Navy honours nation according a 25-gun salute on Independence Day
 

With all its glory and grandeur, Sri Lanka Navy accorded a 25-gun salute to the nation today, 04 February at the Lighthouse premises in Colombo Fort, at 12.00 p.m. to mark the 70th Independence Day. The Navy’s traditional gun salute, the highest of its kind, was accorded under the directives of Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe and supervision of Commander Western Naval Area, Rear Admiral Niraja Attygalla. The Gun Salute party, which executed the tradition to military precision befitting the occasion, was commanded by Gunnery Officer SLNS Parakrama, Lieutenant Commander Chandima Shantha in the presence of its Commanding Officer Captain Anil Bowatte and Executive Officer, Commander Samantha Perera.

Sri Lanka Navy being the golden fence around the island-nation plays a vital role in protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. Out of the multitude of customary rites it performs, the Gun Salute made on the Independence Day is of great significance due to the national importance of the occasion.

In 1948, the Navy had fired a 15-gun salute at the Galle Face Green on the first Independence Day. In 1949, the Gun Salute had been accorded onboard HMCyS ‘Vijaya’, the Navy’s first warship. One cannon had been used for that naval honour for the nation with an interval of single minute between each fire. After the HMCyS ‘Vijaya’ was decommissioned, three of such guns had been fixed at a place called Galle Buck Bay in the Colombo Harbour. Due to the Colombo harbour development and expansion, the guns had been brought to the present premises at the Lighthouse in the Fort of Colombo in 2000. At present, on February 04th, the Independence Day, the 25-Gunfire Salute is accorded to the nation by the Navy, exactly at 1200 noon, continuing the time-honoured tradition.