View source for Action of 10 September 1782

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict    = Action of 10 September 1782
|partof      = the [[American Revolutionary War]]
|image       = Melaka-strait.jpg
|image_size  = 300px
|caption     = Present-day view of the Strait of Malacca
|date        = 10 September 1782
|place       = Off [[Banana Island (Johor)|Pisang Island]], [[Strait of Malacca]]
|coordinates = {{coord|1|28|03|N|105|15|17|E|type:country_scale:10000000_region:CV}}
|result      = Indecisive
|combatant1  = {{flagicon image|Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg}} [[East India Company]]
|combatant2  = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of France}}
|commander1  = {{flagicon image|Flag of the British East India Company (1707).svg}} Patrick Lawson 
|commander2  = {{flagdeco|Kingdom of France|naval}} [[Jacques Marie Boudin de Tromelin de La Nuguy|Jacques Nuguy]]
|strength1   = 5 merchantmen
|strength2   = 1 frigate
|casualties1 = 2 killed
|casualties2 = 4 killed
|campaignbox = {{campaignbox Anglo-French War (1778–83)}}
}}

The '''action of 10 September 1782''' was a minor engagement between five merchant vessels — four [[East Indiamen]] of the British [[East India Company]] and a country-ship — on the one side, and a French frigate on the other. The action resulted in only a few casualties and was inconclusive. What was noteworthy was that the Indiamen sought out the French man-of-war and attacked it; it would have been more usual for the merchantmen to have avoided combat as they had little to gain from a battle.

==Background==
Since at least the mid-18th Century, and to a great degree even earlier, the EIC would annually  dispatch a fleet of Indiamen from England to trade with [[Company rule in India|India]], South East Asia, and China. The vessels would generally, and particularly during wartime, stay together for mutual protection and support to the [[Cape of Good Hope]], and then sail independently, or in smaller groups to [[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[Chennai|Madras]], [[Bengal]] ([[Kolkatta|Calcutta]]), and on. During wartime the [[Royal Navy]] would often provide warships to escort the fleet well into the Atlantic, and possibly as far as [[Saint Helena|St Helena]]. Country ships, i.e., ships based in India, some sailing for the EIC, some independent, might join up in India with vessels going on to China, again for mutual protection against pirates, and in wartime privateers and enemy vessels.

On the homeward journey, the vessels that had gone to China would return in convoy, generally stopping at St Helena to pick up escorts back to England. Frequently other vessels, such as [[whaler]]s returning from the South Seas fisheries might join at St Helena too.

The British vessels involved in the action of 9 September 1782, had sailed from Portsmouth on 13 March 1781, bound for [[Mumbai|Bombay]] and China as part of a convoy of Indiamen accompanying a British squadron under [[Commodore (Royal Navy)|Commodore]] [[George Johnstone (Royal Navy officer)|George Johnstone]].<ref>[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004281559?urlappend=%3Bseq=55 ''Lloyd's List'' no. 1250 - accessed 2 August 2015]</ref> At about the same time a French squadron under the command of [[Pierre Andre de Suffren Saint Tropez|Bailli de Suffren]] left France. Both squadrons were en route to the [[Cape of Good Hope]], the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean, including [[Rodriguez Island]], [[Ile Bourbon]] (Réunion), [[Île-de-France (Mauritius)|Île de France]] (Mauritius), and [[Pondicherry]]. The two squadrons, including the Indiamen, met in the [[battle of Porto Praya]]. Though the battle was inconclusive, it did enable the French to forestall the British attack on the Cape.

The British sailed on to the Cape, where Johnstone captured five Dutch East Indiamen at the [[Battle of Saldanha Bay (1781)|battle of Saldanha Bay]]. The British Indiamen then sailed on, directly, or indirectly, to India.

==The action==
On 8 August 1782 the Indiamen {{ship||Asia|1780 EIC ship|2}}, {{ship||Essex|1780 EIC ship|2}}, {{ship||Locko|1780 EIC ship|2}}, and {{ship||Osterley|1780 EIC ship|2}}, and the country ship ''Shah Byram Gore'', left Bombay, bound for China.<ref name=Basset>Basset (1962).</ref>{{refn|The spelling of the country ship's name varies, sometimes being given as ''Byram Gore'', and sometimes as ''Byramgore'', and preceded, or not, by ''Shah'', ''Shaw'', or ''Shy''. She was a ship launched at Bombay Dockyard in 1775 that was lost in 1785.{{sfnp|Phipps |1840|p=168}} She provides the cover illustration to the book by Bulley (2000), which also has some information on her and her successors, all named for a legendary king of Persia. The cover illustration suggests that she was three-masted, and armed with 18 guns.|group=Note}} The captains were Patrick Lawson of ''Locko'', who was the senior captain, Samuel Rodgers of ''Osterley'', Robert Maw of ''Asia'', Arthur Morris of ''Essex'',{{refn|Cotton identifies the captain of ''Locko'' as '''Peter''' Lawson, not Patrick.<ref>Cotton (1949), p.39.</ref> However, EIC records and other sources, including a court case, confirm the name as Patrick.|group=Note}} and Maugham of ''Shah Byram Gore''.

As the squadron was sailing through the [[Strait of Malacca]], on 6 September they sighted a Malay vessel at anchor by the shore near Mount Formosa ({{coord|1|49|N|102|55|E}}), some 40 miles southeast of Malacca. The captain of the Malay vessel reported that there was a French frigate and two brigs anchored at [[Pisang Island (Johor)|Pulo Pisang]], and that the captain of the frigate had asked him if he had seen five ships coming from Bombay. The intelligence led Lawson to believe that the French were cruising, looking for his squadron, but did not believe themselves stronger than the Indiamen.<ref name=Basset/>

On 9 September the ships encountered the 38-gun French frigate ''[[French frigate Pourvoyeuse (1772)|Pourvoyeuse]]'', which was under the command of Lieutenant [[Jacques Marie Boudin de Tromelin de La Nuguy|de Lannuguy-Tromelin]].<ref>D'Unienville (2004), p.260.</ref><ref group=Note>Lannuguy-Tromelin was the younger brother of [[Bernard-Marie Boudin de Tromelin|Captain de Tromelin]], who in 1779 had captured the previous ''Osterley''.</ref> That evening ''Locko'' and ''Pourvoyeuse'' came quite close, but no engagement ensured. ''Locko'' did fire on and take possession of a Malay sloop that he feared the French captain had dispatched to summon the two brigs that had been reported accompanying the frigate.<ref name=Basset/>

The engagement began at 10 minutes past 2p.m. on 10 September when ''Pourvoyeuse'' opened fire with her [[bow chaser]]s. ''Locko'', ''Osterley'', and ''Shah Byram Gore'' were closest but withheld their fire. When ''Pourvoyeuse'' fired her broadside at ''Locko'', Lawson responded with a broadside. The engagement lasted some two-and-a-half hours, with ''Locko'' and ''Osterley'' bearing the brunt of it. Although ''Asia'' and ''Essex'' did fire on ''Pourvoyeuse'', Lawson tried to keep them out of the battle as felt they were weakly manned, with a large portion of their crews being [[lascar]]s.<ref name=Basset/>

Towards dusk the two opponents separated. ''Locko'' pursued ''Pourvoyeuse'', whose two 18-pounder stern guns took away some of ''Locko''{{'}}s rigging. At about 8p.m. ''Pourvoyeuse'' extinguished her lights and steered towards Malacca. At 8:15 Lawson gave up the chase, which would have taken the squadron in the opposite direction from China, and signaled to his squadron to resume their voyage. ''Locko'' brought up the rear as they sailed so that should ''Pourvoyeuse'' wish to resume the action ''Locko'' would be the first vessel she would encounter.<ref name=Basset/>

==Outcome==
On the British side, ''Osterley'' had two men killed, and ''Locko'' and ''Essex'' had several men injured from exploding cartridges.<ref name=Basset/> ''Pourvoyeuse'' had four seamen killed, and two officers and several seamen wounded.

'''''Pourvoyeuse''''' withdrew, sailing for Malacca where she could take shelter under the guns of the Dutch fort there. On December 26 she arrived at [[Trincomalee]], which the French under Bailli de Suffren had captured from the British at the [[battle of Trincomalee]] on 3 September 1782, having left him and his squadron at [[Aceh]], where they were wintering. At Trincomalee the memorist [[William Hickey (memoirist)|William Hickey]] met Trommelin. Later, Hickey described ''Pourvoyeuse'' as "Almost tumbling to pieces, and in want of every kind of stores."{{sfnp|Spencer|1913–25|p=111}}{{refn|Hickey and his wife were traveling on the Portuguese merchant vessel ''Rainha de Portugal'' from Lisbon. ''Rainha'' became caught in a terrible storm off the [[Malabar Coast]] that killed 13 of her crew. She put into Trincomalee harbour on 30 November, not knowing that the French had captured the port.{{sfnp|Spencer|1913–25|pp=20-35}} The French later seized ''Rainha'' on a pretext.<ref>''Middle East and Indian Ocean'' (1990), Vol. 6, p.94.</ref>|group=Note}}

'''The British:''' Lawson considered pursuing ''Pourvoyeuse'' but decided that doing so might take too long. As it was late in the sailing season, if the British vessels lost their passage to China there was no friendly port where they could winter. He lamented the lost opportunity to capture ''Pourvoyeuse'', believing that if there had been one more hour of light he would have been able to capture her.<ref name=Basset/> The five British vessels sailed on to China, where they arrived safely in early October.

After the return to Britain of the four captains of the Indiamen, the EIC awarded them prizes. Robert Maw received a silver [[salver]] made in 1787 by Joseph Heriot, of London, and inscribed "The Gift of the Hon’ble East India Company to Robert Maw Esq’r Commander of the Asia East Indiaman for gallantly defending the said ship against a French frigate of 44 guns in the Straights of Malacca September, 1782."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-618-george-iii-silver-salver-29511/ |title=Auction announcement - accessed 30 August 2015. |access-date=20 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121032056/http://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-618-george-iii-silver-salver-29511/ |archive-date=21 November 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> We can safely assume that Arthur Morris received a similar piece of plate. We do not know what Samuel Rogers received, or if Patrick Lawson even received anything as by 1787 he had fled Britain for India to escape a fine of £100,000 for having smuggled goods back to Britain on ''Locko''.

'''The French:''' Upon his return, Tromelin-Lanuguy  suffered the scorn of [[Suffren]], who blamed him for failing to press his attack on the East Indiamen. Suffren repeatedly accused Tromelin-Lanuguy oh "disgracing the flag",{{refn|M. de Lanuguy, dont la manoeuvre était l'objet des plaisanteries des matelots, qui en ce genre n'ont pas la main légère, offrit son journal à M. de Suffren; et, quoiqu'on doive présumer qu'il eût cherché à y atténuer sa faiblesse, le général, discourant peu, louant en peu de mots et blâmant de même, lui dit de sa voix nasillarde, en le lui remettant le lendemain : « Eh bien! M. de Lanuguy, eh bien! je persiste à dire que vous avez entaché le pavillon » {{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=250}}|group=Note}} but when he offered to resign, Suffren refused.{{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=251}} {{sfnp|Cunat|1852|p=183}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite journal |last1=Bassett |first1=D.K. |year=1962  |title=A naval battle off Malacca |journal=Malaya in History |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=26–31}}
* {{cite book |last=Bulley |first=Anne |year=2000 |title=The Bombay Country Ships, 1790–1833 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0700712366}} 
* {{cite book |last1=Cunat |first1=Charles |authorlink1=Charles Cunat|title=Histoire du Bailli de Suffren |date=1852 |publisher=A. Marteville et Lefas |location=Rennes |pages=[https://archive.org/details/histoiredubaill00torpgoog/page/n437 447] |url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredubaill00torpgoog}}
* ''Moyen Orient & océan indien, XVIe-XIXe s.'' = ''Middle East & Indian Ocean''. (1990) Société d'histoire de l'Orient (Paris).
* {{cite book|last=Phipps|first=John |year=1840|title=A Collection of Papers Relative to Ship Building in India ...: Also a Register Comprehending All the Ships ... Built in India to the Present Time ...|publisher=Scott }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Spencer |editor1-first=Alfred |year=1913–25 |title=The Memoirs of William Hickey |volume=3 |location=London |publisher=Hurst & Blackett}}

[[Category:Naval battles involving the British East India Company]]
[[Category:18th-century naval battles]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1782]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving France]]
[[Category:Naval battles of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783)]]