The capture of East India Company brig ''Nautilus'' took place on 30 June 1815. Although part of the Anglo-American

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, it took place long after the war ended, as the commander of the United States

Sloop of war In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

USS ''Peacock'' was unaware that the war had ended six months earlier. The British commander of ''Nautilus'' hailed that the war was over but refused to haul down his flag and ''Peacock'' opened fire, killing and wounding several of the crew of ''Nautilus'', which then surrendered. Once ''Nautilus''s commander provided proof that the war had ended, the Americans released the brig and its crew. This was the last action of the war.

Prelude

Towards the end of 1814, the Americans were gathering a squadron in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, under Commodore

Stephen Decatur Stephen Decatur Jr. (; January 5, 1779 – March 22, 1820) was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the Unite ...

, which was intended to disrupt British merchant shipping in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. On 14 January 1815, Decatur took advantage of a blizzard and left harbour in the frigate USS ''President'', while the blockading squadron of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

had been blown off station. However, the ''President'' went aground on the bar at the harbour mouth. When it was eventually floated off, the damaged frigate encountered the returning British squadron and was captured. The remaining vessels of Decatur's squadron (the sloops of war USS ''Peacock'', commanded by Master Commandant

Lewis Warrington Lewis Warrington (3 November 1782 – 12 October 1851) was an officer in the United States Navy during the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. He later became a Captain. He temporarily served as the Secretary of the Navy. His highest rank w ...

, and USS ''Hornet'' and the brig tender USS ''Tom Bowline'') were not aware of the ''Presidents'' fate. On 22 January, a strong north-westerly gale blew up and the three American vessels sortied in thick weather the next day. They reached open sea despite the British blockaders being plainly in sight as the Americans passed the bar. The three American vessels made for a pre-arranged rendezvous with the ''President'' at

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena ...

. ''Hornet'' became separated from the other two vessels during the voyage. ''Peacock'' and ''Tom Bowline'' reached Tristan da Cunha on 18 March but were driven off by a gale. They returned on 23 March to find that in their absence the ''Hornet'' had arrived, and had engaged and captured HMS ''Penguin''. ''Penguin'' was too badly damaged to be repaired and was later set on fire. ''Tom Bowline'' was sent to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

as a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

with ''Penguins'' crew. After waiting in vain for the ''President'' until 15 April, ''Hornet'' and ''Peacock'' set out together for the Indian Ocean. On 27 April, they encountered the British

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

HMS ''Cornwallis'', which they at first mistook for a valuable

East Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...

. When they realised their mistake, the American ships split up to escape. ''Cornwallis'' pursued the slower ''Hornet'', which evaded capture only by jettisoning all guns and small arms, most of the stores, and even substantial parts of the sloop's structure.

Capture of ''Nautilus''

Warrington pressed on into the Indian Ocean. During the next few weeks, ''Peacock'' captured four valuable prizes. Rather than weaken his crew by putting them aboard the captured vessels and sending them into friendly or neutral ports, Warrington had the prizes set on fire, after removing their cargo and useful stores. He remained unaware that Congress had ratified the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

, which ended the war between Britain and America, on 18 February. On 30 June, ''Peacock'' was in the

Sunda Straits The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the western portion of ...

, with the island of

Krakatau Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. T ...

under the sloop's lee. There she sighted the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's armed brig . ''Nautilus'' measured 200 tons, was armed with ten 18-pounder

carronade A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main func ...

s and four 9-pounder guns, and had a crew of 80, many of whom were

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of the 2 ...

s. (''Peacock'' was armed with twenty 32-pounder carronades and two 12-pounder guns.) ''Nautiluss'' commander, Lieutenant Boyce, sent a boat to ''Peacock'', with his

Purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

, Mr. Bartlett. Bartlett later insisted that he informed Warrington that the war had ended before Warrington ordered him to be taken below; Warrington denied this. As ''Peacock'' closed in on ''Nautilus'', Lieutenant Boyce hailed, and repeated that the war was over, but Warrington later claimed that he had thought this a ''ruse de guerre'' to give ''Nautilus'' time to escape under the cover of the neutral (

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

) fort of

Anjer Anyer, also known as Anjer or Angier, is a coastal town in Banten, formerly West Java, Indonesia, west of Jakarta and south of Merak. A significant coastal town late 18th-century, Anyer faces the Sunda Strait. History The town was a considerab ...

. He demanded that Boyce haul down his flag. Rather than submit in such a manner, Boyce prepared to fight. ''Peacock'' then fired a single broadside (or by Bartlett's account, two broadsides), which caused substantial damage to the ''Nautilus''. Warrington's attack killed one seaman, two European invalids, and three

s aboard the brig, mortally wounded ''Nautiluss'' first lieutenant, and wounded Boyce and five lascars.. ''Peacock'' suffered no damage or casualties.Roosevelt, p.241

Aftermath

When Boyce provided documents proving that the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, had been ratified, Warrington released ''Nautilus''. At no point did he in any way inquire about Boyce's condition or that of any of the injured on ''Nautilus''. ''Peacock'' returned to New York on 30 October. A court of inquiry in Boston a year later of course exonerated Warrington of all blame. In his report on the incident, Warrington stated that the only British casualties had been lascars.

Citations and references

;Citations ;References * * * {{DISPLAYTITLE:Capture of East India Company ship ''Nautilus''

Nautilus The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in t ...

June 1815 events 1815 in Asia Military history of the British East India Company