Thanks to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for several reasons. That's quite a pity while these books contains useful information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible.
The British steam sloop HMS Rattler joined by 2 paddle box boats and 1 cutter of the steam frigate USS Powhattan, each armed with a 12-dr howitzer and totally 66 sailors and 28 marines and the small steam Eaglet with a draught of 7’lent by mr. Caldwell went to search for pirates who harassed the environments. The force left Hong Kong 3 August. The commanding officer of the Rattler commander W.A. Fellowes wrote 6 August a report to rear admiral sir J. Stirling dealing with the events. At daynight of 4 August when they reached the north side of Kulan where the boats of both ships were towed by the Eaglet being the draught of the Rattler to large. At Kulan wasn’t found anything but in the masts of junks lying in a creek were seen. Altogether were 34 junks counted. When rockers were fired by the British the pirates tried to escape with their ships but without success.
p. 47 “On reaching a small island at the head of the creek the larger junks made a stand, with their broadsides towards us, firing with much rapidity and in an excellent direction, but the boats returning their fire with shell end grape, and closing rapidly amid a shower of shot, made a dash, and the junks were ours, the crews taking to the water. Leaving a small party of men in charge, the boats pursued the others, who bad, with a light air, gained the middle of a large bay, or rather lagoon, which opened out of the creek, and succeeded in taking many of them. Nine war junks, mounting 130 guns of all sizes, and nine small junks (traders) the pirates had detained, were captured. We felt ourselves obliged to burn and destroy the war junks, as also two of the trading junks ; night approaching and being a great distance from the steamer compelling us to do this, to prevent them falling into improper hands. This success, obtained from a regularly organized pirate fleet, was, I am sorry to say, attended with the loss of two men killed and eleven officers and men wounded on the part of the Americans, and three men killed and seven men wounded belonging to this ship; while the loss of the pirates must have been immense, for, taking the number of men in the junks at the time of our opening fire to be 1,000 men, their killed, wounded, and drowned could not have been less than 500 men; the shell and grape from the boats' guns and musketry of the marines must have told upon them severely, as they stood fighting at their guns with unusual firmness. Five of the junks are deserving more than ordinary mention, being built of very substantial materials, large and roomy, evidently built for war purposes, as they differed in many respects from trading junks; their armament, besides the usual complement of spears, muskets, stinkpots, &c, comprised many large guns, there were a 68-pounder and a large 18-pounder, not weighing less than 50 cwt., 32, 24, 12, and 6-pounders; one junk had 21 guns mounted.”
Source
Allen’s Indian Mail and register of Intelligence for British & foreign India, China, &all part of the East. London, Tuesday 15 January 1856, no. 284.
