Admirals -- Great Britain -- Biography; Exmouth, Edward Pellew, Viscount, 1757-1833
As soon as it was known to be British, the _Phoenix_, 40-gun frigate;
the _Aventure_ and _Zee-ploeg_, national corvettes; the _Patriot_, and
another ship of 20 guns, and three brigs of 14, Company's cruisers; with
more than twenty merchant vessels, ran themselves on shore under the
extensive batteries of Batavia. Another corvette, the _William_, struck
to the _Terpsichore_ as she was entering the road; but the
line-of-battle ships had sailed a few days before to Griessee, a
fortified harbour on the Sourabaya river, at the eastern extremity of
the island. The boats of the whole squadron, with five hundred picked
men, commanded by the Admiral's second son, Captain Fleetwood Pellew, of
the _Terpsichore_, and covered by the fire from the frigates, were sent
without delay to destroy the enemy's ships. The decision of Captain
Pellew, which scarcely allowed them time to man their guns, made their
fire almost harmless. He boarded the _Phoenix_, whose crew quitted her
on his approach; turned her guns on the other armed vessels; burnt all
the shipping except three merchant vessels, which were brought away; and
in less than two hours returned with the boats, having effected the
whole service with no greater loss than one man killed and four wounded.
One of the ships lay at the little island of Onroost, which is piled and
jettied all around, and contained a small and compact repairing yard for
merchant vessels of all nations. Two boats were sent to destroy her,
with strict orders to injure nothing on shore; but unfortunately she
drove alongside the jetty, and, to the great regret of the Admiral, the
flames communicated to the buildings, and occasioned much damage. The
squadron sailed on the 1st of December, the _Culloden_ and _Belliqueux_
to return to India, the others for their respective stations. Thus
easily was completed an enterprise, as admirably planned as it was
gallantly executed. General Daendels, when he became Captain-General of
Java and the Moluccas, some time after, sent a message to Sir Edward,
that he hoped he would not pay him a visit without an invitation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account