Raid on Griessie
| Raid on Griessie | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Griessie, Java, Dutch East Indies 7°08′17″S 112°39′10″E / 7.13806°S 112.65278°E | |
| Result | British victory |
United Kingdom
Holland
Captain Cowell- 2 ships of the line
- 2 frigates
- 4 smaller warships
- 3 ships of the line
- 1 shore battery
- 3 ships of the line scuttled
- 1 shore battery destroyed
The Raid on Griessie was a British attack on the Dutch port of
On the morning of 5 December 1807, a second raiding squadron under Pellew appeared off Griessie and demanded that the Dutch squadron in the harbour surrender. The Dutch commander—Captain Cowell—refused and seized the boat party carrying the message. Pellew responded by advancing up the river and exchanging fire with a Dutch gun battery on Madura Island. At that point, the governor in Surabaya overruled Captain Cowell, released the seized boat party, and agreed to surrender the ships at anchor in Gresik harbour. However, by the time Pellew reached the anchorage, Cowell had scuttled all the ships in shallow water, and Pellew could only set the wreckage on fire. Landing shore parties, the British destroyed all military supplies in the town and demolished the battery on Madura. With the destruction of the force in Griessie, the last of the Dutch naval forces in the Pacific were eliminated. British forces returned to the region in 1810 with a large-scale expeditionary force that successfully invaded and captured Java in 1811, temporarily removing the last Dutch colony east of Africa.
Background
In 1804, at the start of the
At the action of 26 July 1806, a Dutch convoy sailing along the southern coast of Celebes was attacked and defeated by one of Pellew's reconnaissance frigates, HMS Greyhound. Among the captured ships were the Dutch frigate Pallas and two large merchant vessels.[3] Three months later, the frigate HMS Caroline entered Batavia harbour itself, seizing the Dutch frigate Maria Reigersbergen at the action of 18 October 1806.[4] These successes encouraged Pellew to conduct a larger scale operation, launching a major Raid on Batavia harbour on 27 November 1806. As his large squadron sailed into the bay, the surviving Dutch ships were driven on shore to avoid capture, boarding parties under Admiral Pellew's son, Captain Fleetwood Pellew, completing the destruction by setting the wrecks on fire.[5]
Several vessels, including all of the Dutch ships of the line, had escaped the raid. Hartsinck had sought to divide his forces shortly before Pellew's attack and consequently sent several vessels eastwards along the Javan coast under an American-born Dutch officer named Captain Cowell. Cowell's force eventually sheltered in a protected anchorage at the town of
Admiral Pellew could not return to Java early in 1807, as his ships were dispersed on separate operations across the Indian Ocean, some deploying as far west as the
Pellew at Griessie
When news of the Dutch whereabouts reached Admiral Pellew at
Sailing from Malacca on 20 November, Pellew's squadron passed along the Javan coast for 15 days, reaching Panka Point on 5 December and sending a boat under a flag of truce into Griessie with instructions for the Dutch commander to surrender his ships. Captain Cowell refused and ordered the boat party to be arrested. He then sent a Dutch officer aboard Culloden to inform Pellew of his actions.[11] In response, Pellew determined to attack the port and ordered that Culloden and Powerful be lightened by removing unnecessary stores to enable them to sail into the shallow straits. On 6 December, the British squadron moved steadily towards Griessie through the Madura Strait, coming under fire from heated cannonballs from a battery of nine cannon situated at Sambelangan on Madura Island. Returning fire with his full squadron, Pellew rapidly silenced the battery without loss or significant damage to his ships, and as the squadron approached Griessie, a message from the civilian governor in Sourabaya reached Pellew, reversing Cowell's orders, releasing the captured boat party and unconditionally surrendering the ships in the harbour.[12]
On 7 December, Pellew agreed to formal terms for the surrender of Revolutie, Pluto, Kortenaar and the Dutch East Indiaman Rustloff that were anchored in Griessie. However, when British boats entered the harbour, it was discovered that Cowell had issued orders for all four ships to be scuttled, their wrecks protruding from the shallow water. Unable to remove the ships, Pellew ordered their remains burnt while British landing parties spread throughout the town, burning the military stores and destroying the cannon that had been removed from the ship.[12] Another landing party took possession of the remains of the battery at Sambelangan and demolished it. British operations were complete by 11 December, and Pellew ordered the squadron to withdraw and return to India.[13]
Aftermath
The final operation of Pellew's Java campaign, completed with minimal casualties on either side, saw the eradication of the Dutch naval presence in the East Indies for the remainder of the war.
Notes
- ^ The former commander of Powerful, Captain Robert Plampin, had returned to Britain in 1807 due to ill health.[9] Pellew's father subsequently ensured his son's elevation to command the ship of the line. Captain Pellew's command was temporary and the following year, once his father had moved to command the Mediterranean Fleet, he was transferred to the frigate HMS Phaeton.[10]
References
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-86176-014-0.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1998]. The Victory of Seapower. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-359-1.
- Henderson CBE, James (1994) [1970]. The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-908-5.