Java campaign of 1806–1807

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Java campaign of 1806–1807
Part of the Napoleonic Wars

Capture of the Maria Riggersbergen, Octr. 18th 1806
Thomas Whitcombe, 1817
DateJune 1806 – December 1807
Location
Java, Dutch East Indies
Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Holland
Dutch East Indies
Commanders and leaders
Edward Pellew
 Pieter Hartsinck


The Java campaign of 1806–1807 was a military campaign of the Napoleonic Wars in which the Royal Navy destroyed a squadron of the navy of the Kingdom of Holland based on Java. In 1806, Rear-admiral Sir Edward Pellew determined that the Dutch squadron, consisting of three ships of the line and several smaller warships under Vice-admiral Pieter Hartsinck, posed a potential threat to British merchant shipping passing through the Strait of Malacca. As Pellew lacked the strength to invade Java outright, he instead established a blockade of the Dutch East Indies' capital of Batavia and made preparations to engage in targeted naval strikes to isolate and destroy Hartsinck's squadron.

Although he was delayed by inadequate resources and the Vellore Mutiny, Pellew sent the frigate HMS Greyhound to the Java Sea in July 1806. There, she destroyed a Dutch convoy near Celebes on 26 July. Nearly three months later, another British frigate, HMS Caroline, captured a Dutch frigate and brig on 18 October off Batavia. Building on this momentum, Pellew brought his main force to the region and on 27 November raided Batavia, destroying the last frigate and several smaller warships of Hartsinck's squadron. As the three ships of the line had escaped to Griessie prior to the raid, Pellew returned in October 1807. His forces raided Griessie in early December, during which all three ships of the line were scuttled.

The destruction of Hartsinck's squadron led to the collapse of Dutch naval power in the region and secured Britain's command of the sea across the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, ensuring safe passage for British merchant shipping. With the Dutch no longer a threat to British mercantile interests in the East Indies, Britain's attention turned to the two remaining French colonies in the Indian Ocean, Isle de France and Isle Bonaparte. In the Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811, both colonies were occupied by British forces, ending the threat from European rivals to Britain's interests in the region.

Background

In the beginning of 1806, control of the Indian Ocean in the

Honourable East India Company in India and with other ports in the east, particularly in China.[4]

In 1803 at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars,

East Indiamen merchant ships and smaller "country ships" that sailed from Canton early in the year and crossed the Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, then passing northwards to Europe. In 1804, this convoy was worth over £8 million and included 29 ships which—due to the sudden news of the outbreak of war—were entirely unprotected by the Royal Navy during the first leg of its journey across the South China Sea.[6] Although Linois was not aware of the weakness of the convoy's defences, he knew of its importance and value and determined to intercept it, using Batavia on the island of Java as his main base. Ultimately Linois failed to defeat the convoy, withdrawing after some initial skirmishing at the Battle of Pulo Aura, but the importance of Batavia as a base against British shipping was confirmed.[7]

The British commander in the Indian Ocean, Rear-admiral

Madras to consider offensive operations against enemy harbours.[8] In addition to the threat from cruising French squadrons, a squadron of the navy of the Kingdom of Holland under Vice-admiral Pieter Hartsinck was based at Batavia. Hartsinck's squadron, which consisted of three ships of the line, three frigates and a number of smaller warships, was principally tasked with anti-piracy operations, but their presence so close to the Malacca Straits was a source of concern to the British command in India.[8] Control of the Indian Ocean was essential for the British war effort, because the British economy relied heavily on trade with British India and other parts of Asia, particularly China.[citation needed
]

Campaign

Frigate reconnaissance

For more details on this topic, see Action of 26 July 1806 and Action of 18 October 1806.
The action of 18 October 1806, the second engagement of the campaign

Pellew's efforts to launch a major deployment in 1806—initially planned to be against Isle de France in conjunction with Rear-Admiral

Edward Troubridge, son of Admiral Troubridge.[9]

Elphinstone initially cruised through the

Molucca Islands in June and July with some success, and on 25 July he discovered four Dutch ships passing through the Selayar Strait. Cautious of the larger force, Elphinstone observed the Dutch ships during the night and on the morning of 26 July identified the ships as a frigate, a corvette and two merchant ships, including a large East Indiaman. In response to the British ships, Dutch Captain Nicolaas Sebastiaan Aalbers formed his convoy into a line of battle, hoping to dissuade Elphinstone from pressing home his attack.[10] The British were not deterred and Greyhound engaged the Dutch frigate Pallas directly while Harrier passed between the frigate and the merchant ship next in line, raking them both. Within 40 minutes, Pallas had surrendered and Harrier then successfully chased down and captured the two merchant ships while the corvette fled to the Sulawesi coast, evading pursuit.[11]

In the wake of Elphinstone's success, a second frigate entered Dutch waters,

ships of the line had sailed eastward from Batavia,[12] except Schrikverwekker, which had been wrecked in the Thousand Islands on 18 May with the loss of two men.[13] He also learned that the Dutch frigate Phoenix was undergoing repairs at an exposed anchorage on Onrust Island close to Batavia harbour. Sailing to investigate, Caroline arrived off the port on 18 October, but encountered two Dutch brigs that raised the alarm, allowing Phoenix to escape into the main harbour.[14] Undeterred, Rainier sailed into Batavia roadstead and there discovered a number of small warships and the frigate Maria Riggersbergen. The smaller ships drove themselves on shore rather than fight the larger British vessel, but Captain Claas Jager on Maria Riggersbergen engaged Caroline. In a battle lasting 30 minutes, the Dutch ship was defeated and captured, Rainier sending the prisoners on shore and removing the frigate, which was later renamed HMS Java.[15]

Attack on Batavia

Further information: Raid on Batavia (1806)
The British raid on Batavia on 27 November 1806

Encouraged by the success of his frigates in the Java Sea, Pellew mustered a significant force in the early autumn of 1806, including four ships of the line, two frigates and a brig with which to eliminate the remaining Dutch squadron.

Bantam and on 27 November reached Batavia, splitting his forces so that the lighter vessels sailed close to shore and the ships of the line remained in deeper water outside the channel entering the harbour. A corvette was captured, and the rest of the Dutch squadron was taken by surprise, mistaking Pellew's force for a French squadron.[14] By the time their mistake was revealed, the harbour was already blocked and so Captain F. W. C. van de Sande drove Phoenix ashore, followed by six other warships and 22 merchant ships.[17]

Determined to eliminate the Dutch ships, Admiral Pellew gave orders that the squadron's boats gather next to the frigate HMS Terpsichore commanded by his son Captain Fleetwood Pellew. Boarding parties of sailors and Royal Marines were then despatched to the stranded Dutch vessels, under the distant cover of the frigates and coming under attack by Dutch batteries from the shoreline.[16] Boarding Phoenix, it was discovered that van de Sande had ordered his ship to be scuttled, rendering Phoenix useless. Taking over the wrecked ship's guns, Captain Pellew opened fire on the other grounded ships, as his boats approached and boarded them in turn, the entire operation conducted with the loss of just one man killed and four wounded.[18] Once taken, the ships that could not be refloated were burnt, Captain Pellew waiting until the rest of the Dutch ships were destroyed before setting fire to the wreck of Phoenix and returning to his ship. In total, one frigate, seven smaller warships and 20 merchant ships were destroyed, while one small warship and two merchant craft were captured.[19] With his objective complete, Admiral Pellew ordered his ships to disperse and return to friendly ports for the winter.[20]

Griessie

Further information: Raid on Griessie

When the winter hurricane season ended in the spring of 1807, Admiral Pellew found his squadron dispersed on a variety of operations from the

Griessie near Surabaya and had deteriorated beyond repair. With their mission complete, the frigates separated to raid Dutch shipping, Psyche sailing west along the coast until Pellew reached the port of Semarang.[22]

Observing two ships at anchor in Semarang roads, Pellew sent in his ship's boats on the morning of 31 August under the command of Lieutenant Kersteman. Despite heavy fire from batteries on shore, Kersteman successfully towed the vessels out without suffering any casualties, capturing an 8-gun

hauling down their colours.[23] The surrendered ships were boarded and refloated, their identities established as the 24-gun corvette Scipio, the armed merchant ship Resolutie and the 12-gun Dutch East India Company ship Ceres. Dutch casualties are unknown but the commander of the convoy—Captain Carriage—was killed in the brief engagement, while Psyche survived the action without a man killed or wounded. All of the prisoners were landed at Semarang under terms of parole, as many of Pellew's men were away from the ship in prizes and men could not be spared to watch the Dutch prisoners.[24]

In the summer of 1807, responsibility for the blockade of the French Indian Ocean bases passed from Pellew at Madras to Rear-Admiral

Madura Island.[25]

As Pellew's squadron neared Griessie, a message arrived from the Dutch governor at Sourabaya, reversing Cowell's orders and offering a full surrender. Pellew accepted the message and on 7 December his ships entered Griessie. However, during the time it had taken to exchange messages, Cowell had ordered the scuttling of all ships in Griessie harbour to prevent them from falling into British hands.[26] The ships were scuttled in shallow water, leaving only wrecked hulls for the British to claim. Pellew ordered the hulls burned, and British landing parties entered the town, burning and destroying all military supplies and cannon they found. Another British party landed at Sambelangan and demolished the battery there. Pellew withdrew on 11 December, his ambition of destroying the Dutch East Indies squadron complete.[27]

Aftermath

The success of the campaign against the Dutch squadron in the East Indies allowed British forces in the Indian Ocean to focus exclusively on Isle de France and Isle Bonaparte, which proved difficult to subdue during the ensuing Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811.[28] Freedom of movement for British forces in the East Indies proved invaluable however: on 27 January 1807, Peter Rainier in Caroline had seized a Spanish ship San Raphael carrying over half a million Spanish dollars and an exceptionally valuable cargo,[29] and the ability of British commerce raiders to act against French, Spanish and Dutch merchant shipping in the region was assured. When Pellew's successor Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury attempted to eliminate the Dutch East Indies islands in a series of large scale invasions during 1810, the Spice Islands were captured and in 1811 Java was seized. British naval movements were completely unopposed, allowing a rapid and successful conclusion to the war in the Pacific.[30]

References

  1. ^ Adkins, p. 183
  2. ^ Gardiner, p. 93
  3. ^ Gardiner, p. 59
  4. ^ Adkins, p. 342
  5. ^ James, Vol. 3, p. 212
  6. ^ Woodman, p. 194
  7. ^ Clowes, p. 338
  8. ^ a b c Gardiner, p. 81
  9. ^ a b "No. 16016". The London Gazette. 4 April 1807. p. 422.
  10. ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 251
  11. ^ Clowes, p. 386.
  12. ^ "No. 16139". The London Gazette. 23 April 1808. p. 568.
  13. ^ Grocott, p. 213
  14. ^ a b Clowes, p. 392
  15. ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 267
  16. ^ a b "No. 16044". The London Gazette. 4 July 1807. p. 893.
  17. ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 268
  18. ^ Clowes, p. 393
  19. ^ "No. 16044". The London Gazette. 4 July 1807. p. 894.
  20. ^ a b c Gardiner, p. 82
  21. ^ Henderson, p. 81
  22. ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 357
  23. ^ Clowes, p. 239
  24. ^ "No. 16137". The London Gazette. 16 April 1808. p. 537.
  25. ^ Clowes, p. 240
  26. ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 358
  27. ^ Gardiner, p. 83
  28. ^ Gardiner, p. 95
  29. ^ "No. 16106". The London Gazette. 5 January 1808. p. 38.
  30. ^ Gardiner, p. 110

Bibliography

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