The quake was the largest since 1964 and measured 9.3 on the Richter scale. Some aftershocks occurred in the following days but the most powerful and destructive aftermath of this undersea earthquake was the Tsunami it triggered.

The word Tsunami comes from the Japanese words “Tsu” meaning harbour and “Nami” meaning waves. A Tsunami is a wave or series of waves. They can be hundreds of kilometers long and over 10 meters high. They can travel as fast as or faster than a jet plane and on 26th December the Tsunami travelled at an astonishing 480 kmph.

On 26th December 2004, Boxing Day, the Naval Dockyard in Trincomalee was getting ready to start the day’s work at 0900. Suddenly the water level inside the harbour started rising and soon the piers and jetties were completely flooded with seawater. The ships and fast attack craft secured along sides started moving up on to the piers. Within a few minutes the inner harbour road was completely flooded. This was a phenomenon we had never experienced before. Our main concern was to save the ships and craft. Quickly orders went out to take all ships and craft to the harbour basin. Available Commanding Officers, Officers in Command, other officers, senior and junior sailors took charge of the vessels and put them to sea including non operational boats which were taken in tow.

For a few hours the water was flooding and ebbing in quick succession moving the ships up and down with it. At times the old Saigan Ship, a sunken wreck from World War II could be seen lying on its bottom keel with the edge of its slipway rails visible. It took a few hours before the water settled down and it lay there as if nothing had happened. News of the worst natural disaster in Sri Lankan history poured in bringing sad stories of destruction, loss of life and property and tales of agony.

What saved Trincomalee harbour was Mother Nature. The entrance is narrow and even then it is not directly exposed to the ocean. The Tsunami had to come in through Trincomalee Bay and turn northwards to enter through the narrow gap between Eagle Point and Osternberg to enter the harbour. By this time the power of the wave was greatly reduced and only the water level rose so our Fleet, lives and property were saved.

The Tsunami hit near by places like Muttur, Kinniya and Naval installations on the Eastern coast and in other Naval areas. This was not known to the Naval dockyard until later when reports of the devastating effects of the Tsunami came in. The Navy had a big role to play in rescue and relief operations in most of the coastal areas affected by the Tsunami.

Despite suffering our own losses our attention was directed to serve the needs of the public.

Rescuing people, providing first aid, clearing roads of debris, dispatching the injured to hospitals and recovering dead bodies were some of the immediate tasks performed by the Navy. The next stage included setting up temporary shelters, providing food, water and medicine and assisting civil and voluntary organizations in providing relief to the victims.

Being the guardian of ports , the Navy was asked to co-ordinate international aid and relief efforts arriving by sea. There were a large number of war ships including vessels from the UK, India, USA, Thailand, Pakistan and Bangladesh arriving in our ports.

The Sri Lankan Navy played a key role in the re-construction and rehabilitation phase which followed. Senior Naval Officers were appointed as the district co-ordinating officers who liaised with the central and local government as well as non-governmental organizations providing assistance to affected people. People in Sri Lanka will remember the efforts of the Sri Lanka Navy during the worst natural disaster to have hit this country in recent history.

Thanks to Commodore JSK COLOMBAGE of the Sri Lankan Navy for this article.