Raid on Manila

Raid on Manila
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Journey of Cooke around the Philippines in 1798
Date January 1798 Location Manila, Spanish Philippines Result British victory at Manila Spanish victory at Zamboanga
Belligerents
Great Britain	Spain
Commanders and leaders
Captain Edward Cooke	Rear Admiral Ignacio Maria de Álava
Strength
Frigates HMS Sybille and HMS Fox	Defences of Manila
Casualties and losses
None at Manila; 6 killed, 16 wounded and a boat sunk at Zamboanga	3 gunboats captured at Manila; 1 killed and 4 wounded at Zamboanga

14°31′N 120°56′E / 14.517°N 120.933°E / 14.517; 120.933

The raid on Manila of January 1798 was a Royal Navy false flag military operation during the French Revolutionary Wars intended to scout the strength of the defences of Manila, capital of the Spanish Philippines, capture a Manila galleon and assess the condition of the Spanish Navy squadron maintained in the port. Spain had transformed from an ally of Great Britain in the War of the First Coalition into an enemy in 1796. Thus, the presence of a powerful Spanish squadron at Manila posed a threat to the China Fleet, an annual convoy of East Indiaman merchant ships from Macau in Qing Dynasty China to Britain, which was of vital economic importance to Britain. So severe was this threat that a major invasion of the Spanish Philippines had been planned from British India during 1797, but had been called off following the Treaty of Campo Formio in Europe and the possibility of a major war in India between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore.

To ensure the safety of the merchant ships gathering at Macau in the winter of 1797–1798, the British commander in the East Indies, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, sent a convoy to China escorted by the frigates HMS Sybille and HMS Fox and commanded by Captain Edward Cooke. After completing his mission Cooke decided to investigate the state of readiness of Spanish forces in Manila himself. He was also intrigued by reports that a ship carrying treasure was due to sail from Manila, which would make a valuable prize. Sailing in Sybille and accompanied by Captain Pulteney Malcolm in Fox, Cooke reached the Spanish capital on 13 January 1798.

Anchored in Manila Bay, Cooke pretended that his ships were French vessels and successfully lured successive boatloads of Spanish officials aboard, taking them prisoner in turn. Once he had determined from his captives the state of defences in Manila, that the treasure ship had been unloaded at Cavite and that the Spanish squadron was undergoing extensive repairs and thus unavailable for operations, he sent a raiding party against a squadron of gunboats in the mouth of the Pasig River. Capturing the gunboats in a bloodless attack, Cooke then released his prisoners and sailed southwards, unsuccessfully assaulting Zamboanga before returning to Macau.