Qualla: Raid on Griessie https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Raid on Griessie https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie Raid on Griessie: Introduction https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie/ Photo credit James Northcote, Public domain. Captain William Cowell had a talent for defiance, even when the cause was already lost. An American serving in the Dutch navy, he commanded the last squadron of Dutch warships in the entire Pacific from the shallow anchorage at Griessie, near Surabaya on Java's northeast coast. When Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew's British squadron appeared off the harbour on 5 December 1807 and sent a boat under a flag of truce demanding surrender, Cowell refused. Then he arrested the boat party. It was a bold gesture, but the three aging 68-gun ships of the line sheltering behind him were already relics of a navy that had been systematically dismantled across the previous eighteen months.

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Image: James Northcote | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/w920-raid-on-griessie-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Raid on Griessie: Pellew's Reckoning with the Straits https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie/ Photo credit James Northcote, Public domain. The campaign that ended at Griessie began with a merchant convoy and a French miscalculation. In 1804, a powerful French squadron operating from Batavia attacked British traders near the Straits of Malacca in the Battle of Pulo Aura. The attack failed, but it proved that warships...

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Image: James Northcote | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/w920-raid-on-griessie-pellews-reckoning-with-the-straits.mp3 0:06 2 full Raid on Griessie: Fire in the Roads of Batavia https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie/ Photo credit James Northcote, Public domain. Emboldened by these captures, Pellew launched a major raid on Batavia harbour on 27 November 1806. His squadron sailed directly into the bay. The surviving Dutch ships were driven ashore to avoid capture, and boarding parties under Pellew's son, Captain Fleetwood Pellew, set the ...

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Image: James Northcote | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/w920-raid-on-griessie-fire-in-the-roads-of-batavia.mp3 0:06 3 full Raid on Griessie: Surrender and Sabotage https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie/ Photo credit James Northcote, Public domain. Pellew sailed from Malacca on 20 November 1807 with a mixed force: his flagship, a ship of the line under Fleetwood, frigates, sloops, and an East Indiaman carrying 500 soldiers of the 30th Regiment of Foot. After fifteen days coasting along Java, they reached Griessie on 5 Decem...

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Image: James Northcote | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/w920-raid-on-griessie-surrender-and-sabotage.mp3 0:06 4 full Raid on Griessie: The Last Dutch Warship East of Africa https://qualla.com/raid-on-griessie/ Photo credit James Northcote, Public domain. British landing parties went through Griessie systematically, burning military stores and demolishing the gun battery on Madura. Casualties on both sides were minimal -- the campaign's final act was fought with torches and crowbars rather than broadsides. But the strategic conseq...

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Image: James Northcote | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/2/0/raid-on-griessie-wp/w920-raid-on-griessie-the-last-dutch-warship-east-of-africa.mp3 0:06 5 full