1857 to 1861
Trincomalee is once again placed 'in ordinary'.

1861 - January
Trincomalee was towed to Sunderland to act as tender for the drill ship HMS Castor, a vessel used to train Naval Volunteers (boys of 15 or 16 who had signed up to serve for a minimum of ten years once they reached the age of 18). During this time Trincomalee's gun ports were altered to accommodate her training armament.

1862
Trincomalee was moved to West Hartlepool, at the time Britain's third biggest port, and, although no one knew it at the time, her future permanent home. Placed in the Union Dock, she was again classified as a training command.

1870 - April
Trincomalee is upgraded with new guns, refurbished upper deck and a roof to hold out the weather.

1873 - January
Trincomalee was recommissioned.

1877
Trincomalee was moved to Southampton Water as a district drill ship.

1881
A new upper deck and galley were amongst several refurbishments.

1895
HMS Medea was assigned to the role of Southampton area training ship, and Trincomalee was 'reduced to reserve' with the intention being to use her as a depot.

1897 - May
Trincomalee was sold to Reed's of Portsmouth for breaking. However, at roughly the same time TS Foudroyant, once Nelson's flagship and then a private training ship owned by Mr Wheatly Cobb, was wrecked in a storm off Blackpool. Cobb instantly snapped up Trincomalee to replace his lost vessel.

1897 to 1902
Trincomalee was moved to Cowes for repairs and conversion, including the addition of an additional poop deck covering the quarter deck. In 1902 she was moved to Falmouth and repainted.

1903
HMS Trincomalee is renamed TS (Training Ship) Foudroyant, after the lost vessel she was replacing.

1903 to 1927
As Foudroyant, Trincomalee was home to hundreds of trainees for their introduction to basic nautical skills.

1927
TS Foudroyant was moved to Milford Haven.

1932
On Cobb's death she was presented to the Society for Nautical Research by his widow. The SNR relocated her to Portsmouth together with Implacable, where both ships were administered by the Implacable Committee of the SNR, and employed in the youth training role.

World War II
During World War II both ships were requisitioned for war service, firstly as storage ships until 1943, when they were commissioned as one unit, HMS Foudroyant. The unit was used for training new-entry Hostilities Only Ratings, including especially entered Bounty Boys (ex-Sea Cadets).

1949 to 1986
Implacable was ceremonially scuttled after proving unsafe, and Trincomalee once again became the sole incarnation of Foudroyant. With a Trust to support her, she continued in her training role until 1986.

1986
TS Foudroyant fell victim to changes in nautical training, and also a reduction in numbers of schoolchildren requiring the seagoing skills she offered. However, as the second oldest ship afloat (only the USS Constitution is older) it was decided that restoration was a fitting fate for this priceless relic from the Age of Sail.