Persian Gulf campaign of 1809
Encyclopedia
The Persian Gulf Campaign, in 1809, was an operation by a British Royal Navy
to force Arab pirates to cease their raids on British ships in the Persian Gulf
, particularly on the Persian and Arabian coasts of the Straits of Hormuz. The operation's success was limited as the Royal Navy forces, already heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars
, were unable to permanently suppress pirate activity in the region. The expedition did achieve its short term goals by destroying three pirate bases and over 80 pirate vessels, including the largest pirate ship in the region, the converted merchant ship Minerva. Although operations continued into 1810, the British were unable to destroy every pirate vessel and by 1811 the pirate attacks had resumed, although at a lower intensity than previously.
The operation was a joint campaign by the Royal Navy and the fleet of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC), with soldiers drawn from the garrison of Bombay. The expeditionary force, led by Captain John Wainwright in the Navy frigate
HMS Chiffone
, was despatched to the region, following an escalation in pirate attacks on British shipping in the Persian Gulf
after the French established diplomatic missions in Muscat
and Tehran
in 1807, and encouraged pirate activity. These attacks not only threatened British trade links in the region, but also placed British relations with Oman
and Persia in jeopardy at a time when French aspirations against British India were a cause for concern to the British government.
Because the available charts of the Persian Gulf were inaccurate or incomplete at the time, pirate ships could hide from Wainwright's squadron in the uncharted inlets, a problem Wainwright reported upon his return that resulted in improved British cartography
of the area.
was an important link in the trade route
s from British India to the United Kingdom
, and Honourable East India Company
(HEIC) merchant ships, known as East Indiamen, regularly crossed the ocean carrying millions of pounds worth of goods. One of the most important ports for the Indian trade was Bombay, on the western coast of the Indian subcontinent, a significant hub for regional trade with its links to the Persian and Arab ports of the Persian Gulf
. The ships that traded in the Persian Gulf were named "country ships" and were much smaller and weaker than the big East Indiamen. The British had long maintained a naval presence in the region, but the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1803 diverted much of the British strength in the Indian Ocean to the Dutch colonies of the Cape of Good Hope
and Java
and the French bases on Île Bonaparte and Île de France
, leaving the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea
largely undefended. In addition, convoy guardships were needed to escort the East Indiamen through hostile waters and the Navy presence in the Gulf was replaced by warships owned by the HEIC, part of their private fleet nicknamed the "Bombay Marine".
Like the Royal Navy, the Bombay Marine were spread across many thousands of miles of ocean, often leaving the country ships in the Persian Gulf undefended. As French raiders were rare in the Gulf, few country ships operated in convoys and so they became targets for pirate dhow
s and bhagalas operating from semi or completely independent harbours in Persia or along the Arabian Peninsula
. In 1805, two large ships Shannon and Trimmer were captured by fleets of pirates, who gathered together to overwhelm the larger merchant ships. The crews were massacred and Trimmer taken over and converted into a formidable pirate ship. When the HEIC warship Mornington, which carried 24 cannon
, attempted to recapture Trimmer a few months later she was attacked by nearly 40 pirate ships and only just managed to escape destruction herself.
, Sa'id II ibn Sultan, signed a treaty at Bandar Abbas
promising to bring an end to piracy originating from his territory, but by 1807 the French had installed consulates in Tehran
and Muscat
and piracy continued unabated with their encouragement. In 1807, Lord Minto
, Governor General of India, determined to send ambassadors to the Sikh Empire, Afghanistan
and Persia in an effort to secure their support and prevent the French from gaining allies on India's western borders. As part of this diplomatic campaign, the ambassador to Persia was instructed to discuss the piracy problem with the Persian government, but due to French influence in Tehran, he was unable to obtain any guarantees.
A second diplomatic mission, sent from London
in 1808 under Sir Harford Jones
, was instructed to discuss the issue again, Jones deciding to travel to Bushire in Persia by sea. The diplomatic convoy consisted of the frigate
HMS Nereide and two HEIC sloops, Sylph and Sapphire. The convoy was commanded by Captain Robert Corbet
, who refused to wait for the slower sloops once the force had reached the Persian Gulf. Nereide arrived at Bushire on 14 October 1808. Jones completed his journey by land. Corbet returned south to the Straits of Hormuz, expecting to meet the sloops on his return journey. On 21 October however he discovered Sylph in the hands of pirates, who had swarmed the isolated warship, captured her and massacred her crew. Corbet was able to recapture the vessel and later rejoined Sapphire, which had been detached to conduct survey's of the Persian coast, but the operation demonstrated that it was the pirates who now controlled the Southern Persian Gulf.
HMS Albion
and frigates HMS Phaeton and HMS Dedaigneuse to the Persian Gulf, pirate dhows appeared off Gujerat, raiding shipping at Surat
before they were driven off by ships of the Bombay Marine. Later in the year, a huge fleet of 50 pirate raiders appeared off Sind
in the Arabian Sea and caused severe disruption to the regional trade. The fleet attacked merchant shipping along the Indian coast and even seized a large country ship named Minerva, massacring her crew and converting her into their flagship. At its height in early 1809, it was estimated that the pirate forces in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea included 60 large bhagalas, over 800 dhows and employed 19,000 men, against just two HEIC ships, Mornington and Teignmouth.
and Chiffone under John Wainwright, who was placed in command of the entire expeditionary force with the temporary rank of commodore
. The force was complemented with troops seconded from the Bombay garrison, including a battalion of the 65th Foot, soldiers from the 47th Foot and an assortment of HEIC marines, engineers, artillery men and sepoys from the 2nd Bombay Native Infantry
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Smith
of the 65th.
The expeditionary force left Bombay on 17 September, intending to rendezvous at Muscat the following week. However, the force was repeatedly delayed during their passage, first with providing escorts to convoys of country ships in the Arabian Sea and subsequently with rescuing survivors of the Stromboli, which was so rotten that she fell apart in the ocean swell with considerable loss of life. When the force eventually arrived at Muscat in October, Sultan Sa'id informed Wainwright that over 20,000 Bedouin
warriors had descended on the coast to join the pirates. Understanding that a protracted land campaign would be impossible with the forces available, Wainwright determined to make a series of small raids against the principle pirate bases in the area of the Straits of Hormuz, beginning with Ras al-Khaimah
, to the north of the Strait on the Arabian coast.
At 02:00 on 13 November, two squadrons of ship's boats made amphibious landings: a small force under Lieutenant Samuel Leslie landed to the north of the emplaced positions, acting as a diversion while the main body of the expeditionary force landed to the south under Lieutenant Colonel Smith. Leslie's diversion distracted the Arab defenders, but enough remained in the southern defences to make a significant counter attack on Smith's beachhead. Cannon fire from the ship's boats covering the landing drove the Arabs back, and Smith ordered his men to advance with their bayonet
s fixed, pushing into the town and driving out the Arabs house by house. To cover their advance, Smith's men set fire to the buildings in their path, which created a pall of smoke under cover of which Smith was able to storm and capture the Sheik's palace.
With the harbour secure, Wainwright ordered the squadron into the bay and there burnt over 50 pirate craft, including 30 large bhagalas. Smith secured the town itself, burning the warehouses where the pirates' loot was stored and destroying the ammunition stores and fortifications around the town. The Arab forces, who had retreated after the fall of the palace, taunted the British from the surrounding hills but did not make any counter attacks. By the morning of 14 September, the operation was complete and the British force returned to their ships, having suffered light casualties of five killed and 34 wounded. Arab losses are unknown, but were probably significant, while the damage done to the pirate fleets was severe: over half of the largest and most dangerous vessels had been destroyed at Ras al-Khaimah.
, the inhabitants fleeing at the arrival of the British fleet, and Wainwright's ships burning 20 dhows without opposition or casualties. Further exploration on the Southern Persian coast revealed that most harbours were empty. Wainwright's main target was Laft
on Qeshm
Island, which was a principal pirate stronghold. Sending ships to block the passages to the Qeshm Channel, Wainwright hired local pilots
and descended on the town on 26 November. Following fruitless negotiations with local sheiks, Wainwright ordered an attack on 27 November at 14:00, Smith's troops landing unopposed. Assuming the enemy to have fled, Smith's men approached the town's fortress, but a heavy fire was unleashed upon them as the British troops reached the gate. Despite heavy casualties, Smith was able to rally his forces and, with artillery support from the sloop Fury, forced the fort to surrender at sunset, after the sheik had been given guarantees he would not be harmed or taken prisoner. Eleven large pirate vessels were burnt by British landing parties, while the expeditionary force suffered 70 casualties in the fight at the fort. Arab losses were estimated at more than 50 killed in the fort alone.
The town was turned over to Sheik Dewar, a local ruler who professed support for the British, and Wainwright withdrew his forces to Muscat in early December; all of the squadron reassembled there by Christmas. Only one further operation was launched, a successful attack on 3 January 1810 against the town of Shinas
, which had rebelled against Sultan Sa'id and was swiftly recaptured and restored to him. Although minor naval operations against individual pirate ships continued into 1810, Wainwright and the main body of the squadron returned to Bombay in January, having considered their mission to inflict significant damage on the pirate forces in the Persian Gulf to have been a success.
seized Medina
in 1812, that some measure of control could be exerted over the pirates of the Arabian peninsula. Subsequent British intervention, both military and diplomatic, also reduced the threat from piracy during the nineteenth century.
The campaign had a significant effect on British cartography
of the region. Wainwright reported that the available charts of the Persian Gulf were inaccurate or incomplete, thus allowing pirate ships to hide from his squadron in uncharted inlets. The Bombay Marine had long been aware of this problem and had been developing charts of the region in the years leading up to the campaign, under David Ewen Bartholomew
, who had been on Sapphire during Corbet's mission to the region and whose charts were published in 1810 as a response to these problems.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to force Arab pirates to cease their raids on British ships in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, particularly on the Persian and Arabian coasts of the Straits of Hormuz. The operation's success was limited as the Royal Navy forces, already heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, were unable to permanently suppress pirate activity in the region. The expedition did achieve its short term goals by destroying three pirate bases and over 80 pirate vessels, including the largest pirate ship in the region, the converted merchant ship Minerva. Although operations continued into 1810, the British were unable to destroy every pirate vessel and by 1811 the pirate attacks had resumed, although at a lower intensity than previously.
The operation was a joint campaign by the Royal Navy and the fleet of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC), with soldiers drawn from the garrison of Bombay. The expeditionary force, led by Captain John Wainwright in the Navy frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
HMS Chiffone
French frigate Chiffone (1800)
The Chiffonne was a 38-gun Heureuse class frigate of the French Navy. She was built at Nantes and launched in 1799. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1801. In 1809 she participated in a campaign against pirates in the Persian Gulf...
, was despatched to the region, following an escalation in pirate attacks on British shipping in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
after the French established diplomatic missions in Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
and Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
in 1807, and encouraged pirate activity. These attacks not only threatened British trade links in the region, but also placed British relations with Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
and Persia in jeopardy at a time when French aspirations against British India were a cause for concern to the British government.
Because the available charts of the Persian Gulf were inaccurate or incomplete at the time, pirate ships could hide from Wainwright's squadron in the uncharted inlets, a problem Wainwright reported upon his return that resulted in improved British cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
of the area.
Background
In the early nineteenth century, the Indian OceanIndian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
was an important link in the trade route
Trade route
A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance arteries which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial...
s from British India to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Honourable East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
(HEIC) merchant ships, known as East Indiamen, regularly crossed the ocean carrying millions of pounds worth of goods. One of the most important ports for the Indian trade was Bombay, on the western coast of the Indian subcontinent, a significant hub for regional trade with its links to the Persian and Arab ports of the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. The ships that traded in the Persian Gulf were named "country ships" and were much smaller and weaker than the big East Indiamen. The British had long maintained a naval presence in the region, but the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1803 diverted much of the British strength in the Indian Ocean to the Dutch colonies of the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
and Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
and the French bases on Île Bonaparte and Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, leaving the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
largely undefended. In addition, convoy guardships were needed to escort the East Indiamen through hostile waters and the Navy presence in the Gulf was replaced by warships owned by the HEIC, part of their private fleet nicknamed the "Bombay Marine".
Like the Royal Navy, the Bombay Marine were spread across many thousands of miles of ocean, often leaving the country ships in the Persian Gulf undefended. As French raiders were rare in the Gulf, few country ships operated in convoys and so they became targets for pirate dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
s and bhagalas operating from semi or completely independent harbours in Persia or along the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
. In 1805, two large ships Shannon and Trimmer were captured by fleets of pirates, who gathered together to overwhelm the larger merchant ships. The crews were massacred and Trimmer taken over and converted into a formidable pirate ship. When the HEIC warship Mornington, which carried 24 cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, attempted to recapture Trimmer a few months later she was attacked by nearly 40 pirate ships and only just managed to escape destruction herself.
Diplomatic failures
Lacking the available naval forces to launch a sizeable campaign in the Gulf, the British authorities attempted to use diplomacy to end the threat. In February 1806, the young Sultan of OmanSultan of Oman
-List of Imams :-Nabhan Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Banu Ghafir Dynasty :-Ya'ariba Dynasty :-Al Said Dynasty :-See also:...
, Sa'id II ibn Sultan, signed a treaty at Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas
Bandar-Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās , also Romanized as Bandar ‘Abbās, Bandar ‘Abbāsī, and Bandar-e ‘Abbās; formerly known as Cambarão and Port Comorão to Portuguese traders, as Gombroon to English traders and as Gamrun or Gumrun to Dutch merchants) is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on...
promising to bring an end to piracy originating from his territory, but by 1807 the French had installed consulates in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
and piracy continued unabated with their encouragement. In 1807, Lord Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto PC , known as Sir Gilbert Elliott between 1777 and 1797 and as The Lord Minto between 1797 and 1813, was a Scottish politician diplomat....
, Governor General of India, determined to send ambassadors to the Sikh Empire, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Persia in an effort to secure their support and prevent the French from gaining allies on India's western borders. As part of this diplomatic campaign, the ambassador to Persia was instructed to discuss the piracy problem with the Persian government, but due to French influence in Tehran, he was unable to obtain any guarantees.
A second diplomatic mission, sent from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1808 under Sir Harford Jones
Sir Harford Jones-Brydges, 1st Baronet
Harford Jones, later Sir Harford Jones Brydges, 1st Baronet, PC, DL , was a British diplomat and author.-Life:...
, was instructed to discuss the issue again, Jones deciding to travel to Bushire in Persia by sea. The diplomatic convoy consisted of the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
HMS Nereide and two HEIC sloops, Sylph and Sapphire. The convoy was commanded by Captain Robert Corbet
Robert Corbet
Captain Robert Corbet RN , often spelled Corbett, was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who was killed in action in highly controversial circumstances...
, who refused to wait for the slower sloops once the force had reached the Persian Gulf. Nereide arrived at Bushire on 14 October 1808. Jones completed his journey by land. Corbet returned south to the Straits of Hormuz, expecting to meet the sloops on his return journey. On 21 October however he discovered Sylph in the hands of pirates, who had swarmed the isolated warship, captured her and massacred her crew. Corbet was able to recapture the vessel and later rejoined Sapphire, which had been detached to conduct survey's of the Persian coast, but the operation demonstrated that it was the pirates who now controlled the Southern Persian Gulf.
Pirates in the Arabian Sea
In April 1808, despite the brief deployment of the ship of the lineShip of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
HMS Albion
HMS Albion (1802)
HMS Albion was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Perry's Blackwall Yard on the Thames on 17 June 1802...
and frigates HMS Phaeton and HMS Dedaigneuse to the Persian Gulf, pirate dhows appeared off Gujerat, raiding shipping at Surat
Surat district
Surat is a district in the state of Gujarat India with Surat city as the administrative headquarters of this district. It is surrounded by Bharuch, Narmada , Navsari and Dang districts. To the west is the Gulf of Cambay. It is the second-most advanced district in Gujarat...
before they were driven off by ships of the Bombay Marine. Later in the year, a huge fleet of 50 pirate raiders appeared off Sind
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
in the Arabian Sea and caused severe disruption to the regional trade. The fleet attacked merchant shipping along the Indian coast and even seized a large country ship named Minerva, massacring her crew and converting her into their flagship. At its height in early 1809, it was estimated that the pirate forces in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea included 60 large bhagalas, over 800 dhows and employed 19,000 men, against just two HEIC ships, Mornington and Teignmouth.
British operations
In the aftermath of the raid on Sind and following the 1809 monsoon season, the British authorities in India decided to make a significant show of force against the pirates, in an effort not only to destroy their larger bases and as many ships as could be found, but also to counteract French encouragement of the pirates from their embassies in Persia and Oman. Forces were gathered at Bombay during the summer: the small HEIC warships, Mornington, Aurora, Ternate, Mercury, Nautilus, Prince of Wales, Ariel and Fury joined by the bomb ketch Stromboli and the Royal Navy frigates HMS Caroline under Charles GordonCharles Gordon (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Charles Gordon, CB was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the nineteenth century. Gordon's most notable action was the Action of 18 September 1810, when he was seriously wounded in battle and his frigate HMS Ceylon captured by the French frigate Vénus...
and Chiffone under John Wainwright, who was placed in command of the entire expeditionary force with the temporary rank of commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
. The force was complemented with troops seconded from the Bombay garrison, including a battalion of the 65th Foot, soldiers from the 47th Foot and an assortment of HEIC marines, engineers, artillery men and sepoys from the 2nd Bombay Native Infantry
Bombay Army
The Bombay Army was the army of the Bombay Presidency, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia.The Presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 transferred all three presidencies to the direct...
under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Lionel Smith
Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet
General Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet GCB GCH was a British diplomat, colonial administrator, and soldier.His mother was noted writer and feminist Charlotte Turner Smith....
of the 65th.
The expeditionary force left Bombay on 17 September, intending to rendezvous at Muscat the following week. However, the force was repeatedly delayed during their passage, first with providing escorts to convoys of country ships in the Arabian Sea and subsequently with rescuing survivors of the Stromboli, which was so rotten that she fell apart in the ocean swell with considerable loss of life. When the force eventually arrived at Muscat in October, Sultan Sa'id informed Wainwright that over 20,000 Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
warriors had descended on the coast to join the pirates. Understanding that a protracted land campaign would be impossible with the forces available, Wainwright determined to make a series of small raids against the principle pirate bases in the area of the Straits of Hormuz, beginning with Ras al-Khaimah
Ras al-Khaimah
Ras al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...
, to the north of the Strait on the Arabian coast.
Battle of Ras al-Khaimah
The British flotilla arrived off the independent town of Ras al-Khaimah on 11 November, discovering Minerva and a fleet of dhows in the harbour. The pirate fleet initially sailed out to attack the British but retreated once the size of the expeditionary force became clear. Minerva failed to make the return to port successfully and was wrecked on a sandbank, the crew setting fire to their ship to prevent her seizure by boats launched from Chiffone. Onshore, the pirates and their Bedouin allies (whose numbers are unknown, but were significantly less than 20,000) formed a series of emplaced defences around the town that were protected from offshore bombardment by sandbanks which blocked the approach of Wainwright's heavier warships. On 12 November, Wainwright deployed his smaller ships close inshore to bombard the town and provide cover for his troop dispositions offshore.At 02:00 on 13 November, two squadrons of ship's boats made amphibious landings: a small force under Lieutenant Samuel Leslie landed to the north of the emplaced positions, acting as a diversion while the main body of the expeditionary force landed to the south under Lieutenant Colonel Smith. Leslie's diversion distracted the Arab defenders, but enough remained in the southern defences to make a significant counter attack on Smith's beachhead. Cannon fire from the ship's boats covering the landing drove the Arabs back, and Smith ordered his men to advance with their bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
s fixed, pushing into the town and driving out the Arabs house by house. To cover their advance, Smith's men set fire to the buildings in their path, which created a pall of smoke under cover of which Smith was able to storm and capture the Sheik's palace.
With the harbour secure, Wainwright ordered the squadron into the bay and there burnt over 50 pirate craft, including 30 large bhagalas. Smith secured the town itself, burning the warehouses where the pirates' loot was stored and destroying the ammunition stores and fortifications around the town. The Arab forces, who had retreated after the fall of the palace, taunted the British from the surrounding hills but did not make any counter attacks. By the morning of 14 September, the operation was complete and the British force returned to their ships, having suffered light casualties of five killed and 34 wounded. Arab losses are unknown, but were probably significant, while the damage done to the pirate fleets was severe: over half of the largest and most dangerous vessels had been destroyed at Ras al-Khaimah.
Further operations
On 17 November, Wainwright ordered an attack on the Persian town of LingaBandar Lengeh
Bandar Lengeh is a harbor city in, and capital of Bandar-Lengeh County, in Hormozgan province of Iran on the coast of the Persian Gulf. The harbor is 280 km from Lar, 192 km from Bandar Abbas, and 420 km from Bushehr. The weather in Bandar Lengeh is hot and humid, typical of coastal...
, the inhabitants fleeing at the arrival of the British fleet, and Wainwright's ships burning 20 dhows without opposition or casualties. Further exploration on the Southern Persian coast revealed that most harbours were empty. Wainwright's main target was Laft
Laft
Laft ) is an ancient city in Iran, which is more than 2000 years old. It is located on Qeshm island in the Straits of Hormuz, to the south-west of Bandar Abbas.-Description:...
on Qeshm
Qeshm
Qeshm Qeshm Qeshm (Persian: قشم - pronounced kē´shm is an Iranian island situated in the Strait of Hormuz, and separated from the mainland by the Clarence Strait/Khuran in the Persian Gulf .-Geography:...
Island, which was a principal pirate stronghold. Sending ships to block the passages to the Qeshm Channel, Wainwright hired local pilots
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....
and descended on the town on 26 November. Following fruitless negotiations with local sheiks, Wainwright ordered an attack on 27 November at 14:00, Smith's troops landing unopposed. Assuming the enemy to have fled, Smith's men approached the town's fortress, but a heavy fire was unleashed upon them as the British troops reached the gate. Despite heavy casualties, Smith was able to rally his forces and, with artillery support from the sloop Fury, forced the fort to surrender at sunset, after the sheik had been given guarantees he would not be harmed or taken prisoner. Eleven large pirate vessels were burnt by British landing parties, while the expeditionary force suffered 70 casualties in the fight at the fort. Arab losses were estimated at more than 50 killed in the fort alone.
The town was turned over to Sheik Dewar, a local ruler who professed support for the British, and Wainwright withdrew his forces to Muscat in early December; all of the squadron reassembled there by Christmas. Only one further operation was launched, a successful attack on 3 January 1810 against the town of Shinas
Shinas
Shinas , population 43,312 as of 2005, is a coastal town in northern Oman, near the border between Oman and United Arab Emirates.Shinas has a distinctive collection of traditional buildings...
, which had rebelled against Sultan Sa'id and was swiftly recaptured and restored to him. Although minor naval operations against individual pirate ships continued into 1810, Wainwright and the main body of the squadron returned to Bombay in January, having considered their mission to inflict significant damage on the pirate forces in the Persian Gulf to have been a success.
Aftermath
The operation succeeded in its aim of reducing French influence in Oman and in dissuading the political forces in the region from encouraging attacks on British shipping, but it was unable to totally halt piracy in the Persian Gulf. By 1811, when much of the Royal Navy and HEIC forces in the Indian Ocean were diverted to Java, the pirates had returned in force, although their destructive actions were weaker than before and rarely strayed into the Arabian Sea. Ultimately, it was not until the forces of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
seized Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
in 1812, that some measure of control could be exerted over the pirates of the Arabian peninsula. Subsequent British intervention, both military and diplomatic, also reduced the threat from piracy during the nineteenth century.
The campaign had a significant effect on British cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
of the region. Wainwright reported that the available charts of the Persian Gulf were inaccurate or incomplete, thus allowing pirate ships to hide from his squadron in uncharted inlets. The Bombay Marine had long been aware of this problem and had been developing charts of the region in the years leading up to the campaign, under David Ewen Bartholomew
David Ewen Bartholomew
Captain David Ewen Bartholomew, CB was an officer of the British Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, who rose from a poor background to become a post captain and prominent surveyor and cartographer, who was the first British man to map numerous sections of the South American, Arabian and African...
, who had been on Sapphire during Corbet's mission to the region and whose charts were published in 1810 as a response to these problems.