Java campaign of 1806–1807: Difference between revisions

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The '''Java campaign of 1806–1807''' was a minor [[military campaign]] of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in which the [[Royal Navy]] targeted and eliminated a Dutchsquadron navalof squadronthe [[navy of the Kingdom of Holland]] based on the island of [[Java]]. In 1806, British Rear-Admiral [[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 time, the Dutch navy's presence in the region consisted primarily of a squadron of three [[Ship of the line|ships of the line]] and several smaller warships under Vice-Admiral [[Pieter Hartsinck]]. As Pellew lacked the strength to invade Java outright, he instead established a [[blockade]] of the Dutch East Indian capital of [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] and made preparations to engage in targeted naval strikes to isolate and destroy Hartsinck's squadron.

Although his plans were 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]] 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 on Batavia]], destroying the last frigate and several smaller warships of the Dutch squadron. As Hartsinck had withdrawn his ships of the line to [[Gresik Regency|Griessie]] prior to the raid, Pellew returned with a second force in October 1807. His forces carried out a [[raid on Griessie]] in early December, during which the Dutch scuttled all three ships of the line.

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==Background==

At the start ofIn 1806, control of the Indian Ocean in the [[Napoleonic Wars]] was disputed. The [[First French Empire|French Empire]] and its client state, the [[Kingdom of Holland]], 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, their position allowing allied raiders to cruise British trade routes and attack isolated convoys, while the Dutch colonies at the [[Dutch Cape of Good HopeColony]] and the [[Dutch East Indies]] controlled the points of entry to the ocean from east and west, with theirsquadrons ownof navalthe squadrons[[navy of the Kingdom of Holland]] based at 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-Admiral [[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&nbsp;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>