Military Wiki
SLNS Gajabahu
Career (Canada) Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom
Name: HMCS Hallowell (K666)
Builder: Canadian Vickers, Montreal
Laid down: 22 November 1943
Launched: 28 March 1944
Fate: sold to Israel, 1949
Career (Israel) Naval Ensign of Israel
Name: INS Misnak
Acquired: 1949
Fate: sold to Ceylon, 1958
Career (Ceylon ⁄ Sri Lanka) Naval Ensign of the Royal Ceylon Navy Naval Ensign of Sri Lanka
Name: HMCyS Gajabahu
Namesake: King Gajabahu I
Acquired: 1958
Commissioned: 1958
Renamed: SLNS Gajabahu, 1972
Decommissioned: c. 1980s
Homeport: Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee
Fate: Cadet officer Training & Accommodation Ship
General characteristics
Class & type: River-class frigate
Displacement: 1,445 tons (1,470 tonnes);
2,110 tons full (2,143 tonnes)
Length: 283 ft (86 m) p/p
301.25 ft (91.82 m) o/a
Beam: 36.5 ft (11.1 m)
Draught: 9 ft (2.7 m) ; 13 ft (4.0 m) full load
Propulsion: 2 x Admiralty 3-drum boilers, 2 shafts, reciprocating vertical triple expansion, 5,500 ihp
Range: 646 tons oil fuel; 7,500 nmi (13,900 km) at 15-knot (28 km/h)
Complement: 107
Armament:

SLNS Gajabahu (named after Gajabahu, a former king of Sri Lanka) was a River-class frigate of the Sri Lanka Navy. She has since been converted to a training ship for the Naval & Maritime Academy, Trincomalee.

History[]

Formally HMCS Hallowell of the Royal Canadian Navy, she was built for service in World War II 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. 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 (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 Mahasena & Parakram were sold off and 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" became "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.

External links[]



  • HMS Tweed (K250)
  • Usk
  • HMS Waveney (K248)
  • HMS Wear (K230)
  • Windrush
  • HMS Wye (K371)

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The original article can be found at SLNS Gajabahu and the edit history here.