Trincomalee harbour is the fifth largest natural harbour in the world. It is overlooked by terraced highlands, its entrance is guarded by two headlands with a carriage road along its northern and eastern edges. At the edge is the Sri Lanka Navy Base.

Trincomalee harbour's strategic importance has shaped its recent history. The great European powers vied for mastery of the harbour. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English, each held it in turn believing it held the key to control of the East Coast of India. There have been many sea battles nearby including the one that HMS Trincomalee, built in India in 1817, is named after. In the Second World War after the fall of the “impregnable” naval base of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942,  Trincomalee became the HQ of the retreating British Fleet.

The Navy Base is home to a naval museum called The Hoods Tower Museum. The name of the museum refers to a watchtower built on a hill commanding a 360-degree view of the harbor and the bay.

The Museum's exhibits can be divided into 3 periods of history:

The C18th and C19th Cannons

The Second World War when trincomalee was the HQ of the British Far East Fleet after the collapse of Singapore

More recent history in the campaign against the rebel LTTE. There is a room of weapons captured from the LTTE, including midget submarines.

Naval Museum Trincomalee Sri Lanka

Correl Cove		Picture of Elephant crossing at Elephant Point

The Hoods Tower Museum is primarily a naval museum of the Sri Lanka Navy in Trincomalee.

It is situated on Fort Ostenburg, a small fort built at the entrance to the inner harbour of Trincomalee by the Dutch and surrendered to the British 1795. It has been called "the most powerfully gunned fort in Ceylon" with strong batteries at sea level and many guns on the ridge above them. However little of it remains today, mainly due to the contraction of Coastal artillery placements by the British since the 1920 in the Ostenburg ridge.

Some of the Coastal artillery of six-inch guns are maintained in functional level for symbolic reasons by the navy. The Museum gains its name from the Hoods Tower that commands a 360 degree view of the area and was used for directing artillery. The museum itself is housed in underground casements built during World War II.