, it later manned and operated trawlers and Antarctic whalers converted as minesweepers and fitted out with guns, submarine detection equipment and anti-submarine weaponry.

In the course of these operations, the ships came under enemy fire, recovered essential information from Japanese aircraft that were shot down, sailed to Akyab after the Burma front was opened in two FMVs for harbour duties and, was called upon to accept the surrender of the Italian light cruiser Eritrea and escort her to port with a prize crew on board.

After independence from British rule in 1948, the government believed an island nation should possess a strong navy to be it first line of defense.

The first warship was commissioned HMCyS Vijaya, an Algerine-class minesweeper, ex-HMS Flying Fish along with other patrol boats and tugs.

At the beginning of the civil war in the 1980s the navy found itself poorly equipped to face the new threats the LTTE created.

The weapon systems on these were upgraded with time as the sea tigers resorted to using sophisticated suicide crafts against naval vessels.