Battle of Kowloon
The Chinese fort in Kowloon, 1841
| date | September 4, 1839 |
|---|---|
| place | Kowloon Peninsula , China |
| output | draw |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 4 ships | 3 junks |
| losses | |
|
3 wounded |
2 dead |
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The Battle of Kowloon was a brief naval battle between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River estuary off Kowloon on September 4, 1839. The fighting is seen as the first battle of the First Opium War .
prehistory
Lin Zexu drove the opium dealers out of Canton in 1839 and confiscated and destroyed their supplies. In order to put further pressure on the British, he forbade the locals to sell provisions to British ships.
course
At four o'clock in the morning on September 4, three British ships sailed to Kowloon with the commander of the British fleet in China, Charles Elliot, to gather provisions and water. Elliot had previously informed the Chinese authorities via the Chinese-trained missionary Karl Gützlaff that his ships would react to a refusal to take provisions with military force.
At noon, the three British ships Louisa , Pearl and Volage arrived in Kowloon. The Louisa had 16 cannons and the Pearl six. They encountered part of the Coastal Defense Navy under Deputy Regional Commander Lai Enjue . These comprised three war junks with ten cannons each. The Chinese naval forces were supported by the coastal battery in Kowloon. Since the Chinese tried to block the British, the British forces opened fire on the Chinese ships at noon on the orders of the Captain of the Volage . An artillery duel lasting several hours developed. In the course of the fighting, only the Louisa and the Pearl and two subsequent pinasses fired . The Volage itself did not take part in the fighting. The British paused the fight in the afternoon to take ammunition. The artillery duel continued into the evening hours. When night fell, the British ships withdrew from Kowloon.
consequences
The Chinese special envoy in Guangdong Lin Zexu reported to Emperor Daoguang that his soldiers had sunk a boat and killed at least 17 British soldiers. He reported two dead and four wounded on his own side. The British side did not provide any information about the Chinese casualties and even reported a few slightly wounded.
After the battle, Chinese traders were allowed to clandestinely supply the British ships.