THE remarkable history of Britain’s oldest warship still afloat and docked in North-East waters has been remembered as she reaches her 200th anniversary.

HMS Trincomalee’s bicentenary has been honoured to mark 200 years since she was built in Mumbai, formerly Bombay, in India, in 1817.

The warship first docked in the region 30 years ago and is a major attraction at the Jackson Dock in Hartlepool as part of the town’s National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Celebrations held yesterday saw Hartlepool’s Mayor, Councillor Paul Beck, join the Friends of HMS Trincomalee, to commemorate the ship’s history.

In the late 1800s, she was used to quell riots in Haiti and stop a threatened invasion of Cuba, as well as serve on anti-slavery patrol, before being used as an accommodation and training ship, officially ending service in 1986.

Roslyn Adamson, general manager at The National Museum of the Royal Navy Hartlepool, said: “HMS Trincomalee is one of the region’s key landmarks and visitor attractions, and we are fortunate to have her on our doorstep.

“She has contributed a great deal to the Tees Valley and Hartlepool’s economic wellbeing for the past 30 years, as she continues to welcome thousands of visitors each year.”

She added: “Here’s to the next 200 years.”