Action of 4 February 1781

Action of 4 February 1781
Part of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

Stout defence of warship Mars against 3 English warships on 4 February 1781, NMM
Date4 February 1781
LocationSombrero, Anguilla
Result British victory[1]
Belligerents
 Great Britain  Dutch Republic
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Great Britain Francis Reynolds-Moreton Dutch Republic Willem Krul  †
Strength
2 ships of the line
1 frigate		 1 Fifth Rate
30 assorted ships[2]
Casualties and losses
3 wounded[1] 8 killed and 7 wounded
1 frigate captured
30 ships captured[2]

The Action of 4 February 1781 was a minor naval action that took place off the island of Sombero in the Caribbean during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War soon after the British Capture of Sint Eustatius by Admiral George Rodney a day earlier.[2]

St. Eustatius, a Dutch-controlled island in the West Indies, was an entrepot that operated as a major trading centre despite its relatively small size. The island was seized by a British force under Admiral George Rodney along with all the merchants ships in the harbour. Rodney received information that a fleet of about thirty large ships richly laden with sugar and other West India commodities had just before his arrival sailed from the island for the Netherlands under convoy of a flag ship of sixty guns. He immediately dispatched two ships of the line the Monarch and Panther with the frigate HMS Sybil in pursuit of them.[2]

The lone Dutch man-of-war Mars was no match for the three British ships and, after a fierce thirty minute pounding, the mortally wounded commander, Rear-Admiral Willem Krul, whilst dying, ordered his Captain Count Van Bijland to lower the flag. Eight of the Dutch crew were killed with another seven wounded which included Krul who was taken back to St. Eustatius where he was buried with full honours.[3]

All thirty ships of the convoy were taken whilst the Mars was taken in under the Royal Navy as HMS Mars".[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Colburn, Henry (1842). The United Service Magazine, Part 1. p. 59.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Botta, Charles (1837). History of the War of the Independence of the United States of America. New York Public Library. p. 332.
  3. ↑ Jong, Cornelius de (1807). Reize naar de Caribische Eilanden in de jaren 1780 en 1781. Haarlem. p. 179.
  4. ↑ Winfield (2007), p.222.

Bibliography

  • Trew, Peter (2006). Rodney & The Breaking of the line. Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1844151431.
  • Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1844157006.
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