HMCyS Vijaya, named in honor of Vijaya, the first king of Sri Lanka, was an of the Royal Ceylon Navy, the first warship of that navy. Vijaya had been built as HMS Flying Fish for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was given to Ceylon by the United Kingdom upon the 1951 formation of Ceylon's navy.
Design and description
The reciprocating group displaced at standard load and at deep load The ships measured long overall with a beam of. They had a draught of. The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and ratings. 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 Vanti-aircraft gun and four twin-gun mounts for Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. 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 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 and career
After the war she was given to Ceylon on indefinite loan by Britain in 1949 at Singapore with a formal transfer in Colombo. 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 CommanderRajan KadiragamarMVO, ADC, 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 on the coronation 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, a visit to Male with VNF officers and sailors, a training cruise to Bombay and Karachchi, a visit to Madras with VNF officers and sailors, a visit to Cochin on a Minesweeping exercise. Vijayaran aground during a cyclone in the Gulf of Mannar in December 1964. She was scrapped in 1975.
