Java campaign of 1806–1807
Java campaign of 1806–1807 | |||||||
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Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||
![]() Capture of the Maria Riggersbergen, Octr. 18th 1806 Thomas Whitcombe, 1817 | |||||||
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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
In 1803 at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars,
The British commander in the Indian Ocean, Rear-admiral
Campaign
Frigate reconnaissance

Pellew's efforts to launch a major deployment in 1806—initially planned to be against Isle de France in conjunction with Rear-Admiral
Elphinstone initially cruised through the
In the wake of Elphinstone's success, a second frigate entered Dutch waters,
Attack on Batavia

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.
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
When the winter hurricane season ended in the spring of 1807, Admiral Pellew found his squadron dispersed on a variety of operations from the
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
In the summer of 1807, responsibility for the blockade of the French Indian Ocean bases passed from Pellew at Madras to Rear-Admiral
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
- ^ Adkins, p. 183
- ^ Gardiner, p. 93
- ^ Gardiner, p. 59
- ^ Adkins, p. 342
- ^ James, Vol. 3, p. 212
- ^ Woodman, p. 194
- ^ Clowes, p. 338
- ^ a b c Gardiner, p. 81
- ^ a b "No. 16016". The London Gazette. 4 April 1807. p. 422.
- ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 251
- ^ Clowes, p. 386.
- ^ "No. 16139". The London Gazette. 23 April 1808. p. 568.
- ^ Grocott, p. 213
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 392
- ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 267
- ^ a b "No. 16044". The London Gazette. 4 July 1807. p. 893.
- ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 268
- ^ Clowes, p. 393
- ^ "No. 16044". The London Gazette. 4 July 1807. p. 894.
- ^ a b c Gardiner, p. 82
- ^ Henderson, p. 81
- ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 357
- ^ Clowes, p. 239
- ^ "No. 16137". The London Gazette. 16 April 1808. p. 537.
- ^ Clowes, p. 240
- ^ James, Vol. 4, p. 358
- ^ Gardiner, p. 83
- ^ Gardiner, p. 95
- ^ "No. 16106". The London Gazette. 5 January 1808. p. 38.
- ^ Gardiner, p. 110
Bibliography
- Adkins, Roy & Lesley (2006). The War for All the Oceans. Abacus. ISBN 0-349-11916-3.
- ISBN 1-86176-014-0.
- Grocott, Terence (2002) [1997]. Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Era. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-164-5.
- Henderson CBE, James (1994) [1970]. The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-907-7.
- ISBN 0-85177-908-5.
- ISBN 1-84119-183-3.
- Woodman, Richard (1998). The victory of seapower. Chatham Publishing.