Raid on Batavia (1806)

Raid on Batavia
Part of the Napoleonic Wars
A painting by Thomas Whitcombe depicting Batavia harbour in 1806.
Date 27 November 1806 Location Batavia, Java, Dutch East Indies Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Kingdom of Holland
Commanders and leaders
Edward Pellew	Admiral Hartsinck
Strength
4 ships of the line 2 frigates 1 brig	1 frigate 8 smaller warships 22 merchant ships 1 gun battery
Casualties and losses
1 killed 4 wounded	1 frigate destroyed 7 smaller warships destroyed 20 merchant ships destroyed 1 brig captured 2 merchant ships captured

The Raid on Batavia of 27 November 1806 was a successful attempt by a large British naval force to destroy the Dutch squadron based on Java in the Dutch East Indies that posed a threat to British shipping in the Straits of Malacca. The British admiral in command of the eastern Indian Ocean, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, led a force of four ships of the line, two frigates and brig to the capital of Java at Batavia (later renamed Jakarta), in search of the squadron, which was reported to consist of a number of Dutch ships of the line and several smaller vessels. However the largest Dutch ships had already sailed eastwards towards Griessie over a month earlier, and Pellew only discovered the frigate Phoenix and a number of smaller warships in the bay, all of which were driven ashore by their crews rather than engage Pellew's force. The wrecks were subsequently burnt and Pellew, unaware of the whereabouts of the main Dutch squadron, returned to his base at Madras for the winter.

The raid was the third of series of actions intended to eliminate the threat posed to British trade routes by the Dutch squadron: at the action of 26 July 1806 and the action of 18 October 1806, British frigates sent on reconnaissance missions to the region succeeded in attacking and capturing two Dutch frigates and a number of other vessels. The raid reduced the effectiveness of Batavia as a Dutch base, but the continued presence of the main Dutch squadron at Griessie concerned Pellew and he led a second operation the following year to complete his defeat of the Dutch. Three years later, with the French driven out of the western Indian Ocean, British forces in the region were strong enough to prepare an expeditionary force against the Dutch East Indies, which effectively ended the war in the east.