Maritime History > Training Ships //

Foudroyant Falmouth 1900

Foudroyant, built of teak in Bombay, was launched as HMS Trincomalee, a Leda class frigate of the Royal Navy, on 12 October 1817. 

She was sold for scrap in 1897 and bought by Geoffrey Wheatley-Cobb.

Foudroyant Dry Dock c. 1910

Geoffrey Wheatley-Cobb brought her to Falmouth in 1902 and moored her off Flushing as a training ship for boys. She was a significant feature of the inner harbour until 1927.

Cutty Sark and Foudroyant

Cutty Sark and Foudroyant moored in Falmouth Harbour ca 1920

Cutty Sark off Flushing

Cutty Sark was launched in 1869 and made her last passage under the British flag in 1895, carrying her biggest cargo of wool from Brisbane to London. She was then sold and sailed under the Portuguese flag for the next 27 years. 

In 1922 she was bought by Captain Wilfred Dowman, of Trevissome, Penryn, who brought her to Falmouth for restoration, where she remained until 1938.

Cutty Sark in Falmouth Dry Dock (1933)

On Captain Dowman’s death, his widow presented Cutty Sark to the Thames Nautical Training College at Greenhithe. She now lies at Greenwich, beautifully restored.

Trincomalee

Foudroyant was renamed back to Trincomalee in 1992, and now lies afloat, fully restored at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Hartlepool.

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is the oldest British warship afloat today, and the second oldest in the world after the USS Constitution in Boston, USA