Trincomalee, town and port, northeastern Sri Lanka, on the Indian Ocean. The town is the chief port of the Sri Lanka navy. One of the first Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka, it was successively under Portuguese, Dutch, and French control until captured by the British in 1795. The harbor served as a major British naval base during World War II; it was held by the British until 1957. Of note are the ruins here of the Hindu Temple of a Thousand Columns. Population (1981) 44,313.
