HMCyS ''Vijaya'', named in honor of

Vijaya Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

, the first king of Sri Lanka, was an of the

Royal Ceylon Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

, the first warship of that navy. ''Vijaya'' had been built as HMS ''Flying Fish'' (J370) for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but was given to Ceylon by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

upon the 1951 formation of Ceylon's navy.

Design and description

The reciprocating group displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

The ships measured

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with a beam of . They had a draught of . The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and ratings.Lenton, p. 261 The reciprocating ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . They carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at . The ''Algerine'' class was armed with a QF Mk V anti-aircraft gunChesneau, p. 65 and four twin-gun mounts for

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models em ...

. The latter guns were in short supply when the first ships were being completed and they often got a proportion of single mounts. By 1944, single-barrel

Bofors 40 mm Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

mounts began replacing the twin 20 mm mounts on a one for one basis. All of the ships were fitted for four throwers and two rails for depth charges.

Construction

The vessel was put on order from the

Redfern Construction Company Redfern may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Redfern (surname), a list of people with the surname * Redfern Froggatt (1924–2003), British footballer Places * Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia ** Redfern railway station * Elector ...

's shipyard in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

in November 1942. She was laid down on 30 October 1943, launched 16 February 1944 and completed 14 October the same year. Originally built for the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

as HMCS ''Tillsonburg'', she was transferred on completion to the

as HMS ''Flying Fish''. This was part of an exchange programme, whereby the RCN received British-built

Castle-class corvette The Castle-class corvette was an ocean going convoy escort developed by the United Kingdom during the Second World War. It was the follow-on to the , and designed to be built in shipyards that were producing the Flowers. The Castle-class was a ...

s, as they needed escort vessels rather than minesweepers at that stage of the conflict. The name ''Tillsonburg'' was given to one of the new corvettes.

Career

As HMS ''Flying Fish''

HMS ''Flying Fish'' was commissioned into the Royal Navy in October 1944. She had an uneventful career as a minesweeper until the end of hostilities. After the war she was given to Ceylon on indefinite loan by Britain in 1949 at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

with a formal transfer in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

As HMCyS ''Vijaya''

When the Royal Ceylon Navy was formed in 1951 it became the first warship of the navy and was named after the first King of the Island. The First Sri Lankan Captain on the vessel was

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

(later Rear Admiral)

Rajan Kadiragamar Rear Admiral Rajanathan "Rajan" Kadiragamar, MVO (born 1922) was a Ceylonese flag officer. He was the second Ceylonese Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy from 1960 to 1970 and as such the longest serving Commander of the Navy. Early life and educ ...

MVO,

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatm ...

, RCyN. From 1949 ''Vijaya'' became the training platform for the new navy and began undertaking anti-smuggling and anti-illicit immigration patrols in coastal waters. In May 1951 she sailed to Maldives with Sir John Kotelawala, Minister for Transport and Works and his party for a short visit. Next year she paid another call to participate in the Proclamation of the Maldivian Republic. In 1952 she sailed to Britain to represent the Royal Ceylon Navy at the

fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

on the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

of Queen Elizabeth II. Although she did not take part in the fleet review due to repairs, the Royal Navy lent a ship of the same class for the RCyN for the review with the name ''Vijaya II''. “Vijaya” undertook her second visit to Burma in 1955, carrying a group of persons to participate in the “Chatta Sangayana”. “Vijaya” undertook several training and operational tasks, including, a visit to Port Blair in the Andaman Islands with VNF officers and sailors (1954), a visit to Male with VNF officers and sailors (1954), a training cruise to Bombay and Karachchi (1954), a visit to Madras with VNF officers and sailors (1955), a visit to Cochin on a Minesweeping exercise (1955). ''Vijaya'' ran aground during a cyclone in the

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .

in December 1964. She was scrapped in 1975.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

HMS ''Flying Fish'' at uboat.netSri Lanka Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vijaya Algerine-class minesweepers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Toronto 1944 ships World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom Algerine-class minesweepers of the Royal Ceylon Navy Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in 1964