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| conflict = Java campaign of 1806–1807
| partof = the [[Napoleonic Wars]]
| image = Capture of the Maria Riggersbergen, Octr. 18th. 1806.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = ''Capture of the Maria Riggersbergen, Octr. 18th 1806'' <br /> [[Thomas Whitcombe]], 1817
| date = June 1806 – December 1807
}}
The '''Java campaign of 1806–1807''' was a minor [[military campaign]] of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in which the [[Royal Navy]] targeted and eliminateddestroyed a Dutchsquadron navalof squadronthe based[[navy onof the islandKingdom of Holland]] based on [[Java]]. In 1806, British[[Rear admiral (Royal Navy)|Rear-Admiraladmiral]] [[Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth|Sir Edward Pellew]] determined that the [[Kingdom of Holland]]'s warships in the [[Dutch East Indies]] posed a potential threat to British merchant shipping passing through the [[Malacca Straits]]. At the timesquadron, the Dutch navy's presence in the region consisted primarily of a squadronconsisting of three [[Ship of the line|ships of the line]] and several smaller warships under [[Vice admiral|Vice-Admiraladmiral]] [[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 IndianIndies]]' capital of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] and made preparations to engage in targeted naval strikes to isolate and destroy Hartsinck's squadron.
Although hishe plans werewas delayed by inadequate resources and the [[Vellore Mutiny]] in India, Pellew sent the frigate [[HMS Greyhound (1783)|HMS ''Greyhound'']] to the [[Java Sea]] in July 1806. There, she [[Action of 26 July 1806|intercepted and destroyed a Dutch convoy]] near [[Sulawesi|Celebes]] on 26 July. Nearly three months later, another British frigate, [[HMS Caroline (1795)|HMS ''Caroline'']], captured a Dutch frigate and brig in the [[action of 18 October 1806|on 18 October]] off Batavia. Building on this momentum, Pellew brought his main force to the region and on 27 November launched a [[Raid on Batavia (1806)|raid onraided Batavia]], destroying the last frigate and several smaller warships of the DutchHartsinck's squadron. As Hartsinckthe had withdrawn histhree ships of the line had escaped to [[Gresik Regency|Griessie]] prior to the raid, Pellew returned with a second force in October 1807. His forces carried out a [[raidRaid on Griessie|raided Griessie]] in early December, during which the Dutch scuttled 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 (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] and [[Réunion|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==
AtIn the startbeginning of 1806, control of the Indian Ocean in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] was disputed. The [[First French Empire|French Empire]] and its Dutch client state, the [[Batavian Republic|Batavian Commonwealth]] (which became the [[Kingdom of Holland]] in mid-1806), held significant naval bases in the region, from which their warships could operate against British interests. The French islandscolonies of [[Île Bonaparte]] and [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Isle de France]] and [[Réunion|Isle Bonaparte]] dominated the central Indian Ocean, theirallowing position allowingallied raiders to cruise British trade routes and attack isolated convoys, while the [[Dutch colonies at the [[Cape of Good HopeColony]] and the [[Dutch East Indies]] controlled the points of entry to the ocean from east and west, with theirsquadron ownbeing navalbased squadronsat both colonies.<ref name="RLA183">Adkins, p. 183</ref><ref name="RG93">Gardiner, p. 93</ref> The British, whose bases in India gave them control of the Northern Indian Ocean, were able to obtain supplies and reinforcements from Europe more easily than their enemies, as the Royal Navy was already dominant in European waters, but British forces in the region were still insufficient to make a significant impact on the French and Dutch territories.<ref name="RG59">Gardiner, p. 59</ref> Control of the Indian Ocean was essential for the British war effort, because the British economy relied heavily on trade with the holdings of the [[Honourable East India Company]] in India and with other ports in the east, particularly in China.<ref name="RLA342">Adkins, p. 342</ref>
In 1803 at the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, [[Linois' expedition to the Indian Ocean|a French squadron]] under Rear[[Counter admiral|Counter-Admiraladmiral]] [[Charles-Alexandre Durand Linois|Charles Linois]] was already operating in the Indian Ocean against British commerce, initially based at Isle de France.<ref name= "WJ3:212">James, Vol. 3, p. 212</ref> Linois's principal target was the China Fleet, a large annual convoy of valuable [[East Indiamen]] merchant ships and smaller "country ships" that sailed from [[Guangzhou|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]].<ref name="RW194">Woodman, p. 194</ref> 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, Dutch East Indies|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.<ref name="WLC338">Clowes, p. 338</ref>
The British commander in the Indian Ocean, Rear-Admiraladmiral [[Peter Rainier (Royal Navy officer, born 1741)|Peter Rainier]], was preoccupied with protecting merchant shipping off India during 1804 and 1805 to be able to risk an expedition to the [[Java Sea]]. His successor, Rear-Admiraladmiral [[Edward Pellew|Sir Edward Pellew]] was distracted by the continued operations of Linois's squadron and attacks from frigates based at Isle de France to take any action against the Dutch before the beginning of the monsoon season at the end of 1805, at which point the threat posed by [[hurricanes]] prevented any major seabourne operations. However, by early 1806, the departure of Linois into the Atlantic Ocean allowed Pellew and his squadron in [[Madras]] to consider offensive operations against enemy harbours.<ref name="RG81"/> In addition to the threat from cruising French squadrons, thea Dutchsquadron maintainedof theirthe own[[navy forceof onthe Java,Kingdom of Holland]] under Vice-Admiraladmiral [[Pieter Hartsinck]] was based at Batavia. ThisHartsinck's squadron—whichsquadron, which consisted of three ships of the line, three frigates and a number of smaller warships—waswarships, 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.<ref name="RG81"/> 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.{{fact|date=May 2025}}
Control of the Indian Ocean was essential for the British war effort, because the British economy relied heavily on trade with the holdings of the Honourable East India Company in India and with other ports in the east, particularly in China.[4]
==Campaign==
===Attack on Batavia===
{{further|Raid on Batavia (1806)}}
[[File:Thomas Luny - The Frigates Sir Francis Drake and Terpsichore Attacking the Dutch Frigate Phoenix and Other Shipping in Batavia Roads, 1806.jpg|thumb|The British [[Raid on Batavia (1806)|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.<ref name="LG1">{{London Gazette|issue=16044|page=893|date=4 July 1807}}</ref> Reaching the [[Sunda Strait]] on 23 November, Pellew passed by the port of [[Bantam (city)|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.<ref name="WLC392">Clowes, p. 392</ref> 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.<ref name="WJ268">James, Vol. 4, p. 268</ref>
==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 theIsle Frenchde islands of Île BonaparteFrance and Isle de FranceBonaparte, which proved very difficult to subdue during the ensuing [[Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811]].<ref name="RG95">Gardiner, p. 95</ref> 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 dollar]]s and an exceptionally valuable cargo,<ref name="LG6">{{London Gazette|issue=16106|page=38|date=5 January 1808}}</ref> 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 [[Invasion of the Spice Islands|Spice Islands were captured]] and in 1811 [[Invasion of Java (1811)|Java was seized]]. British naval movements were completely unopposed, allowing a rapid and successful conclusion to the war in the Pacific.<ref name="RG110">Gardiner, p. 110</ref>
==References==
{{DEFAULTSORT:Java, campaign of 1806-1807}}
[[Category:Java campaign of 1806–1807| ]]
[[Category:1806 in the Dutch East Indies]]
[[Category:1807 in the Dutch East Indies]]
[[Category:19th century in Java]]
[[Category:Naval battles involving the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
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