The Battle of Saldanha Bay was a naval action that occurred off the Dutch Cape Colony on 21 July 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

Fourth Anglo-Dutch War

The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...

. Five Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

 vessels were captured and another was destroyed by a squadron of Royal Navy

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...

 warships under the command of commodore George Johnstone.

Background

Johnstone had been directed to capture the Dutch settlement at 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...

. However, France had learned of his mission, and his design was frustrated by French admiral the Bailli de Suffren

Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez

Admiral comte Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, bailli de Suffren , French admiral, was the third son of the marquis de Saint Tropez, head of a family of nobles of Provence which claimed to have emigrated from Lucca in the 14th century...

. Suffren was en route to the Indian Ocean

Indian 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...

, but had been warned by the French marine ministry, and sought to reach the cape before Johnstone. After an indecisive chance encounter

Battle of Porto Praya

The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle which took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under the Bailli de Suffren....

 between the two fleets in the Cape Verde Islands on 16 April 1781, Suffren sailed for the cape while Johnstone remained at Porto Praya

Praia

Praia , is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago island in the Sotavento Islands group. It is the island's ferry port and is home to one of the nation’s four international airports...

 for repairs. As a result, Johnstone found the Dutch settlement well defended when he arrived there in July and decided against an attack.

The Dutch had, as a precaution, directed their westbound merchant fleet, laden with goods, to anchor in Saldanha Bay

Saldanha Bay

Saldanha Bay is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa, north west of Cape Town. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality in 2000. The current population of...

 where they would be concealed from the British fleet. They were under orders to ground and burn their ships if the British were to appear; however they were not vigilant in their watches. One of Johnstone's frigates, flying French colours

False flag

False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...

, intercepted a Dutch merchantmen that had left the bay several days earlier, heading east. From this ship Johnstone learned of the whereabouts of the Dutch fleet.

Battle

Bearing off Saldanha Bay Johnstone sighted the Dutch fleet, and entered the bay flying French colors. He then raised the British ensign and opened fire, totally surprising the Dutch. The Dutch could not escape and decided to destroy their ships rather than let them fall into British hands; so they cut their cables, loosed their top sails, and tried to drive them on shore. Once this was done they attempted to torch the ships, and the British, now in their boats, attempted to extinguish the fires. This was successful, and the prizes they took were the Dankbaarheid, Perel, Schoonkop and Hoogscarspel, most of them armed with around 24 guns. The Middleburg was however burnt furiously and was left alone. She blew up after very nearly colliding with two of the prizes. A pinnace laden with sails of the captured ships was discovered hidden away and also captured. By the end of the day another two pinnaces were captured but they were given back to the Dutch by Johnstone. The prizes were sent back to England with some difficulty after some fighting in the English Channel. Hoogscarpel was attacked by a French frigate but succeeded in getting to Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay

Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...

where she was escorted. The Perel was also attacked by two French privateers but succeeded in escaping.